head to head · open source
mall vs mysql
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars, 29,827 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. mysql has 15,284 stars, 2,334 forks, 57 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mall leads on adoption by 455% (84,792 vs 15,284 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; mysql is written in Go under MPL-2.0. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, mysql 15%. mysql was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (mysql), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| mall | mysql | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 15K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick mall if
- You weight community size — 85K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mysql if
- You want the mysql feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and mysql fits your workflow better
About mall
mall is a complete e commerce system built on Spring Boot and MyBatis, distributed as a Java project under the Apache 2.0 license. It ships two applications in one repository: a storefront system for shoppers and an administrative back office for operators. The storefront covers the home portal, product recommendation, product search, product display, shopping cart, order flow, member center, customer service, and help center. The back office covers product management, order management, member management, promotion management, operations management, content management, statistics reports, finance management, perm…
About mysql
Go MySQL Driver is the pure Go MySQL driver that implements the database/sql interface for Go applications, and it is aimed at Go developers who need to connect services to MySQL, MariaDB, or TiDB without cgo or C bindings.
read the full mysql overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mall or mysql more popular?
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars and mysql has 15,284. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and mysql free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mysql under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and mysql?
mall is written in Java and mysql in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, mall or mysql?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,792 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mysql if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.