Kuzu vs Neo4j
Both are property graph databases queried with openCypher. Kuzu (2022-11, MIT, C++) ranks #26 this month; Neo4j (2007, GPL-3.0, Java) ranks #1.
Choosing between them
Kuzu is no longer maintained. Apple agreed to acquire Kuzu Inc in October 2025 and the project’s repository is archived. Its MIT-licensed code continues in LadybugDB, a community fork that, like Kuzu, runs embedded inside an application, is queried with openCypher and is aimed at analytical workloads.
Neo4j runs as a server that several applications can share. Pick it over LadybugDB when you need a commercially supported database, clustering (Enterprise Edition) or Neo4j’s tooling. Pick LadybugDB when an in-process, MIT-licensed graph engine fits better.
| Attribute | Kuzu | Neo4j |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Rank | #26 | #1 |
| Score | 55.3 | 88.8 |
| GitHub stars | 4k | 17.4k |
| Popularity | 61.6 | 98.6 |
| Activity | 47.8 | 86.5 |
| Community | 58.6 | 73.8 |
| Research | 52.0 | 98.7 |
| Fundamentals | ||
| Description | 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. | 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 | Kuzu Inc (acquired by Apple) | Neo4j Inc |
| Model | Property Graph | Property Graph |
| Kind | embedded | database |
| Category | Emerging | Established |
| First released | 2022-11 | 2007 |
| Status | deprecated — Acquired by Apple in October 2025. Repository archived. Continued as LadybugDB and Bighorn forks. | active |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Java |
| Query languages | openCypher | Cypher, GQL |
| gdotv support | yes | yes |
Feature scores — not surveyed for Kuzu
| Feature | Kuzu | Neo4j |
|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||
| Active development | — | ✓ |
| Commercial support | — | ✓ |
| Live community | — | ✓ |
| Open Source | — | ✓ |
| 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 | — | ✓ |
| 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
- Kuzu · website · github · full profile
- Neo4j · website · github · full profile