SurrealDB
Documents, graph and relational in one engine — but check the licence.
SurrealDB is a Rust multi-model database combining document, graph and relational access through a single SQL-like language, with real-time queries and permissions built in. It is genuinely interesting engineering and around 32.8k stars. One correction that matters and that most listings get wrong: the core is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an open-source licence. BSL restricts offering it as a competing service and converts to Apache-2.0 after a set period. For internal use that is usually fine; for anyone building a product on top, read it first.
What it does well
- +Document, graph and relational in a single engine — genuinely rare
- +Real-time queries and row-level permissions built in
- +Rust, fast, and can embed directly in an application
- +Converts to Apache-2.0 on a published schedule
Where it falls short
- −BSL 1.1 is NOT open source, despite how it is usually listed
- −Young relative to Postgres or MongoDB
- −Smaller ecosystem and fewer battle-tested deployments
- −Multi-model flexibility is also more ways to model something badly
SurrealDB as an alternative to
Where SurrealDB shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
SurrealDB head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.