Adminer vs json-server
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options
— licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one
replaces.
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Compare Adminer with
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Compare json-server with
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Feature Adminer json-server Category Developer Tools & Git Developer Tools & Git License Apache-2.0 MIT Language PHP JavaScript Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 512 MB 128 MB Deployment bare-metal source, docker GitHub stars ★ 7,544 ★ 75,695 First released 2026 2014 Replaces — Mockoon, Postman Mock
Why pick each one
Choose Adminer if… Released under the Apache-2.0 license Mature project with 7.5k GitHub stars Written in PHP Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM Adminer details Choose json-server if… Released under the MIT license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly First-class Docker support for quick deployment Mature project with 75.7k GitHub stars json-server details
Frequently asked questions Is Adminer or json-server better? json-server is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Adminer if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Adminer and json-server free and open-source? Yes. Adminer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and json-server under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Adminer and json-server with Docker? Adminer: check the project docs for container support. json-server: yes.