head to head · open source
PocketBase vs rea
PocketBase has 61,333 GitHub stars, 3,728 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rea has 29,472 stars, 3,500 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped today. PocketBase leads on adoption by 108% (61,333 vs 29,472 stars). PocketBase is written in Go under MIT; rea is written in TypeScript under MIT. PocketBase has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, rea 12%. rea 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
| PocketBase | rea | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 61K | ★ 29K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.7K | ⑂ 3.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PocketBase if
- You weight community size — 61K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rea if
- You want the rea feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and rea fits your workflow better
About PocketBase
PocketBase is an open source backend framework written in Go that bundles a SQLite database, authentication, file storage, admin dashboard, and REST API into a single executable file. It lives in the Go ecosystem and targets developers who want a lightweight, self contained backend without managing separate services like PostgreSQL, Redis, or a separate auth server.
read the full PocketBase overview →
About rea
REA is an open source MCP server and CLI that lets AI coding agents — and your terminal — reverse engineer native binaries, JavaScript and Electron apps, .NET assemblies, and websites, with evidence attached to every conclusion.
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Frequently asked questions
Is PocketBase or rea more popular?
PocketBase has 61,333 GitHub stars and rea has 29,472. PocketBase has the larger community by that measure.
Are PocketBase and rea free?
Both are open source. PocketBase is licensed under MIT and rea under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PocketBase and rea?
PocketBase is written in Go and rea 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, PocketBase or rea?
Choose PocketBase if you want the larger community (61,333 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rea if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.