FaunaDB vs Neo4j
FaunaDB is a multiple database; Neo4j is a property graph database. FaunaDB (2016, Apache-2.0, Scala) ranks #84 this month; Neo4j (2007, GPL-3.0, Java) ranks #1. They differ on 19 of 46 surveyed features.
| Attribute | FaunaDB | Neo4j |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Rank | #84 | #1 |
| Score | 41.4 | 83.3 |
| GitHub stars | — | 17.2k |
| Popularity | 37.5 | 97.3 |
| Activity | — | 86.7 |
| Community | 35.3 | 90.2 |
| Research | 49.6 | 98.6 |
| Fundamentals | ||
| Description | A distributed multi-model database with document and graph capabilities, accessed via its custom Fauna Query Language (FQL). Supported ACID transactions and global distribution. Service was shut down in 2025. | 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. |
| Vendor | Fauna Inc | Neo4j Inc |
| Model | Multiple | Property Graph |
| Kind | database | database |
| Category | Emerging | Established |
| First released | 2016 | 2007 |
| Status | deprecated — Service shut down in 2025. | active |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Scala | Java |
| Query languages | FQL, GraphQL | Cypher, GQL |
| gdotv support | no | yes |
Feature scores 19 of 46 rows differ
| Feature | FaunaDB | Neo4j |
|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||
| Active development | · | ✓ |
| Commercial support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live community | · | ✓ |
| 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 | · | ✓ |
| Read committed transaction | · | ✓ |
| Transaction support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Schema & Security | ||
| Constraints | ✓ | ✓ |
| Schema support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Secondary indexes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Server side procedures | ✓ | ✓ |
| Triggers | · | ✓ |
| Authentication | ✓ | ✓ |
| Authorization | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data encryption | · | · |
Links
- FaunaDB · website · full profile
- Neo4j · website · github · full profile