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TerminusDB

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.

Overall rank
#34
First released
October 2019
License
Apache-2.0
Built with
Prolog

Details

Vendor
DFRNT
Type
Multiple
Category
Emerging
License
Apache-2.0
Language
Prolog
Query Languages
WOQLGraphQL
Protocols
HTTP/RESTGraphQL (HTTP)

Feature scores

Community & Business

Active development
Updated within last 3 months
Commercial support
Paid support available
Live community
75%
50-75% of issues addressed
Open Source
Open source license
Pricing
Pricing publicly available
Trendiness
Growing or stable trend

Deployment

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

Platform

Operating on Linux
Linux officially supported
Operating on Windows
75%
Open source (Windows compatible)
SaaS offering
Cloud service available

Operations

Automatic updates
0%
Manual updates only
Client side caching
0%
No client-side caching
Data versioning support
Version control for data
Live backups
Hot backup supported

Distribution

Cluster Re-balancing
0%
No auto-rebalancing
Data Distribution
0%
No sharding
High-Availability
0%
No HA support
Query Distribution
0%
No distributed queries
Replication support
0%
No replication

Developer Experience

Data types defined
50%
Basic data types only
Logging/Auditing
Event logging supported
Object-Graph Mapper
0%
No object mapper
Reactive programming
0%
No reactive programming
Documentation up-to-date
Docs current with latest version
Binary protocol
0%
Text-based protocols only
CLI
0%
No CLI
GUI
0%
No GUI

Data Model

Multi-database
0%
Graph-only
Graph-native data
0%
Graph abstraction layer
REST API
REST endpoint available
Query Language
50%
Proprietary query language

Transactions

Granular locking
Object-level locking
Multiple isolation levels
0%
Read uncommitted only
Read committed transaction
0%
Not available
Transaction support
ACID transactions

Schema & Security

Constraints
Full constraint support
Schema support
0%
Schema-less
Secondary indexes
0%
Primary index only
Server side procedures
0%
No stored procedures
Triggers
0%
No triggers
Authentication
Authentication supported
Authorization
Role-based access control
Data encryption
0%
No encryption
Sources 7 references

Protocols HTTP/REST, GraphQL (HTTP)

Document/REST API and GraphQL are both served over HTTP on the default server port (6363); WOQL is a query language layered on the same HTTP API, not a separate wire protocol.

Released 2019-10

TerminusDB's own launch announcement was published October 1, 2019, refining the current year-only value to a month.

  • The development of Terminus has been a nine-year labour of love, devotion, frustration and pain. You can imagine how delighted we are to release TerminusDB to the world.
    TerminusDB — the database for data people. · reviewed 2026-08-02

Language Prolog

TerminusDB's own internals documentation states the query engine is written in Prolog, with a separate Rust storage layer; the project leads with Prolog, confirming the current value.

  • TerminusDB is built around a datalog engine written in Prolog with a very fast and memory-efficient immutable graph storage layer optimised for version control.
    TerminusDB Internals · reviewed 2026-08-02

License Apache-2.0

SPDX identifier as classified by GitHub from the repository licence file.

url https://terminusdb.org/

terminusdb.com is unreachable (confirmed via direct fetch: connection failure/522, no HTTP response). terminusdb.org is the current, actively maintained project site run by DFRNT, with docs, blog, and release notes.

vendor DFRNT

Confirms the catalogue's existing DFRNT attribution is current. DFRNT took over stewardship of the open-source TerminusDB project in 2025.

  • DFRNT is the company that provides commercial hosting, enterprise support, and a comprehensive user interface for TerminusDB.
    What is DFRNT Hub? · reviewed 2026-08-02