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Citus vs Multigres

Citus: Postgres extension that shards tables across nodes for multi-tenant SaaS and real-time analytics. Multigres: Alpha-stage, Vitess-inspired sharding, pooling and HA layer for unmodified PostgreSQL, led by Supabase.

key differences

  • Licensing: Citus is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3); Multigres is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • Citus is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Multigres (≤ 10 TB).
  • Only Citus has change data capture, columnar storage, compression, online schema changes.

choose citus for

  • +Multi-tenant B2B SaaS sharded by customer
  • +Real-time analytics dashboards over event data
  • +Time-series and IoT ingestion with rollups
  • +Scaling an existing Postgres app without changing databases

best at · OLTP, Real-time analytics, HTAP

choose multigres for

  • +Evaluating a future path to shard Postgres without leaving it
  • +Postgres HA and pooling experiments on Kubernetes
  • +Contributing to the next-generation Postgres scaling layer

best at · OLTP

CitusPostgres extension that shards tables across nodes for multi-tenant SaaS and real-time analytics.
MultigresAlpha-stage, Vitess-inspired sharding, pooling and HA layer for unmodified PostgreSQL, led by Supabase.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Columnar / OLAP, Spatial
–
Type
Extension
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Microsoft (Citus Data)
Supabase (Multigres project)
First release
2016
2026
Latest version
14.3.0 (Oct 23, 2026)
0.1.0 (alpha) (May 30, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
21.1
12.4
Rank
#144
#268
GitHub stars
12.8K
2.7K
Stack Overflow questions
149
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Client server
Distributed, Primary replica, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
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
SQL, PL/pgSQL
SQL, PL/pgSQL
Client languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, C#, PHP, Rust
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, Ruby, C#
Best for
OLTP, Real-time analytics, HTAP, Time-series
OLTP
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Citus vs Multigres: FAQ

What is the difference between Citus and Multigres?

Citus: Postgres extension that shards tables across nodes for multi-tenant SaaS and real-time analytics. Multigres: Alpha-stage, Vitess-inspired sharding, pooling and HA layer for unmodified PostgreSQL, led by Supabase. Licensing: Citus is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3); Multigres is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). Citus is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Multigres (≤ 10 TB). Only Citus has change data capture, columnar storage, compression, online schema changes.

When should I choose Citus over Multigres?

Choose Citus for multi-tenant B2B SaaS sharded by customer; real-time analytics dashboards over event data; and time-series and IoT ingestion with rollups. Choose Multigres for evaluating a future path to shard Postgres without leaving it; postgres HA and pooling experiments on Kubernetes; and contributing to the next-generation Postgres scaling layer.

Is Citus or Multigres more popular?

Citus ranks #144 on the WhichDB Score (21.1/100) and Multigres ranks #268 (12.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Citus and Multigres open source?

Yes. Citus is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3. Yes. Multigres is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.