head to head · open source
NocoDB vs acl
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars, 5,055 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. acl has 3,105 stars, 951 forks, 40 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 1,993% (65,002 vs 3,105 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; acl is written in C under LGPL-2.1. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, acl 31%. NocoDB 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
| NocoDB | acl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Custom / other | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 951 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NocoDB if
- You weight community size — 65K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick acl if
- You want the acl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and acl fits your workflow better
About NocoDB
NocoDB is a free and self hostable open source Airtable alternative that turns an existing relational database into an intuitive spreadsheet interface, built for teams who want no code data management without moving their data into a hosted SaaS product.
read the full NocoDB overview →
About acl
Acl (Advanced C/C++ Library, "Advanced Cross Platform C/C++ Network Communication Library and Server Framework") is a cross platform C network communication library and server framework, with coroutine, HTTP/HTTPS/WebSocket, MQTT, SMTP, Redis, Memcached and MySQL/PostgreSQL/SQLite support, built for developers writing network servers and clients on Linux, Windows, Solaris, FreeBSD, macOS, Android, iOS and HarmonyOS.
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Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or acl more popular?
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars and acl has 3,105. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and acl free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and acl is licensed under LGPL-2.1. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and acl?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and acl in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, NocoDB or acl?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (65,002 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose acl if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.