head to head · open source
parse-server vs ZeroFS
parse-server has 21,397 GitHub stars, 4,813 forks, 561 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ZeroFS has 3,164 stars, 128 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. parse-server leads on adoption by 576% (21,397 vs 3,164 stars). parse-server is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; ZeroFS is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. parse-server has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, ZeroFS 4%. parse-server 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
| parse-server | ZeroFS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 3.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 128 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick parse-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ZeroFS if
- You want the ZeroFS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ZeroFS fits your workflow better
About parse-server
[ ][open collective link] [ ][open collective link] Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Parse Server works with the Express web application framework. It can be added to existing web applications, or run by itself. The full documentation for Parse Server is available in the wiki. The Parse Server guide is a good place to get started. An API reference and Cloud Code guide are also available. If you're interested in developing for Parse Server, the Development guide will help you get set up. A big thank you 🙏 to our sponsors and backers who…
read the full parse-server overview →
About ZeroFS
Documentation Quickstart ZeroFS is a log structured filesystem for S3 ZeroFS serves S3 compatible buckets as POSIX filesystems over NFS and 9P, and as raw block devices over NBD. All three servers run in a single userspace process. Data is compressed and encrypted before upload. ZeroFS differentiates itself from other "filesystem on S3" projects by: Being POSIX conformant Reaching near raw S3 throughput on large files, and scaling to workloads of hundreds of millions of small files Handling tens of thousands of requests per second Requiring no external database service (everything is stored on S3) Being well…
read the full ZeroFS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parse-server or ZeroFS more popular?
parse-server has 21,397 GitHub stars and ZeroFS has 3,164. parse-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are parse-server and ZeroFS free?
Both are open source. parse-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ZeroFS under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parse-server and ZeroFS?
parse-server is written in JavaScript and ZeroFS in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, parse-server or ZeroFS?
Choose parse-server if you want the larger community (21,397 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ZeroFS if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.