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Apache Cloudberry

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by Apache Software Foundation (Incubator) · since 2023 · also known as Cloudberry Database, CloudberryDB

Open-source MPP warehouse forked from Greenplum and rebased on a newer PostgreSQL kernel.

relationalcolumnar / olapspatialdocumentdatabase engineopen source (permissive)emerging
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Overview

Apache Cloudberry is an Apache Incubator project that continues the open-source Greenplum lineage after Broadcom closed Greenplum's code. Started by HashData in 2023 and donated to the ASF in 2024, it rebases the MPP architecture (coordinator plus segments, GPORCA optimizer, append-optimized columnar tables) on PostgreSQL 14 and adds features such as incremental materialized views, directory tables and PAX storage. It is the natural migration target for Greenplum 6/7 users wanting to stay open source; it is still incubating, with a young release history and community.

Data warehouseAnalytics (OLAP)Lakehouse

Strengths & trade-offs

Strengths

  • +Open-source continuation of Greenplum with a migration path
  • +Newer PostgreSQL 14 kernel than Greenplum 7
  • +GPORCA optimizer and append-optimized columnar storage
  • +Apache governance instead of single-vendor control

Trade-offs

  • −Still incubating with a small contributor base
  • −Few managed offerings and limited cloud integration
  • −Inherits Greenplum's operational complexity

Great for

  • +Migrating off closed-source Greenplum
  • +On-prem Postgres-compatible MPP warehouse
  • +Open-source alternative to commercial MPP appliances

Think twice for

  • −Serverless cloud analytics
  • −OLTP
  • −Teams needing a large ecosystem today

Capabilities

Native or official first-party support · 12 of 25 tracked

✓Transactions
✓Joins
✓Secondary indexes
✓Full-text search
✓Geospatial
✓JSON
✓Stored procedures
✓Materialized views
✓Columnar storage
✓Durable persistence
✓Compression
✓Role-based access
–Vector search
–Change data capture
–Triggers
–TTL / expiry
–Pub/Sub
–In-memory
–Encryption at rest
–Time travel
–Branching
–Online schema changes
–Streaming ingest
–Offline sync
–Runs in WebAssembly

Scale & consistency

Comfortable data size
Large · ≤ 1 PB
Horizontal scaling
Native
Multi-region
No
Transactions
Full ACID
Consistency
Strong
Schema
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Client server
Query languages
SQL, PL/pgSQL, PL/Python

Shared-nothing MPP segments with mirrors, like Greenplum.

Deployment

Self-hosted Vendor-managed cloud Serverless Embedded Edge Kubernetes operator

Ecosystem

compatible withPostgreSQL
apis & protocolsPostgreSQL wire protocol, JDBC, ODBC
client languagesC, Java, Python, Go, JavaScript

Alternatives to Apache Cloudberry

Compare all→
GreenplumRelational20.7

PostgreSQL-based MPP data warehouse, closed-sourced by Broadcom in 2024 and sold in Tanzu Data.

apache-cloudberry vs greenplum →
CitusRelational21.1

Postgres extension that shards tables across nodes for multi-tenant SaaS and real-time analytics.

apache-cloudberry vs citus →
Amazon RedshiftColumnar / OLAP55.8

AWS's MPP columnar data warehouse, available as provisioned RA3 clusters or Serverless.

apache-cloudberry vs amazon-redshift →
Apache DorisColumnar / OLAP15.9

Real-time MPP analytical database with MySQL compatibility, search indexes and lakehouse access.

apache-cloudberry vs apache-doris →
StarRocksColumnar / OLAP15.6

MPP OLAP database with a fast vectorized engine, real-time upserts and native lakehouse queries.

apache-cloudberry vs starrocks →
IBM Db2 WarehouseColumnar / OLAP0.0

IBM's MPP analytics edition of Db2 with BLU columnar acceleration, as software or SaaS.

apache-cloudberry vs ibm-db2-warehouse →

Apache Cloudberry FAQ

What is Apache Cloudberry?

Apache Cloudberry is a relational database by Apache Software Foundation (Incubator), first released in 2023. Apache Cloudberry is an Apache Incubator project that continues the open-source Greenplum lineage after Broadcom closed Greenplum's code. Started by HashData in 2023 and donated to the ASF in 2024, it rebases the MPP architecture (coordinator plus segments, GPORCA optimizer, append-optimized columnar tables) on PostgreSQL 14 and adds features such as incremental materialized views, directory tables and PAX storage. It is the natural migration target for Greenplum 6/7 users wanting to stay open source; it is still incubating, with a young release history and community.

Is Apache Cloudberry open source?

Yes. Apache Cloudberry is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.

Does Apache Cloudberry support ACID transactions?

Yes. Apache Cloudberry supports full ACID transactions, with strong consistency.

Does Apache Cloudberry scale horizontally?

Apache Cloudberry scales horizontally out of the box, with built-in sharding or partitioning. It is comfortable at large scale (≤ 1 PB).

How can I run Apache Cloudberry?

You can self-host it.

What is Apache Cloudberry best for?

Apache Cloudberry is a strong fit for migrating off closed-source Greenplum, on-prem Postgres-compatible MPP warehouse and open-source alternative to commercial MPP appliances. Think twice for serverless cloud analytics.

What are the best alternatives to Apache Cloudberry?

Common alternatives to Apache Cloudberry include Greenplum, Citus, Amazon Redshift, Apache Doris and StarRocks. The right choice depends on your workload, scale and hosting; WhichDB's smart match ranks them against your requirements.

How popular is Apache Cloudberry?

Apache Cloudberry ranks #350 of 844 databases on the WhichDB Score (6.8/100), and #110 among relational databases. The score combines public adoption signals such as package downloads, GitHub activity, job posts and developer discussion.