head to head · open source
shardingsphere vs API
shardingsphere has 20,800 GitHub stars, 6,900 forks, 197 open issues and last shipped yesterday. API has 2,503 stars, 622 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. shardingsphere leads on adoption by 731% (20,800 vs 2,503 stars). shardingsphere is written in Java under Apache-2.0; API is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. shardingsphere has attracted 33% as many forks as stars, API 25%. shardingsphere 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 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| shardingsphere | API | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 622 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick shardingsphere if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick API if
- You want the API feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and API fits your workflow better
About shardingsphere
Apache ShardingSphere is an Apache 2.0 licensed, Java based distributed database ecosystem positioned as Database Plus — a standards and enhancement layer that sits above heterogeneous databases so applications can connect to, govern, and compute across them as if they were one database, aimed at enterprise data architects and developers running sharded, multi database estates.
read the full shardingsphere overview →
About API
API is an open source JavaScript service for disease statistics under GPL 3.0. It lives in the JavaScript data API ecosystem and publishes information about COVID 19, Influenza, and related disease tracking topics. The project gives users one API for global case overviews, city or region mobility data, and official government data for some countries.
More in Data & Analytics
Related comparisons
More Data Engineering & Integration projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Data Engineering & Integration field.
Frequently asked questions
Is shardingsphere or API more popular?
shardingsphere has 20,800 GitHub stars and API has 2,503. shardingsphere has the larger community by that measure.
Are shardingsphere and API free?
Both are open source. shardingsphere is licensed under Apache-2.0 and API under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shardingsphere and API?
shardingsphere is written in Java and API 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, shardingsphere or API?
Choose shardingsphere if you want the larger community (20,800 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose API if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.