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Ontotext GraphDB

An RDF triplestore with ACID transactions, available in free, standard, and enterprise editions. Supports semantic reasoning and inference with configurable rule sets.

Overall rank
#68
First released
2005
License
Proprietary
Built with
Java

Lineage

Sesame2002Eclipse RDF4JOWLIM2005Ontotext GraphDBStrabon2010 · endedApache MarmottaKiWi2010 · endedHalyard2016 · ended
  • Eclipse RDF4J: renamed from Sesame.
  • OWLIM, 2005: based on Eclipse RDF4J.
  • Ontotext GraphDB: renamed from OWLIM.
  • Strabon, 2010: based on Eclipse RDF4J; no longer developed.
  • Apache Marmotta KiWi, 2010: based on Eclipse RDF4J; no longer developed.
  • Halyard, 2016: based on Eclipse RDF4J; no longer developed.

Details

Vendor
Graphwise
Previous names
OWLIM
Type
RDF
Category
Enterprise
License
Proprietary
Language
Java
Query Languages
SPARQL
Protocols
HTTP/RESTSPARQL ProtocolJDBC/ODBCGraphQL (HTTP)

Feature scores

Community & Business

Active development
✓
Updated within last 3 months
Commercial support
✓
Paid support available
Live community
✓
>75% of issues addressed
Open Source
0%
Closed source
Pricing
0%
No pricing information
Trendiness
75%
No description available

Deployment

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

Platform

Operating on Linux
✓
Linux officially supported
Operating on Windows
✓
Windows officially supported
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
50%
No description available

Distribution

Cluster Re-balancing
0%
No auto-rebalancing
Data Distribution
75%
No description available
High-Availability
✓
HA mechanisms available
Query Distribution
75%
No description available
Replication support
✓
Replication available

Developer Experience

Data types defined
✓
Composite data types
Logging/Auditing
✓
Event logging supported
Object-Graph Mapper
✓
OGM/ORM available
Reactive programming
0%
No reactive programming
Documentation up-to-date
✓
Docs current with latest version
Binary protocol
0%
Text-based protocols only
CLI
✓
Command-line interface
GUI
✓
Visual interface available

Data Model

Multi-database
0%
Graph-only
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
0%
Read uncommitted only
Read committed transaction
✓
Read committed available
Transaction support
✓
ACID transactions

Schema & Security

Constraints
✓
Full constraint support
Schema support
50%
Constraints/triggers only
Secondary indexes
✓
Secondary indexes supported
Server side procedures
✓
Stored procedures supported
Triggers
0%
No triggers
Authentication
✓
Authentication supported
Authorization
✓
Role-based access control
Data encryption
0%
No encryption
Sources 13 references

Protocols SPARQL Protocol, HTTP/REST, JDBC/ODBC, GraphQL (HTTP)

RDF4J REST API serves W3C SPARQL query/update and Graph Store HTTP Protocol; a separate GraphDB REST API handles admin/cluster management; JDBC driver (Apache Calcite-based) and generated GraphQL endpoints are also offered.

License Proprietary

Confirms current value. As of GraphDB 11.0.0 even the Free edition requires a vendor-issued license, and GraphDB Enterprise is sold per-core.

Released 2005

Confirms current value. GraphDB began as OWLIM; a public OWLIM v2.8 announcement is dated October 2005, meaning the first release predates that and falls in 2005 or earlier — no earlier public announcement was found, so 2005 is treated as the release year rather than an exact first version.

Language Java

Confirms current value. GraphDB is packaged as a Storage and Inference Layer for the Java-based RDF4J (formerly Sesame) framework and requires a JDK to run.

vendor Graphwise

Ontotext merged with Semantic Web Company in October 2024 to form Graphwise; GraphDB is now marketed as a Graphwise product while keeping its original name.

url https://graphwise.ai/components/graphdb/

ontotext.com/products/graphdb/ still resolves but now 301-redirects to this Graphwise-branded page, confirmed by following the redirect chain directly; the old URL is not dead, just superseded.

  • Graphwise GraphDB is an enterprise-grade semantic graph database that supports RDF and SPARQL—providing a highly scalable foundation to link fragmented business data and power real-time AI insights.
    Graphwise GraphDB | Semantic Graph Database · reviewed 2026-08-02

Previous names OWLIM

Previous names OWLIM

Lineage based on Eclipse RDF4J