head to head · open source
TiDB vs rxdb
TiDB has 40,553 GitHub stars, 6,243 forks, 6,976 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rxdb has 23,386 stars, 1,175 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. TiDB leads on adoption by 73% (40,553 vs 23,386 stars). TiDB is written in Go under Apache-2.0; rxdb is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. TiDB has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, rxdb 5%. TiDB was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (database), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| TiDB | rxdb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick TiDB if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rxdb if
- You want the rxdb 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 rxdb fits your workflow better
About TiDB
TiDB is an open source, cloud native, distributed SQL database written in Go and licensed under Apache 2.0, aimed at teams that need ACID transactions, real time analytics, and vector search at scale without data silos.
About rxdb
RxDB is a local first, reactive NoSQL database for JavaScript applications, aimed at developers building offline capable or realtime user interfaces who want client side data storage and sync through their own backend rather than a hosted vendor.
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Frequently asked questions
Is TiDB or rxdb more popular?
TiDB has 40,553 GitHub stars and rxdb has 23,386. TiDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are TiDB and rxdb free?
Both are open source. TiDB is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rxdb under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between TiDB and rxdb?
TiDB is written in Go and rxdb 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, TiDB or rxdb?
Choose TiDB if you want the larger community (40,553 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rxdb if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.