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RethinkDB vs SurrealDB: catalog facts
RethinkDBSurrealDB
Free

Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.

Freemium

The database can be run yourself; a fully managed cloud service is also offered.

Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted Windows, Self-hosted, Command line
  • Changefeeds push live query updates to apps
  • Built-in sharding and replication
  • Documents, graphs, vectors and relational data in one engine
  • One query language for SQL, graph and vector search
  • Releases are infrequent
  • ReQL query language takes time to learn
  • Business Source License rather than an OSI open-source license
  • SurrealQL is its own language to learn
Downloadable app, Self-hosted Downloadable app, Self-hosted, Hosted service
Open source Closed source
License: Apache-2.0 License: BUSL-1.1
No account needed Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline Not stated if it works offline

Checked October 2, 2026

Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.