Gaffer vs Ontop
Gaffer is a other database; Ontop is a rdf database. Gaffer (2015-12, Apache-2.0, Java) ranks #66 this month; Ontop (2009, Apache-2.0, Java) ranks #18.
| Attribute | Gaffer | Ontop |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Rank | #66 | #18 |
| Score | 44.4 | 57.0 |
| GitHub stars | 1.8k | 976 |
| Popularity | 57.9 | 58.4 |
| Activity | 42.8 | 49.4 |
| Community | 30.3 | 65.6 |
| Research | — | 54.8 |
| Fundamentals | ||
| Description | A graph database framework with pluggable storage backends (Accumulo, HBase, Parquet). Developed by GCHQ for large-scale graph analysis with built-in timestamp management. | A Virtual Knowledge Graph system that exposes relational databases as RDF knowledge graphs, translating SPARQL queries into SQL without moving data. Uses R2RML mappings and lightweight ontologies. |
| Vendor | GCHQ | Ontopic |
| Model | Other | RDF |
| Kind | query-engine | query-engine |
| Category | Established | Established |
| First released | 2015-12 | 2009 |
| Status | deprecated — Repository archived by GCHQ; last change June 2025. | active |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Query languages | Custom API | SPARQL |
| gdotv support | no | no |
Feature scores — not surveyed for Ontop
| Feature | Gaffer | Ontop |
|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||
| Active development | ✓ | — |
| Commercial support | · | — |
| Live community | · | — |
| Open Source | ✓ | — |
| Pricing | · | — |
| Trendiness | · | — |
| Deployment | ||
| Containerization | · | — |
| Work as dedicated instance | · | — |
| Work as embedded | · | — |
| Testing in-memory version | · | — |
| Platform | ||
| Operating on Linux | ✓ | — |
| Operating on Windows | ✓ | — |
| SaaS offering | · | — |
| Operations | ||
| Automatic updates | · | — |
| Client side caching | · | — |
| Data versioning support | · | — |
| Live backups | · | — |
| Distribution | ||
| Cluster Re-balancing | · | — |
| Data Distribution | ✓ | — |
| High-Availability | · | — |
| Query Distribution | ✓ | — |
| Replication support | ✓ | — |
| Developer Experience | ||
| Data types defined | 0.5 | — |
| Logging/Auditing | ✓ | — |
| Object-Graph Mapper | ✓ | — |
| Reactive programming | · | — |
| Documentation up-to-date | ✓ | — |
| Binary protocol | · | — |
| CLI | · | — |
| GUI | · | — |
| Data Model | ||
| Multi-database | · | — |
| Graph-native data | ✓ | — |
| REST API | ✓ | — |
| Query Language | · | — |
| Transactions | ||
| Granular locking | · | — |
| Multiple isolation levels | · | — |
| Read committed transaction | · | — |
| Transaction support | ✓ | — |
| Schema & Security | ||
| Constraints | · | — |
| Schema support | ✓ | — |
| Secondary indexes | · | — |
| Server side procedures | · | — |
| Triggers | · | — |
| Authentication | ✓ | — |
| Authorization | ✓ | — |
| Data encryption | · | — |
Links
- Gaffer · website · github · full profile
- Ontop · website · github · full profile