head to head · open source
nebula vs busabase
nebula has 12,451 GitHub stars, 1,340 forks, 678 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. busabase has 584 stars, 53 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. nebula leads on adoption by 2,032% (12,451 vs 584 stars). nebula is written in C++ under Apache-2.0; busabase is written in TypeScript under MIT. nebula has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, busabase 9%. busabase was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, knowledge-base), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| nebula | busabase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 584 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-08 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 53 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nebula if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick busabase if
- You want the busabase feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and busabase fits your workflow better
About nebula
English 中文 A distributed, scalable, lightning fast graph database NebulaGraph Introduction NebulaGraph is a popular open source graph database that can handle large volumes of data with milliseconds of latency, scale up quickly, and have the ability to perform fast graph analytics. NebulaGraph has been widely used for social media, recommendation systems, knowledge graphs, security, capital flows, AI, etc. See our users. The following lists some of NebulaGraph features: Symmetrically distributed Storage and computing separation Horizontal scalability Strong data consistency by RAFT protocol OpenCypher compatible…
read the full nebula overview →
About busabase
Busabase The System of Record for AI Agents Different agents. One shared base. The open source database & workspace where Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and your own agents keep the records, docs, skills, and apps the next task builds on. 中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 Quick Start · Features · Connect an Agent · Use Cases · Docs · Community Busabase is an open source database and workspace for AI agents — agents and people share the same structured data, docs, skills, and apps, and writes that matter become reviewed, trusted records. Every agent session starts from zero. Your CLAUDE.md lives in one repo, the best output dies in a…
read the full busabase overview →
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Documentation & Knowledge Base projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Documentation & Knowledge Base field.
Frequently asked questions
Is nebula or busabase more popular?
nebula has 12,451 GitHub stars and busabase has 584. nebula has the larger community by that measure.
Are nebula and busabase free?
Both are open source. nebula is licensed under Apache-2.0 and busabase under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nebula and busabase?
nebula is written in C++ and busabase in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nebula or busabase?
Choose nebula if you want the larger community (12,451 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose busabase if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.