Updated August 2026
    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    5.1k

    Mathesar: Maintenance, Licence and Alternatives

    Intuitive UI to manage data collaboratively, for users of all technical skill levels. Built on Postgres – connect an existing DB or set up a new one.

    TL;DR • Mathesar • as of August 2026

    Mathesar is an open-source database management project, with 5.1k GitHub stars and a health score of 91/100. It committed 1563 times in the last twelve months across 11 of those months, and its status is actively maintained. Licence: GPL-3.0. It has real momentum, so treat it as a live competitor rather than a stale repository.

    5.1k
    GitHub stars
    91/100
    Health score
    1563
    Commits (12 mo)
    11/12
    Active months

    Maintenance health

    Status Actively maintained — Committed within the last 45 days.
    Last commit 2026-07-13
    Days since last commit 35
    Commits, last 3 months 99
    Commits, last 12 months 1563
    Months with activity 11 of 12
    Last release 2026-07-02
    Archived No
    Licence GPL-3.0
    Category Database Management

    Health score combines commit recency, twelve-month commit volume, months with activity, release recency and archive state. Metadata refreshed August 2026.

    What the licence lets you do

    GPL-3.0

    Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    This matters most when you plan to sell a hosted version. A permissive licence means anyone — including a competitor with more capital — can do the same, so your defensibility has to come from distribution, support or data, not from the code.

    What Mathesar means for your idea

    Contested · 47/100
    Database Management category →

    Mathesar is shipping code consistently, so a buyer comparing your product will find a maintained free option. Price and position against the total cost of self-hosting it, not against the paid incumbent's list price.

    Winnable, but differentiation is not optional. Pick one underserved segment and be visibly better for it rather than competing feature-for-feature with a free tool.

    Mathesar: common questions

    Is Mathesar still maintained in 2026?

    Actively maintained. Mathesar recorded 1563 commits over the last twelve months, with activity in 11 of those months and 99 commits in the last quarter. Last commit: 2026-07-13. Last release: 2026-07-02. Committed within the last 45 days.

    Can I use Mathesar commercially?

    Mathesar is published under GPL-3.0. Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    How crowded is the Database Management category?

    20 open-source implementations, 11 of them actively maintained, led by NocoDB at 65k stars. Saturation score 47/100 — Contested. Several maintained alternatives exist, but no one owns the category.

    Mathesar alternatives in Database Management

    NocoDB

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    65k

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    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    SUL-1.0

    MindsDB

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    40k

    AI layer for existing databases that allows you to effortlessly develop, train and deploy state-of-the-art machine learning models using standard queries.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    Elastic-2.0

    Directus

    Alternative to Contentful

    37k

    An Instant App & API for your SQL Database. Directus wraps your new or existing SQL database with a realtime GraphQL+REST API for developers, and an intuitive admin app for non-technical users.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    BUSL-1.1

    ChartDB

    Database Management

    23k

    Database diagrams editor that allows you to visualize and design your DB with a single query.

    Slowing down
    AGPL-3.0

    Bytebase

    Database Management

    14k

    Safe database schema change and version control for DevOps teams, supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, TiDB, ClickHouse, and Snowflake.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    MIT

    Datasette

    Database Management

    11k

    Explore and publish data with easy import and export and database management.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    Apache-2.0

    Competing with free? Check the market first.

    IdeaProof scores your idea against live competitors, market size and 1,000+ documented startup failures in about two minutes.