head to head · open source
NocoDB vs dbx
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars, 5,054 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dbx has 19,957 stars, 1,937 forks, 1,406 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NocoDB leads on adoption by 226% (64,998 vs 19,957 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; dbx is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, dbx 10%. dbx was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (postgresql), 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.
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Side by side
| NocoDB | dbx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 20K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| 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 dbx if
- You want the dbx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and dbx 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 dbx
dbx is a roughly 25 MB cross platform database client written in Rust that connects to more than 90 databases and ships as a desktop application, a Docker container, a CLI, and a browser based web version, aimed at developers and teams who want a single lightweight tool for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis, MongoDB, DuckDB, SQL Server, Dameng, and many others.
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Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or dbx more popular?
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars and dbx has 19,957. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and dbx free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and dbx is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and dbx?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and dbx in Rust. 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 dbx?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (64,998 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose dbx if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.