head to head · open source
NocoDB vs WatermelonDB
NocoDB has 65,408 GitHub stars, 5,131 forks, 710 open issues and last shipped yesterday. WatermelonDB has 11,797 stars, 663 forks, 304 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. NocoDB leads on adoption by 454% (65,408 vs 11,797 stars). NocoDB is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; WatermelonDB is written in JavaScript under MIT. NocoDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, WatermelonDB 6%. NocoDB was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| NocoDB | WatermelonDB | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 65K | ★ 12K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.1K | ⑂ 663 |
| 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 WatermelonDB if
- You want the WatermelonDB feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and WatermelonDB 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 WatermelonDB
A reactive database framework Build powerful React and React Native apps that scale from hundreds to tens of thousands of records and remain fast ⚡️ Why Watermelon? WatermelonDB is a new way of dealing with user data in React Native and React web apps. It's optimized for building complex applications in React Native, and the number one goal is real world performance . In simple words, your app must launch fast . For simple apps, using Redux or MobX with a persistence adapter is the easiest way to go. But when you start scaling to thousands or tens of thousands of database records, your app will now be slow to…
read the full WatermelonDB overview →
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 WatermelonDB more popular?
NocoDB has 65,408 GitHub stars and WatermelonDB has 11,797. NocoDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoDB and WatermelonDB free?
Both are open source. NocoDB has no licence declared in this registry, and WatermelonDB is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoDB and WatermelonDB?
NocoDB is written in TypeScript and WatermelonDB 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 WatermelonDB?
Choose NocoDB if you want the larger community (65,408 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose WatermelonDB if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.