head to head · open source
NocoDB vs pony
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars, 5,055 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. pony has 3,818 stars, 255 forks, 358 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 1,603% (65,002 vs 3,818 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; pony is written in Python under Apache-2.0. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, pony 7%. 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 | pony | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 255 |
| 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 pony if
- You want the pony 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 pony 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 pony
Pony is an Apache 2.0 licensed Python object relational mapper that maps Python classes to relational tables and translates generator expression and lambda queries into SQL for SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Oracle.
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Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or pony more popular?
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars and pony has 3,818. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and pony free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and pony is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and pony?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and pony 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 pony?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (65,002 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose pony if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.