YugabyteDB vs SurrealDB
A detailed comparison to help you choose between YugabyteDB and SurrealDB.
Quick Verdict
4.0/5
YugabyteDB
0 reviews
3.6/5
SurrealDB
0 reviews
YugabyteDB is rated higher (4.0 vs 3.6). YugabyteDB is a cloud-native distributed PostgreSQL-compatible database designed for global, highly available applications. Active-active geo-distribution, ACID transactions, and auto-sharding. 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.
YugabyteDB Distributed SQL database built for global applications | 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 | From $125/mo | Free tier available✓ |
| Best for | Teams with concrete multi-zone or multi-region requirements who want Postgres semantics, a published SLA, and an open-source core they can self-host as an exit path | 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 | 4 GB✓ | 1 GB |
| Storage | 10 GB✓ | 1 GB |
| Bandwidth | — | — |
| SLA uptime | 99.99% | — |
| Data-center count | — | 3 |
| €/vCPU/mo | €62.50 | — |
| €/GB RAM/mo | €31.25 | €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/Azure/GCP regions across US, EU and APAC | AWS Ireland (aws-euw1), AWS US East N. Virginia (aws-use1), AWS US West Oregon (aws-usw2) |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tieropen sourcemanaged optioneu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterapi access | free tieropen sourceself hostableapi access |
| Visit YugabyteDB → | Visit SurrealDB → | |
YugabyteDB
Pros
- + Apache 2.0 open core you can self-host without revenue caps or telemetry — real exit option
- + Postgres-compatible SQL with ACID across zones and regions, automatic sharding and failover
- + Published 99.99% SLA with a concrete service-credit table
- + One price model across AWS, Azure, GCP and BYOC; 24/7 support on every paid tier
- + Migration tooling (Voyager) and Terraform/CLI/API automation included, not upsold
Cons
- - Premium pricing: a 3-node/6-vCPU production cluster runs ~$750/month before storage, and PITR is a $25/vCPU/month add-on on Professional
- - Distributed-systems complexity remains even when managed — consistency modes and region placement need real understanding
- - PostgreSQL-compatible, not PostgreSQL-complete; extension and edge-case behaviour gaps exist
- - Free Sandbox is evaluation-only (1 node, 15 connections, deleted after 15 inactive days)
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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