Xata vs SurrealDB
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Xata and SurrealDB.
Quick Verdict
3.9/5
Xata
0 reviews
3.6/5
SurrealDB
0 reviews
Xata is rated higher (3.9 vs 3.6). Xata is a managed Postgres platform built around copy-on-write branching and scale-to-zero compute, aimed at per-PR and per-agent database workflows. Vanilla PostgreSQL, open-source core (Apache 2.0), plus pgroll for zero-downtime migrations. The original search/spreadsheet product was retired during a 2024-2025 pivot. 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.
Xata Postgres platform with copy-on-write branching and scale-to-zero | SurrealDB Multi-model database with built-in real-time sync and WebSocket support | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.9 (0 reviews)✓ | 3.6 (0 reviews) |
| Pricing model | pay-as-you-go | freemium |
| Starting price | From $9/mo | Free tier available✓ |
| Best for | Teams that need an isolated Postgres per pull request or per AI agent run, with branching and scale-to-zero economics rather than per-database pricing | 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 | 2 vCPU✓ | 0 vCPU |
| RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| Storage | — | 1 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | — | — |
| Data-center count | — | 3 |
| €/vCPU/mo | €4.50 | — |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €9.00 | €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 | US East (N. Virginia), GCP; EU Central (Frankfurt), GCP | AWS Ireland (aws-euw1), AWS US East N. Virginia (aws-use1), AWS US West Oregon (aws-usw2) |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermanaged optionbackups includedeu datacenterus datacenterapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi access |
| Visit Xata → | Visit SurrealDB → | |
Xata
Pros
- + Instant copy-on-write branching with no per-branch, per-developer or per-database fees
- + Scale-to-zero: idle branches bill $0 compute and wake in about a second
- + Vanilla PostgreSQL — standard extensions, drivers and tooling, no fork
- + Public pricing is unusually transparent, including a machine-readable pricing.md
- + Open-source core (Apache 2.0) plus genuinely useful standalone tools: pgroll, pgstream
Cons
- - Young platform behind a company that already retired one product its customers relied on
- - No published uptime SLA or backup policy on the public site
- - Self-serve limited to two regions (US East, EU Central); deep compliance and support tiers are BYOC sales conversations
- - Key pieces (Xatastor, multi-tenant control plane) remain proprietary despite the open-source push
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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