head to head · open source
mall vs SlateDB
mall has 84,789 GitHub stars, 29,826 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. SlateDB has 3,414 stars, 298 forks, 184 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mall leads on adoption by 2,384% (84,789 vs 3,414 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; SlateDB is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, SlateDB 9%. SlateDB 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| mall | SlateDB | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 298 |
| 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 SlateDB if
- You want the SlateDB feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and SlateDB 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 SlateDB
SlateDB is an embedded storage engine written in Rust and distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. It is built as a log structured merge tree, and it stores data in object storage rather than on a local disk or dedicated server. The project lives in the Rust and cloud native storage ecosystem, and it exposes a key value interface through a Rust crate.
read the full SlateDB overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Databases projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Databases field.
Frequently asked questions
Is mall or SlateDB more popular?
mall has 84,789 GitHub stars and SlateDB has 3,414. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and SlateDB free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SlateDB under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and SlateDB?
mall is written in Java and SlateDB in Rust. 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 SlateDB?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,789 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose SlateDB if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.