head to head · open source
parse-server vs ZeroFS
parse-server has 21,410 GitHub stars, 4,806 forks, 561 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ZeroFS has 3,078 stars, 119 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped today. parse-server leads on adoption by 596% (21,410 vs 3,078 stars). parse-server is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; ZeroFS is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. parse-server has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, ZeroFS 4%. ZeroFS was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| parse-server | ZeroFS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 119 |
| 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 ZeroFS if
- You want the ZeroFS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ZeroFS fits your workflow better
About parse-server
Parse Server is an open source backend, built for Node.js and the Express web application framework, that can be deployed to any infrastructure able to run Node.js and that serves applications written against the Parse Platform.
read the full parse-server overview →
About ZeroFS
ZeroFS is a log structured filesystem written in Rust that presents S3 compatible buckets as POSIX filesystems over NFS and 9P, and as raw block devices over NBD, for teams that want object storage to behave like ordinary local storage.
read the full ZeroFS overview →
More in Data & Analytics
Related comparisons
More Data Warehousing & Processing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Data Warehousing & Processing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is parse-server or ZeroFS more popular?
parse-server has 21,410 GitHub stars and ZeroFS has 3,078. parse-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are parse-server and ZeroFS free?
Both are open source. parse-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZeroFS under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parse-server and ZeroFS?
parse-server is written in JavaScript and ZeroFS 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, parse-server or ZeroFS?
Choose parse-server if you want the larger community (21,410 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ZeroFS if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.