vs

Aerospike vs Volt Active Data (VoltDB)

Aerospike: Flash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale. Volt Active Data (VoltDB): In-memory, partitioned SQL engine running Java stored procedures serially for millisecond decisioning.

key differences

  • Aerospike is primarily a key-value database; Volt Active Data (VoltDB) is relational.
  • Licensing: Aerospike is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition); Volt Active Data (VoltDB) is proprietary (Proprietary (commercial)).
  • Aerospike is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Volt Active Data (VoltDB) (≤ 10 TB).
  • Only Aerospike has compression, encryption at rest.
  • Only Volt Active Data (VoltDB) has joins, materialized views, pub/sub, streaming ingest.

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 volt-active-data for

  • +Telecom online charging and policy control
  • +Real-time fraud and risk decisions
  • +Ad bidding and personalization at high TPS
  • +Gaming leaderboards and in-game economies

best at · OLTP, Real-time analytics, Streaming

overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Relational
Also supports
Document, Spatial
Document, Spatial
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Aerospike, Inc.
Volt Active Data, Inc.
First release
2010
2010
Latest version
8.2.0 (Sep 29, 2026)
16.0.0 (Sep 30, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition
ProprietaryProprietary (commercial)
Free tier
✓
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
40.4
20.7
Rank
#42
#154
GitHub stars
1.4K
–
Stack Overflow questions
842
153
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
Active active
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Tunable, Strong, Eventual
Strong
Schema
Schemaless
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, In memory, Client server
Distributed, In memory, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
AWS, Google Cloud
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)
SQL, Java (stored procedures)
Client languages
C, C#, Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Rust
Java, Python, C++, Go, C#, JavaScript
Best for
OLTP, Cache, Sessions, Feature store
OLTP, Real-time analytics, Streaming, Tick data

Aerospike vs Volt Active Data (VoltDB): FAQ

What is the difference between Aerospike and Volt Active Data (VoltDB)?

Aerospike: Flash-optimized distributed key-value and document database for predictable sub-millisecond latency at scale. Volt Active Data (VoltDB): In-memory, partitioned SQL engine running Java stored procedures serially for millisecond decisioning. Aerospike is primarily a key-value database; Volt Active Data (VoltDB) is relational. Licensing: Aerospike is open source (copyleft) (AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition); Volt Active Data (VoltDB) is proprietary (Proprietary (commercial)). Aerospike is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Volt Active Data (VoltDB) (≤ 10 TB).

When should I choose Aerospike over Volt Active Data (VoltDB)?

Choose Aerospike for real-time bidding and ad-tech user profiles; fraud detection and payment authorization; and online ML feature stores. Choose Volt Active Data (VoltDB) for telecom online charging and policy control; real-time fraud and risk decisions; and ad bidding and personalization at high TPS.

Is Aerospike or Volt Active Data (VoltDB) more popular?

Aerospike ranks #42 on the WhichDB Score (40.4/100) and Volt Active Data (VoltDB) ranks #154 (20.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Aerospike and Volt Active Data (VoltDB) open source?

Yes. Aerospike is open source. License: AGPL-3.0 (Community Edition); commercial Enterprise Edition. No. Volt Active Data (VoltDB) is proprietary, closed-source software.