head to head · open source
mall vs pgcli
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars, 29,827 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. pgcli has 13,392 stars, 613 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. mall leads on adoption by 533% (84,792 vs 13,392 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; pgcli is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, pgcli 5%. pgcli was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | pgcli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 613 |
| 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 pgcli if
- You want the pgcli feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and pgcli 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 pgcli
pgcli is a Python command line REPL for PostgreSQL, distributed under the BSD 3 Clause licence, that replaces psql for interactive sessions by adding autocompletion and syntax highlighting for developers, DBAs, and analysts who work in a terminal.
read the full pgcli overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mall or pgcli more popular?
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars and pgcli has 13,392. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and pgcli free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and pgcli under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and pgcli?
mall is written in Java and pgcli in Python. 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 pgcli?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,792 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose pgcli if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.