head to head · open source
parse-server vs Zenko
parse-server has 21,398 GitHub stars, 4,811 forks, 561 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Zenko has 675 stars, 92 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parse-server leads on adoption by 3,070% (21,398 vs 675 stars). parse-server is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; Zenko is written in Gherkin under Apache-2.0. parse-server has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Zenko 14%. Zenko was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (mongodb), 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
| parse-server | Zenko | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 675 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Gherkin |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 92 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick parse-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Zenko if
- You want the Zenko feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Gherkin
- You evaluated both and Zenko fits your workflow better
About parse-server
[ ][open collective link] [ ][open collective link] Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Parse Server works with the Express web application framework. It can be added to existing web applications, or run by itself. The full documentation for Parse Server is available in the wiki. The Parse Server guide is a good place to get started. An API reference and Cloud Code guide are also available. If you're interested in developing for Parse Server, the Development guide will help you get set up. A big thank you 🙏 to our sponsors and backers who…
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About Zenko
Zenko Zenko is Scality’s open source multi cloud data controller. Zenko provides a unified namespace, access API, and search capabilities for data stored locally (using Docker volumes or Scality RING) or in public cloud storage services like Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure Blob storage, or Google Cloud Storage. Learn more at Zenko.io. Member of SODA foundation Full Documentation Contributing If you'd like to contribute, please review the Contributing Guidelines. If you have suggestions or questions you can leave the comments on the Discussions in this repository. Overview This repository includes installation…
read the full Zenko overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parse-server or Zenko more popular?
parse-server has 21,398 GitHub stars and Zenko has 675. parse-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are parse-server and Zenko free?
Both are open source. parse-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Zenko under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parse-server and Zenko?
parse-server is written in JavaScript and Zenko in Gherkin. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, parse-server or Zenko?
Choose parse-server if you want the larger community (21,398 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Zenko if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.