system-design-101 vs union
system-design-101 and union are two comparable projects, each with trade-offs depending on your needs. Both have comparable adoption (83,469 and 73,965 stars). union scores higher on our maintenance health metric (100 vs 60). union has seen more recent activity.
| system-design-101 | union | |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | A wildly popular educational repository that explains software architecture and system design concepts using visual diagrams and plain-language explanations. It covers API/web development, real-world engineering case studies from companies like Netflix and Uber, databases, messaging, and AI/ML fundamentals, aimed at interview prep and general understanding. | Union is a trust-minimized, zero-knowledge interoperability protocol for general message passing, asset transfers, NFTs, and cross-chain communication between blockchains. It is built in Rust without relying on trusted third parties, oracles, or multisigs, instead using consensus verification and ZK proofs. |
| Category | AI | AI |
| Language | — | Rust |
| License | — | — |
| Stars | 83,469 | 73,965 |
| Downloads/wk | — | — |
| Security | Clean | — |
| Health | 60 | 100 |
| Last commit | 4/4/2025 | 6/13/2026 |
| Source | GitHub | GitHub |