head to head · open source
NocoDB vs rainfrog
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars, 5,055 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. rainfrog has 5,337 stars, 95 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 1,118% (65,002 vs 5,337 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; rainfrog is written in Rust under MIT. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, rainfrog 2%. 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 | rainfrog | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 5.3K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 95 |
| 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 rainfrog if
- You want the rainfrog feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and rainfrog 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 rainfrog
rainfrog is a lightweight, MIT licensed terminal database client written in Rust, built for developers and operators who want to browse schemas, run queries, and inspect tables against PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and similar engines without leaving the shell.
read the full rainfrog overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NocoDB or rainfrog more popular?
NocoDB has 65,002 GitHub stars and rainfrog has 5,337. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and rainfrog free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and rainfrog is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and rainfrog?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and rainfrog 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 rainfrog?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (65,002 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose rainfrog if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.