Dgraph vs Kuzu
Both are property graph databases. Dgraph (2015-12, Apache-2.0, Go) ranks #3 this month; Kuzu (2022-11, MIT, C++) ranks #26.
| Attribute | Dgraph | Kuzu |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Rank | #3 | #26 |
| Score | 73.6 | 55.3 |
| GitHub stars | 21.8k | 4k |
| Popularity | 82.0 | 61.6 |
| Activity | 70.1 | 47.8 |
| Community | 73.5 | 58.6 |
| Research | 64.3 | 52.0 |
| Fundamentals | ||
| Description | A distributed graph database with horizontal scaling and ACID transactions. Uses its own query language (DQL) derived from GraphQL, with automatic shard rebalancing across cluster nodes. | An embedded property graph database built for fast analytical workloads, developed as the successor to Graphflow. Archived in October 2025 after acquisition by Apple. Forked as LadybugDB and Bighorn. |
| Vendor | Istari | Kuzu Inc (acquired by Apple) |
| Model | Property Graph | Property Graph |
| Kind | database | embedded |
| Category | Enterprise | Emerging |
| First released | 2015-12 | 2022-11 |
| Status | active | deprecated — Acquired by Apple in October 2025. Repository archived. Continued as LadybugDB and Bighorn forks. |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Query languages | DQL, GraphQL | openCypher |
| gdotv support | yes | yes |
Feature scores — not surveyed for Kuzu
| Feature | Dgraph | Kuzu |
|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||
| Active development | ✓ | — |
| Commercial support | ✓ | — |
| Live community | 0.5 | — |
| Open Source | ✓ | — |
| Pricing | · | — |
| Trendiness | 0.25 | — |
| 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 | ✓ | — |
| Logging/Auditing | 0.5 | — |
| Object-Graph Mapper | · | — |
| Reactive programming | · | — |
| Documentation up-to-date | 0.5 | — |
| 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
- Dgraph · website · github · full profile
- Kuzu · website · github · full profile