head to head · open source
NocoDB vs knex
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars, 5,054 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped yesterday. knex has 20,344 stars, 2,222 forks, 751 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 219% (64,998 vs 20,344 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; knex is written in JavaScript under MIT. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, knex 11%. NocoDB 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 | knex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 20K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 2.2K |
| 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 knex if
- You want the knex feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and knex 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 knex
Knex is an open source SQL query builder for Node.js that targets PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MySQL, CockroachDB, Microsoft SQL Server, SQLite3 and Oracle, and it is aimed at JavaScript and TypeScript developers who need one query API across several database engines instead of hand written SQL per dialect.
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Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or knex more popular?
NocoDB has 64,998 GitHub stars and knex has 20,344. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and knex free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and knex is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and knex?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and knex 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 knex?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (64,998 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose knex if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.