head to head · open source
NocoDB vs aleph
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars, 5,054 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped yesterday. aleph has 2,432 stars, 362 forks, 371 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 2,573% (64,998 vs 2,432 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; aleph is written in JavaScript under MIT. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, aleph 15%. 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 | aleph | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 362 |
| 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 aleph if
- You want the aleph feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and aleph 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 aleph
Aleph is an MIT licensed open source search and browsing tool for large collections of documents and structured data. It indexes PDF, Word, HTML, CSV, XLS, and SQL inputs so users can search mixed evidence sources in one tool. The project lives in the open source data search, graph database, investigative journalism, and OSINT ecosystem, and it is built with investigative reporting as a primary use case.
read the full aleph overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or aleph more popular?
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars and aleph has 2,432. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and aleph free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and aleph is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and aleph?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and aleph in JavaScript. 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 aleph?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (64,998 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose aleph if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.