head to head · open source
Pearcleaner vs portabase
Pearcleaner has 15,029 GitHub stars, 401 forks, 84 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. portabase has 1,867 stars, 145 forks, 33 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Pearcleaner leads on adoption by 705% (15,029 vs 1,867 stars). Pearcleaner is written in Swift under a custom or non-standard licence; portabase is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Pearcleaner has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, portabase 8%. portabase 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.
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Side by side
| Pearcleaner | portabase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Swift | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-06-22 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 401 | ⑂ 145 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Pearcleaner if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick portabase if
- You want the portabase feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and portabase fits your workflow better
About Pearcleaner
Pearcleaner Website The only legitimate website owned by me is Anything else offering Pearcleaner downloads is either a scam or not affiliated with me. More details HERE. Project Status: On Hold As you may have noticed, development on the app has basically stopped since end of 2025, so I wanted to provide some context. Between a new job, joining a friend who is building a SaaS company, and other life priorities, I no longer have the time needed to actively maintain or continue development on the project. Another major reason is that I previously relied on my work MacBook for development. After changing jobs, I…
read the full Pearcleaner overview →
About portabase
Portabase Portabase is a tool designed to simplify the backup and restoration of your database instances. It integrates seamlessly with Portabase agents for managing operations securely and efficiently. [![NextJS][NextJS]][NextJS url] [![BetterAuth][BetterAuth]][BetterAuth url] [![Drizzle][Drizzle]][Drizzle url] [![ShadcnUI][ShadcnUI]][ShadcnUI url] [![Docker][Docker]][Docker url] Website • Documentation • Demo • Installation • Report Bug • Request Feature Installation You have 5 ways to install Portabase: Automated CLI (recommended) details Docker Run details Docker Compose setup details Unraid Community Apps…
read the full portabase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pearcleaner or portabase more popular?
Pearcleaner has 15,029 GitHub stars and portabase has 1,867. Pearcleaner has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pearcleaner and portabase free?
Both are open source. Pearcleaner has no licence declared in this registry, and portabase is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Pearcleaner and portabase?
Pearcleaner is written in Swift and portabase in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Pearcleaner or portabase?
Choose Pearcleaner if you want the larger community (15,029 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose portabase if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.