GDB-Engines

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NodeDB

A multi-model database written in Rust that runs document, key-value, columnar, timeseries, spatial, vector, and array engines in a single binary over shared storage, with graph and full-text search as cross-engine overlays on any collection. Its graph overlay uses a CSR adjacency index with 13 built-in algorithms and a Cypher-subset MATCH syntax, and fuses graph traversal with vector search in a single query for GraphRAG. Speaks SQL over a native MessagePack protocol and the PostgreSQL wire protocol, alongside HTTP/REST, WebSocket, RESP, and ILP.

Visit website GitHub 194 stars
Overall rank
#103
First released
April 2026
License
BUSL-1.1
Built with
Rust

Details

Vendor
NodeDB-Lab
Type
Multiple
Category
Emerging
License
BUSL-1.1
Language
Rust
Query Languages
SQLopenCypher
Protocols
HTTP/RESTPostgreSQL wireRedis RESPWebSocketNative binary

Feature scores

Community & Business

Active development
✓
Updated within last 3 months
Commercial support
✓
Paid support available
Live community
✓
>75% of issues addressed
Open Source
50%
Source available but restrictive
Pricing
0%
No pricing information
Trendiness
0%
Declining trend

Deployment

Containerization
✓
Docker image available
Work as dedicated instance
✓
Can run as standalone server
Work as embedded
0%
Standalone only
Testing in-memory version
0%
No in-memory option

Platform

Operating on Linux
✓
Linux officially supported
Operating on Windows
50%
Docker image available
SaaS offering
0%
Self-hosted only

Operations

Automatic updates
0%
Manual updates only
Client side caching
0%
No client-side caching
Data versioning support
✓
Version control for data
Live backups
✓
Hot backup supported

Distribution

Cluster Re-balancing
✓
Auto-rebalancing supported
Data Distribution
✓
Data sharding supported
High-Availability
✓
HA mechanisms available
Query Distribution
✓
Distributed query execution
Replication support
✓
Replication available

Developer Experience

Data types defined
✓
Composite data types
Logging/Auditing
✓
Event logging supported
Object-Graph Mapper
50%
No description available
Reactive programming
✓
Reactive streams supported
Documentation up-to-date
✓
Docs current with latest version
Binary protocol
✓
Binary protocol available
CLI
✓
Command-line interface
GUI
0%
No GUI

Data Model

Multi-database
✓
Multi-model database
Graph-native data
✓
Native graph storage
REST API
✓
REST endpoint available
Query Language
✓
Standard query language (Cypher/Gremlin)

Transactions

Granular locking
0%
No granular locking
Multiple isolation levels
50%
Single isolation level
Read committed transaction
✓
Read committed available
Transaction support
✓
ACID transactions

Schema & Security

Constraints
✓
Full constraint support
Schema support
✓
Schema definition tools
Secondary indexes
✓
Secondary indexes supported
Server side procedures
✓
Stored procedures supported
Triggers
✓
Event triggers supported
Authentication
✓
Authentication supported
Authorization
✓
Role-based access control
Data encryption
✓
Data encryption supported
Sources 9 references

Protocols PostgreSQL wire, HTTP/REST, WebSocket, Redis RESP, Native binary

Own docs confirm five vocabulary-matching wire protocols on distinct ports: pgwire (6432), HTTP/REST + WebSocket JSON-RPC (6480, plus a second WebSocket sync channel on 9090 for NodeDB-Lite/CRDT), RESP2 (6381), and a native MessagePack protocol (6433) with a proprietary versioned handshake (magic bytes, capability bitmask) that is not a re-use of any standard protocol, so it is 'Native binary'. Rejected pass_A's omission of the native protocol, which mistakenly claimed no matching vocabulary tag exists. ILP (InfluxDB line protocol) has no controlled-vocabulary match and is correctly omitted by both passes.

License BUSL-1.1

Confirms current value. This is an open-core split: the server binary and clustering/replication crates are BUSL-1.1 (converting to Apache-2.0 on 2030-05-01), while the engine libraries and NodeDB-Lite are Apache-2.0.

  • The server — [Business Source License 1.1](LICENSE).** Only four crates: `nodedb` (the server binary), `nodedb-bridge`, `nodedb-raft`, `nodedb-cluster` — the three-plane runtime and distribution layer.
    NodeDB-Lab/nodedb README · reviewed 2026-08-02

Released 2026-04

Corrects current value (2026-03, which is the repo's creation date, not a release). The first tagged GitHub release, v0.0.0, was published 2026-04-12.

  • "tag_name":"v0.0.0","target_commitish":"main","name":"NodeDB 0.0.0","draft":false,"immutable":false,"prerelease":false,"created_at":"2026-04-12T02:36:02Z","updated_at":"2026-04-12T03:26:32Z","published_at":"2026-04-12T03:26:32Z"
    NodeDB-Lab/nodedb releases (GitHub API) · reviewed 2026-08-02

Language Rust

Confirms current value. GitHub reports the repo as 99.9% Rust, and the project is built and installed via cargo.

  • "Rust":36403613,"Python":72927,"Shell":14836,"Dockerfile":3339
    NodeDB-Lab/nodedb languages (GitHub API) · reviewed 2026-08-02
  • git clone https://github.com/NodeDB-Lab/nodedb.git cd nodedb cargo build --release cargo install cargo-nextest --locked # one-time cargo nextest run --all-features
    NodeDB-Lab/nodedb README · reviewed 2026-08-02