C++ graph databases compared
Graph databases implemented in C++.
25 active c++ graph databases are in the catalogue. They are written mostly in C++, 16 are open source, and 9 carry survey feature scores. Kuzu, Cray Graph Engine, KatanaGraph are no longer active and listed separately below.
| Attribute |  ArangoDB |  Memgraph |  TigerGraph |  SAP Hana |  NebulaGraph |  TAO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||||||
| Rank | #2 | #4 | #23 | #24 | #49 | #65 |
| Score | 67.5 | 65.3 | 57.1 | 56.7 | 48.9 | 44.8 |
| GitHub stars | 14.2k | 4.3k | — | — | 12.3k | — |
| Popularity | 87.7 | 66.6 | 40.3 | 74.2 | 71.5 | 37.0 |
| Activity | 74.0 | 81.9 | 89.6 | 49.8 | 34.4 | 95.5 |
| Community | 52.0 | 69.2 | 57.4 | 43.4 | 38.2 | 51.6 |
| Research | 78.9 | 56.4 | 60.6 | 97.3 | 52.4 | — |
| Fundamentals | ||||||
| Description | A multi-model database supporting graphs, key-value pairs, and documents in a unified JSON-based data model. Offers both an in-memory storage engine and a RocksDB-based engine for larger datasets. | An in-memory property graph database with ACID transactions and strong consistency. Includes the MAGE library of graph algorithms and supports real-time streaming ingestion. | A distributed property graph database (formerly GraphSQL) built for massively parallel processing and graph analytics. Uses the SQL-like GSQL query language and supports ACID transactions. Available in developer, cloud, and enterprise editions. | A multi-model in-memory database with built-in graph engine supporting both property graphs and knowledge graphs. Provides built-in graph algorithms for path finding and network analysis. Part of SAP Business Technology Platform. | A distributed property graph database with separated storage and computation layers, enabling horizontal scaling. Uses a custom SQL-like query language (nGQL) and supports ACID transactions. | A distributed graph store built by Meta (Facebook) for serving the social graph at scale. Shards data across MySQL instances with a caching layer, later extended with the RAMP-TAO protocol for geo-distributed atomic visibility. Not available as a standalone product. |
| Vendor | ArangoDB Inc | Memgraph | TigerGraph | SAP | Vesoft | Meta |
| Model | Multiple | Property Graph | Property Graph | Multiple | Property Graph | Other |
| Kind | database | database | database | database | database | database |
| Category | Enterprise | Enterprise | Established | Enterprise | Established | Established |
| First released | 2012-03 | 2018 | 2017 | 2010 | 2019-05 | 2012 |
| Status | active | active | active | active | active | active |
| License | BSL-1.1 | BSL-1.1 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 | Proprietary |
| Written in | C++ | C++ | C++ | C++ | C++ | C++ |
| Query languages | AQL | openCypher | GSQL | SQL, openCypher, GraphScript | nGQL | TAO API |
| gdotv support | no | yes | no | no | no | no |
Feature scores 40 of 46 rows differ
| Feature | ArangoDB | Memgraph | TigerGraph | SAP Hana | NebulaGraph | TAO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||||||
| Active development | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 0.5 | ✓ | · |
| Commercial support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Live community | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | · | ✓ | · |
| Open Source | ✓ | · | · | · | ✓ | · |
| Pricing | · | · | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Trendiness | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.5 | ✓ | · | · |
| Deployment | ||||||
| Containerization | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Work as dedicated instance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Work as embedded | · | · | ✓ | · | · | · |
| Testing in-memory version | ✓ | 0.75 | 0.5 | · | · | · |
| Platform | ||||||
| Operating on Linux | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Operating on Windows | ✓ | 0.5 | 0.5 | · | 0.5 | · |
| SaaS offering | · | ✓ | · | ✓ | 0.5 | · |
| Operations | ||||||
| Automatic updates | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Client side caching | · | · | · | ✓ | · | ✓ |
| Data versioning support | · | · | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Live backups | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Distribution | ||||||
| Cluster Re-balancing | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Data Distribution | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| High-Availability | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Query Distribution | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Replication support | ✓ | ✓ | 0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Developer Experience | ||||||
| Data types defined | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Logging/Auditing | ✓ | ✓ | 0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Object-Graph Mapper | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Reactive programming | · | · | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Documentation up-to-date | ✓ | 0.75 | 0.75 | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Binary protocol | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| CLI | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| GUI | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Data Model | ||||||
| Multi-database | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | · | · |
| Graph-native data | · | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ | · |
| REST API | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | 0.5 | ✓ |
| Query Language | 0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | · | · | · |
| Transactions | ||||||
| Granular locking | · | · | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Multiple isolation levels | · | · | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Read committed transaction | · | ✓ | 0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Transaction support | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Schema & Security | ||||||
| Constraints | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ | · | · |
| Schema support | 0.5 | 0.75 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Secondary indexes | ✓ | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Server side procedures | 0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Triggers | · | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Authentication | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Authorization | 0.5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | · |
| Data encryption | ✓ | · | ✓ | ✓ | · | · |
All 25 engines
| Name | Vendor | Model | Category | GitHub stars | License | Written in | Query languages | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LadybugDB | LadybugDB | Property Graph | Growing | 1.5k | MIT | C++ | openCypher | #11 |
| QLever | University of Freiburg | RDF | Emerging | 873 | Apache-2.0 | C++ | SPARQL | #12 |
| MarkLogic | Progress Software | Multiple | Enterprise | — | Proprietary | C++ | SPARQL, XQuery, SQL | #40 |
| GraphScope | Alibaba | Property Graph | Growing | 3.6k | Apache-2.0 | C++ | Gremlin, openCypher | #43 |
| DuckPGQ | CWI Database Architectures Group | Property Graph | Emerging | 468 | MIT | C++ | SQL/PGQ | #46 |
| TuGraph | Ant Group | Property Graph | Established | 1.8k | Apache-2.0 | C++ | openCypher, GQL | #48 |
| TuringDB | Turing Biosystems | Property Graph | Emerging | 175 | BSL-1.1 | C++ | openCypher | #53 |
| gStore | Peking University | RDF | Emerging | 836 | BSD-3-Clause | C++ | SPARQL | #57 |
| RDFox | Samsung | RDF | Enterprise | — | Proprietary | C++ | SPARQL | #61 |
| NeuG | Alibaba | Property Graph | Emerging | 130 | Apache-2.0 | C++ | openCypher | #63 |
| Kinetica | Kinetica | Multiple | Established | — | Proprietary | C++ | SQL | #68 |
| Sparksee | Sparsity Technologies | Property Graph | Established | — | Proprietary | C++ | openCypher | #78 |
| Altair Graph Lakehouse | Altair | RDF | Enterprise | — | Proprietary | C++ | SPARQL, openCypher | #89 |
| RyuGraph | Predictable Labs | Property Graph | Emerging | 139 | MIT | C++ | openCypher | #92 |
| Bighorn | Kineviz | Property Graph | Emerging | 132 | MIT | C++ | openCypher | #104 |
| MillenniumDB | IMFD Chile | Multiple | Emerging | 261 | GPL-2.0 | C++ | GQL, SPARQL | #106 |
| TurboLynx | POSTECH (DSLab) | Property Graph | Emerging | 25 | MIT | C++ | openCypher | #119 |
| BangDB | BangDB | Other | Emerging | 59 | BSD-3-Clause | C++ | openCypher | #127 |
| Tentris | DICE Research Group, Paderborn University | RDF | Emerging | — | Proprietary | C++ | SPARQL | #133 |
No longer active
- Kuzu — Acquired by Apple in October 2025. Repository archived. Continued as LadybugDB and Bighorn forks.
- Cray Graph Engine — Discontinued after HPE acquired Cray in 2019. Product was not carried forward.
- KatanaGraph — Katana Graph shut down in 2023. GitHub repositories archived.
- ByteGraph — ByteDance internal system. Not publicly available.
- Objectivity/DB — Objectivity Inc ceased operations in late 2023.
- Weaver — Academic research prototype. No active development.
- G-Tran — Academic research prototype. No active development.
- LiveGraph — Academic research prototype. No active development.
- IBM System G — IBM discontinued System G. No longer available.