head to head · open source
NocoDB vs gel
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars, 5,055 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gel has 14,170 stars, 450 forks, 948 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 359% (65,002 vs 14,170 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| NocoDB | gel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 14K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2025-12-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 450 |
| 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 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 gel
Gel is an open source graph relational database, written in Python and released under Apache 2.0, that gives application developers a declarative object type schema, the EdgeQL query language, a migrations system, client libraries and a command line tool in place of hand written SQL and a separate ORM layer.
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Databases projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Databases field.
Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or gel more popular?
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars and gel has 14,170. 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 (65,002 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.