Neo4j vs SurrealDB
Neo4j is a property graph database; SurrealDB is a multiple database. Neo4j (2007, GPL-3.0, Java) ranks #1 this month; SurrealDB (2022, BSL-1.1, Rust) ranks #14. They differ on 10 of 46 surveyed features.
| Attribute |  Neo4j |  SurrealDB |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Rank | #1 | #14 |
| Score | 78.8 | 60.1 |
| GitHub stars | 17k | 32.8k |
| Popularity | 93.8 | 65.3 |
| Activity | 82.8 | 71.8 |
| Community | 77.2 | 61.0 |
| Research | 98.6 | 50.4 |
| Fundamentals | ||
| Description | A property graph database that stores data as fixed-size records in linked lists for index-free adjacency traversal. Offers community and commercial editions with an extensive graph algorithms library. | A multi-model database written in Rust that combines document, graph, and relational paradigms. Uses inter-document record links for graph traversals, with ACID transactions and row-level permissions. |
| Vendor | Neo4j Inc | SurrealDB |
| Model | Property Graph | Multiple |
| Kind | database | database |
| Category | Established | Growing |
| First released | 2007 | 2022 |
| Status | active | active |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSL-1.1 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Query languages | Cypher, GQL | SurrealQL, GraphQL, GQL |
| gdotv support | yes | no |
Feature scores 10 of 46 rows differ
| Feature | Neo4j | SurrealDB |
|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||
| Active development | ✓ | ✓ |
| Commercial support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live community | ✓ | 0.75 |
| Open Source | ✓ | 0.5 |
| Pricing | 0.5 | ✓ |
| 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 | ✓ | 0.5 |
| Read committed transaction | ✓ | ✓ |
| Transaction support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Schema & Security | ||
| Constraints | ✓ | ✓ |
| Schema support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Secondary indexes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Server side procedures | ✓ | ✓ |
| Triggers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Authentication | ✓ | ✓ |
| Authorization | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data encryption | · | 0.5 |
Links
- Neo4j · website · github · full profile
- SurrealDB · website · github · full profile