ShareDB VS Yjs

ShareDB

Realtime database backend based on Operational Transformation (OT)

Yjs

A CRDT framework with a powerful abstraction of shared data, Shared data types for building collaborative software

Landing page //
2023-09-02

Landing page //
2023-09-01

ShareDB features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Yjs features and specs

Real-time Collaboration
Yjs enables real-time collaborative editing, allowing multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously without conflicts.
Conflict-free Replicated Data Type (CRDT)
Yjs employs CRDTs to automatically resolve changes and conflicts, eliminating the need for complex merging algorithms.
Scalability
The framework is designed to efficiently handle a large number of users, making it suitable for large-scale collaborative applications.
Offline Editing
Yjs supports offline editing, allowing users to make changes while disconnected from the network and synchronizing them once back online.
Language Agnostic
Yjs can be integrated with different programming languages, making it flexible for various tech stacks.
Open Source
As an open-source library, Yjs provides full transparency of its codebase and fosters a supportive community for continuous improvement.

Possible disadvantages of Yjs

Complexity of CRDTs
While powerful, CRDTs introduce a level of complexity that might be challenging for developers unfamiliar with distributed systems.
Learning Curve
Developers may need time to understand and effectively implement Yjs, especially if they are new to real-time collaboration frameworks.
Integration Overhead
Adding Yjs to an existing application might require significant changes in the architecture, particularly if the app wasn't initially designed for real-time collaboration.
Performance Overhead
Handling a large amount of operational transformations in real-time can introduce performance overhead, especially in less optimized implementations.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ShareDB and Yjs)

Yjs

Developer Tools

34 34%

Developer Tools

66% 66

Databases

26 26%

Databases

74% 74

NoSQL Databases

45 45%

NoSQL Databases

55% 55

JavaScript

100 100%

JavaScript

0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using ShareDB and Yjs. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Yjs seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 19 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ShareDB mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ShareDB yet. Tracking of ShareDB recommendations started around Jun 2023.

Yjs mentions (19)

Multi-player Mode is Everywhere, Even in Dev Tools
Of course, you don’t have to code this functionality from scratch! You can also look at open-source software like Yjs, text-crdt, Automerge and so many more. Alternatively, you can check out tools like Liveblocks, Ably, etc. Which enable collaborative multi-player features. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
Show HN: JuntOS – A shared Pomodoro and focus tools
I've built this app some time ago but only shared with close friends. It has been useful for me so I decided to share here. It works by sharing state with yjs [1], as long as you are in the same session, i.e. The same path. https://github.com/yjs/yjs. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
Oops.js
I write undo/redo/history in web/JS extensively. This the best lib out there for such tasks IMHO: https://github.com/yjs/yjs And you're right. You don't want undo/redo only in multi-user apps. You want to have each user have their own local undo/redo events that they can apply and unapply from the shared state which has its own events apart from each user. Everyone... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
Oops.js
After reviewing the ~600 lines of code, I have to ask what about this undo/redo manager is "advanced"? This seems like a naive implementation of a snapshot collection that is selected via array index. It's not event sourcing, OT or CRDT. With every event, the entire object is serialized and put into the heap. I can't even imagine what this does for performance when you deal with any object of significant size.... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
An Interactive Intro to CRDTs
I've seen it come up often in collaborative text editors. Also see: https://github.com/yjs/yjs. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ShareDB and Yjs, you can also consider the following products

RxDB - A fast, offline-first, reactive Database for JavaScript Applications

GUN - Self-hosted Firebase.

SignalDB - SignalDB is a reactive, local-first JavaScript database designed for modern web applications. It combines signal-based reactivity with powerful local data management and real-time synchronization capabilities.

Thymer - Web-based Project management and task planning for people who hate project management and task planning. For individuals, teams and small businesses.

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

PouchDB - Open-source JavaScript database inspired by Apache CouchDB that's designed to run well within the browser