head to head · open source
NocoDB vs gel
NocoDB has 65,408 GitHub stars, 5,131 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gel has 14,180 stars, 454 forks, 948 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 361% (65,408 vs 14,180 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; gel is written in Python under Apache-2.0. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, gel 3%. 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 | gel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 14K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2025-12-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 454 |
| 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 gel if
- You want the gel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and gel fits your workflow better
About NocoDB
NocoDB is the fastest and easiest way to build databases online. Website • Discord • Community • Twitter • Reddit • Documentation See other languages » Join Our Community Installation Docker with SQLite Docker with PG Auto upstall Auto upstall is a single command that sets up NocoDB on a server for production usage. Behind the scenes it auto generates docker compose for you. bash bash install.nocodb.com/noco.sh script can be found here in our github Other Methods Binaries are only for quick testing locally. When running locally access nocodb by visiting: For more installation methods, please refer to our docs…
read the full NocoDB overview →
About gel
Gel Learn: build an app with Gel • Website • Docs • Blog • Discord • Twitter What is Gel? Gel is a new kind of database that takes the best parts of relational databases, graph databases, and ORMs. We call it a graph relational database . 🧩 Types, not tables 🧩 Schema is the foundation of your application. It should be something you can read, write, and understand. Forget foreign keys; tabular data modeling is a relic of an older age, and it isn't compatible with modern languages. Instead, Gel thinks about schema the same way you do: as object types containing properties connected by links . This example is…
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Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or gel more popular?
NocoDB has 65,408 GitHub stars and gel has 14,180. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and gel free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and gel is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and gel?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and gel in Python. 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 gel?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (65,408 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose gel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.