head to head · open source
neo4j vs Bytebase
neo4j has 17,386 GitHub stars, 2,835 forks, 252 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. Bytebase has 14,671 stars, 1,006 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. neo4j leads on adoption by 19% (17,386 vs 14,671 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 | ★ 15K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-10-23 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| 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: Graphs for Everyone = is the world's leading Graph Database. It is a high performance graph store with all the features expected of a mature and robust database, like a friendly query language and ACID transactions. The programmer works with a flexible network structure of nodes and relationships rather than static tables yet enjoys all the benefits of enterprise quality database. For many applications, Neo4j offers orders of magnitude performance benefits compared to relational DBs. Learn more on the website]. users]] == Using Neo4j == Neo4j is available as a fully managed solution where you can get…
read the full neo4j overview →
About Bytebase
⚙️ Install • 📚 Docs • 🙋♀️ Book Demo What is Bytebase? Bytebase is the open source database governance platform. It acts as a single control plane between your users — humans and AI agents — and your databases, governing change management, access control, and compliance so every change and query is reviewed, controlled, and recorded. It replaces the disparate tools stitched across migration scripts, SQL clients, and ticketing systems, unifying database operations in a single platform. Supported Databases and Integrations Bytebase supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, Redis, MariaDB, TiDB…
read the full Bytebase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is neo4j or Bytebase more popular?
neo4j has 17,386 GitHub stars and Bytebase has 14,671. 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 (17,386 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.