Kuzu vs TerminusDB
Kuzu is a property graph database; TerminusDB is a multiple database. Kuzu (2022-11, MIT, C++) ranks #26 this month; TerminusDB (2019-10, Apache-2.0, Prolog) ranks #30.
| Attribute | Kuzu | TerminusDB |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Rank | #26 | #30 |
| Score | 55.3 | 53.6 |
| GitHub stars | 4k | 3.5k |
| Popularity | 61.6 | 62.4 |
| Activity | 47.8 | 62.2 |
| Community | 58.6 | 34.7 |
| Research | 52.0 | 50.0 |
| 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 graph database and document store that builds knowledge graphs from JSON documents. Uses git-like delta encoding with an append-only layered data model, enabling version control and collaboration workflows. |
| Vendor | Kuzu Inc (acquired by Apple) | DFRNT |
| Model | Property Graph | Multiple |
| Kind | embedded | database |
| Category | Emerging | Emerging |
| First released | 2022-11 | 2019-10 |
| Status | deprecated — Acquired by Apple in October 2025. Repository archived. Continued as LadybugDB and Bighorn forks. | active |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Prolog |
| Query languages | openCypher | WOQL, GraphQL |
| gdotv support | yes | no |
Feature scores — not surveyed for Kuzu
| Feature | Kuzu | TerminusDB |
|---|---|---|
| Community & Business | ||
| Active development | — | ✓ |
| Commercial support | — | ✓ |
| Live community | — | 0.75 |
| Open Source | — | ✓ |
| Pricing | — | ✓ |
| Trendiness | — | ✓ |
| Deployment | ||
| Containerization | — | ✓ |
| Work as dedicated instance | — | ✓ |
| Work as embedded | — | · |
| Testing in-memory version | — | · |
| Platform | ||
| Operating on Linux | — | ✓ |
| Operating on Windows | — | 0.75 |
| 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 | — | 0.5 |
| 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
- TerminusDB · website · github · full profile