SurrealDB vs TigerData
A detailed comparison to help you choose between SurrealDB and TigerData.
Quick Verdict
3.6/5
SurrealDB
0 reviews
4.2/5
TigerData
0 reviews
TigerData is rated higher (4.2 vs 3.6). 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. TigerData, from the creators of TimescaleDB, is a PostgreSQL cloud platform built for time-series and real-time analytics workloads at large scale, aimed at developers and enterprises.
SurrealDB Multi-model database with built-in real-time sync and WebSocket support | TigerData PostgreSQL-native time-series database for metrics, events, and analytics | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.6 (0 reviews) | 4.2 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | freemium |
| Starting price | Free tier available✓ | From $30/mo |
| Best for | Teams building real-time, multi-model applications that would otherwise combine a document database, a search engine and a graph store | Teams building observability, IoT/telemetry, financial or real-time analytics platforms who want time-series performance inside standard PostgreSQL and can run the ops model of a managed Postgres service. |
| Specifications (entry plan) | ||
| CPU cores | 0 vCPU | — |
| RAM | 1 GB | — |
| Storage | 1 GB | — |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | 99.9% |
| Data-center count | 3 | 17✓ |
| €/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) | 13 AWS regions + 4 Azure regions across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and South America |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi access | free tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapi accessopen source |
| Visit SurrealDB → | Visit TigerData → | |
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
TigerData
Pros
- + Full SQL and the PostgreSQL extension ecosystem — hypertables, continuous aggregates and 90%+ compression without a new query language
- + Published consumption pricing (compute from $30/month, storage $0.177-0.212/GB-month) with hourly metering and no instance-size lock-in
- + 17 regions across AWS and Azure with EU, US and APAC residency selectable at creation
- + Reliability productized: multi-AZ HA, PITR up to 14 days, backup retention to 180 days, cross-region restore, public SLA and status page
- + Open-source TimescaleDB escape hatch — self-hosting stays viable, which keeps pricing honest
Cons
- - Hourly compute meter bills full hours and forgotten scale-ups at the higher config are expensive
- - Serious reliability and security features (multi-node HA, 14-day PITR, SOC 2, private endpoints) gated behind Scale or Enterprise
- - PostgreSQL and time-series concepts (chunks, compression/retention policies) assumed — not a zero-ops database for non-database teams
- - Effective storage price assumes 5x compression; actual ratios are workload-dependent
- - Aiven-partnered legacy MST product carries a different (99.99%) SLA — easy to confuse with Tiger Cloud
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