head to head · open source
shardingsphere vs OpenContracts
shardingsphere has 20,800 GitHub stars, 6,900 forks, 197 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenContracts has 1,481 stars, 189 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped yesterday. shardingsphere leads on adoption by 1,304% (20,800 vs 1,481 stars). shardingsphere is written in Java under Apache-2.0; OpenContracts is written in Python under MIT. shardingsphere has attracted 33% as many forks as stars, OpenContracts 13%. OpenContracts 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
| shardingsphere | OpenContracts | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 189 |
| 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 OpenContracts if
- You want the OpenContracts feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and OpenContracts 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 OpenContracts
OpenContracts is an MIT licensed, self hosted document intelligence platform that turns a repository of documents into a programmable citation graph, built for builders and hackers who need a document management system for the agentic world as much as a place to store files.
read the full OpenContracts overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is shardingsphere or OpenContracts more popular?
shardingsphere has 20,800 GitHub stars and OpenContracts has 1,481. shardingsphere has the larger community by that measure.
Are shardingsphere and OpenContracts free?
Both are open source. shardingsphere is licensed under Apache-2.0 and OpenContracts under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between shardingsphere and OpenContracts?
shardingsphere is written in Java and OpenContracts in Python. 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 OpenContracts?
Choose shardingsphere if you want the larger community (20,800 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenContracts if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.