head to head · open source
neo4j vs Bytebase
neo4j has 17,241 GitHub stars, 2,703 forks, 252 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Bytebase has 14,491 stars, 983 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. neo4j leads on adoption by 19% (17,241 vs 14,491 stars). neo4j is written in Java under GPL-3.0; Bytebase is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. neo4j has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Bytebase 7%. Bytebase 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
| neo4j | Bytebase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 14K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 983 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick neo4j if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Bytebase if
- You want the Bytebase feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Bytebase fits your workflow better
About neo4j
Neo4j is a Java graph database released under GPL 3.0 that stores data as nodes and relationships and queries it with Cypher, aimed at developers, data engineers, and platform teams building connected data applications who would otherwise model those relationships as tables and joins.
read the full neo4j overview →
About Bytebase
Bytebase is an open source database governance platform that acts as a single control plane between human users, AI agents, and databases. It governs change management, access control, and compliance so that every database change and query can be reviewed, controlled, and recorded. The project sits in the Infrastructure and Operations database ecosystem, with topics that include CI/CD, DevOps, DevSecOps, GitOps, data governance, data masking, data security, database access, Flyway, Liquibase, and MongoDB.
read the full Bytebase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is neo4j or Bytebase more popular?
neo4j has 17,241 GitHub stars and Bytebase has 14,491. neo4j has the larger community by that measure.
Are neo4j and Bytebase free?
Both are open source. neo4j is licensed under GPL-3.0, and Bytebase has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between neo4j and Bytebase?
neo4j is written in Java and Bytebase 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, neo4j or Bytebase?
Choose neo4j if you want the larger community (17,241 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Bytebase if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.