whichdb
vs

Aerospike vs Tarantool

Aerospike: Flash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale. Tarantool: In-memory database and Lua application server in one process, with an optional disk engine.

key differences

  • Licensing: Aerospike is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition); Tarantool is open source (permissive) (BSD 2-Clause License).
  • Aerospike is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Tarantool (≤ 10 TB).
  • Horizontal scaling is native in Aerospike and addon in Tarantool.
  • Only Aerospike has change data capture, ttl / expiry, encryption at rest, online schema changes.
  • Only Tarantool has triggers.

choose aerospike for

  • +Real-time bidding and ad-tech user profiles
  • +Fraud detection and payment authorization
  • +Online ML feature stores
  • +Telecom subscriber and session data

best at · OLTP, Cache, Sessions

choose tarantool for

  • +Low-latency transactional caches that are also the source of truth
  • +Session and user-profile storage for high-traffic sites
  • +Queues and real-time counters
  • +Fintech and telecom billing hot paths

best at · OLTP, Cache, Sessions

AerospikeFlash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale.
TarantoolIn-memory database and Lua application server in one process, with an optional disk engine.
overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Key-Value
Also supports
Document, Spatial
Document, Relational
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Aerospike, Inc.
VK
First release
2010
2008
Latest version
8.2.0 (Sep 29, 2026)
3.9.0 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition
Open source (permissive)BSD 2-Clause License
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
40.4
21.2
Rank
#42
#140
GitHub stars
1.4K
3.7K
Stack Overflow questions
842
219
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Addon
Multi-region
Active active
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Tunable, Strong, Eventual
Strong, Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Flexible
Architecture
Distributed, In memory, Client server
In memory, Primary replica, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
–
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
—
—
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
—
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
✓
✓
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
✓
—
Triggers
—
✓
Stored procedures
✓
✓
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
✓
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
✓
✓
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
✓
✓
Encryption at rest
✓
—
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
✓
—
Streaming ingest
—
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
Aerospike Expressions, AQL (CLI)
Lua, SQL
Client languages
C, C#, Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Rust
Lua, Go, Java, Python, C, C++, JavaScript, PHP
Best for
OLTP, Cache, Sessions, Feature store
OLTP, Cache, Sessions, Queue
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Aerospike vs Tarantool: FAQ

What is the difference between Aerospike and Tarantool?

Aerospike: Flash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale. Tarantool: In-memory database and Lua application server in one process, with an optional disk engine. Licensing: Aerospike is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition); Tarantool is open source (permissive) (BSD 2-Clause License). Aerospike is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Tarantool (≤ 10 TB). Horizontal scaling is native in Aerospike and addon in Tarantool.

When should I choose Aerospike over Tarantool?

Choose Aerospike for real-time bidding and ad-tech user profiles; fraud detection and payment authorization; and online ML feature stores. Choose Tarantool for low-latency transactional caches that are also the source of truth; session and user-profile storage for high-traffic sites; and queues and real-time counters.

Is Aerospike or Tarantool more popular?

Aerospike ranks #42 on the WhichDB Score (40.4/100) and Tarantool ranks #140 (21.2/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Aerospike and Tarantool open source?

Yes. Aerospike is open source. License: AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition. Yes. Tarantool is open source. License: BSD 2-Clause License.