Open source backend projects
Every project in the registry tagged backend, ranked by real GitHub adoption.
Open-source backend platform for rapid app development
Effortless deployment and management for any VPS
Parse Server for Node.js / Express
🦔 Fast, lightweight & schema-less search backend. An alternative to Elasticsearch that runs on a few MBs of RAM.
Build full-stack apps with TypeScript and real-time sync
Accelerate backend development with effortless scalability
Serverless backend platform for modern app development
Build powerful backends without leaving your browser
Run any process, on your machine or in an AI agent's environment, as if it were a pod in your Kubernetes cluster: real env vars, DNS, network, traffic.
PostgreSQL ➕ REST, low-code, simplify and accelerate development, ⚡ instant, realtime, high-performance on any Postgres application, existing or new, MCP server
Network inspector for your backend
Guia de Back-end: trilhas, cursos, livros, canais, ferramentas e comunidades para você entrar e evoluir na área.
Self-Hosted API Management for Builders
Cloud-native framework for infrastructure from code
SonicJS - The edge-native headless CMS for Cloudflare Workers. Sub-100ms response times, zero cold starts, TypeScript-first. Built on D1, R2, and Hono.
Instant SECURE Full Stack Apps and AI Agents
Open source CMS with powerful drag-and-drop builder
Simple, modular, and observable Go framework for backend applications.
Build complete web apps with integrated graph database
All-in-One Backend as a Service with Headless CMS Power
VaahCMS is a laravel based open-source web application development platform shipped with a headless content management system (CMS).
A platform for packaging and launching blockchain infra. Think docker compose for blockchain
The Supabase of AI era. A modular, open-source backend for building AI-native software — designed for knowledge, not static data.
Create and manage forms with ease
Related tags
Frequently asked questions
How many open source backend projects are there?
This registry tracks 24 projects tagged backend, with 208,535 GitHub stars between them. The most-adopted is Appwrite at 57,854 stars.
Are these backend projects free to use?
Yes — 20 of the 24 carry an explicit open-source licence across 5 distinct licences, so there is no licence fee. Where a project also sells a hosted or enterprise version, the self-hosted path remains free.
Which backend project should I choose?
The list above is ranked by GitHub stars, but stars measure attention rather than fit. Check three things on each card: the licence (permissive versus copyleft), the language it is written in, and the last-push date — a high-star project that has not been pushed in a year is a liability.
Are these backend projects still maintained?
18 of the 24 were pushed in the last 90 days, and every card shows its exact last-push date so you can see the rest. Sort your shortlist by that date before committing to a migration.