head to head · open source
mall vs spicedb
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars, 29,827 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. spicedb has 7,071 stars, 421 forks, 157 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. mall leads on adoption by 1,099% (84,792 vs 7,071 stars). mall is written in Java under Apache-2.0; spicedb is written in Go under Apache-2.0. mall has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, spicedb 6%. spicedb 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 | spicedb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 85K | ★ 7.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 30K | ⑂ 421 |
| 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 spicedb if
- You want the spicedb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and spicedb 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 spicedb
SpiceDB is an open source, Google Zanzibar inspired database written in Go that stores and queries fine grained authorization data, and it is built for platform and product teams that need a reliable answer to whether subject X can perform action Y on resource Z.
read the full spicedb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mall or spicedb more popular?
mall has 84,792 GitHub stars and spicedb has 7,071. mall has the larger community by that measure.
Are mall and spicedb free?
Both are open source. mall is licensed under Apache-2.0 and spicedb under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mall and spicedb?
mall is written in Java and spicedb 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 spicedb?
Choose mall if you want the larger community (84,792 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose spicedb if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.