Hasura Cloud vs SurrealDB
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Hasura Cloud and SurrealDB.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
Hasura Cloud
0 reviews
3.6/5
SurrealDB
0 reviews
Hasura Cloud is rated higher (4.0 vs 3.6). Hasura (now Hasura DDN) generates a production GraphQL API from databases, code and existing APIs, with model-based pricing, a global edge network and an open-source self-hostable engine SurrealDB is a multi-model database that handles relational, document, graph, and full-text queries in a single database. Schema-optional, built-in auth, and real-time subscriptions.
Hasura Cloud Managed supergraph platform (Hasura DDN) generating GraphQL APIs from databases, code and APIs | SurrealDB Multi-model database with built-in real-time sync and WebSocket support | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.0 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.6 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Best for | Teams wanting a production GraphQL API across multiple data sources without building a resolver layer — and solo developers who can run a real product on the free tier | Teams building real-time, multi-model applications that would otherwise combine a document database, a search engine and a graph store |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | — | 0 vCPU |
| RAM | — | 1 GB |
| Storage | — | 1 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | — |
| Data-center count | — | 3 |
| €/GB RAM/mo | — | €0.00 |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ✓ | |
| Automated backups | ✓ | |
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ✓ | |
| Free tier | ||
| Data-center locations | ||
| Regions | — | AWS Ireland (aws-euw1), AWS US East N. Virginia (aws-use1), AWS US West Oregon (aws-usw2) |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi access |
| Visit Hasura Cloud → | Visit SurrealDB → | |
Hasura Cloud
Pros
- + Free tier includes unlimited models, unlimited API requests and the global edge network
- + Per-active-model pricing charges only for models with real traffic
- + Full API layer out of the box: queries, subscriptions, authorization, schema registry
- + Open-source engine with a self-hosting escape hatch
- + SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR compliance on every tier
Cons
- - Hasura-specific concepts (models, supergraphs, active models) take real learning
- - Per-model cost scales with a wide, hot schema
- - No published uptime SLA or support response-time matrix
- - Data residency, SSO, audit logs and HIPAA are Advanced-tier features
- - GraphQL is a bigger commitment than a plain REST layer for simple CRUD
SurrealDB
Pros
- + One engine for relational, document, graph, time-series and geospatial data, plus full-text and vector search
- + Transparent published rate table with a real free instance (0.25 vCPU, 1 GB memory, 1 GB storage)
- + Hourly billing keeps development and prototype instances cheap
- + Granular permissions at table, document and field level defined in the schema
- + Self-hostable under BSL 1.1 with open-source (Apache 2.0 / MIT) SDKs as an exit path
Cons
- - Young database: 1.0 in 2023 and the storage engine is still being replaced
- - Only three AWS regions (Ireland, N. Virginia, Oregon) — nothing in APAC
- - Smaller ecosystem, tooling and hiring pool than PostgreSQL or MongoDB
- - Scale plan requires a three-node minimum; several advertised features are still marked coming soon
- - Custom SLAs only at Enterprise tier; backup retention policy for free instances is ambiguous in the docs
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