vs

Datomic vs immudb

Datomic: Immutable Datalog database from Nubank where every fact is timestamped and queries run in the app process. immudb: Immutable, tamper-evident database with cryptographic proofs, offering key-value, SQL and document APIs.

key differences

  • Datomic is primarily a relational database; immudb is ledger.
  • Licensing: Datomic is open source (permissive) (Apache-2.0 (binaries only; source not published)); immudb is source-available (Business Source License 1.1).
  • Only Datomic has full-text search, change data capture.
  • Only immudb has json, role-based access.

choose datomic for

  • +Financial and banking domain models needing auditability
  • +Systems that must answer what was known at a given time
  • +Complex domain graphs in Clojure services

best at · OLTP, Event sourcing, Ledger

choose immudb for

  • +Tamper-evident audit logs
  • +Replacing Amazon QLDB with a self-hosted ledger
  • +Software supply-chain and compliance records

best at · Ledger, OLTP, Event sourcing

overview
Primary model
Relational
Ledger
Also supports
Graph
Key-Value, Relational, Document
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Nubank (Cognitect)
Codenotary, Inc.
First release
2012
2020
Latest version
1.0.7745 (Oct 16, 2026)
1.11.2 (Sep 3, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache-2.0 (binaries only; source not published)
Source-availableBusiness Source License 1.1
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
14.9
17.2
Rank
#225
#193
GitHub stars
–
9K
Stack Overflow questions
436
3
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
None
None
Multi-region
None
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Flexible
Flexible
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage
Client server, Embedded, Primary replica
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
✓
✓
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
–
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
Datalog, Pull API
SQL (immudb dialect), Key-value API
Client languages
Clojure, Java
Go, Java, Python, Node.js, .NET
Best for
OLTP, Event sourcing, Ledger, Knowledge graph
Ledger, OLTP, Event sourcing

Datomic vs immudb: FAQ

What is the difference between Datomic and immudb?

Datomic: Immutable Datalog database from Nubank where every fact is timestamped and queries run in the app process. immudb: Immutable, tamper-evident database with cryptographic proofs, offering key-value, SQL and document APIs. Datomic is primarily a relational database; immudb is ledger. Licensing: Datomic is open source (permissive) (Apache-2.0 (binaries only; source not published)); immudb is source-available (Business Source License 1.1). Only Datomic has full-text search, change data capture.

When should I choose Datomic over immudb?

Choose Datomic for financial and banking domain models needing auditability; systems that must answer what was known at a given time; and complex domain graphs in Clojure services. Choose immudb for tamper-evident audit logs; replacing Amazon QLDB with a self-hosted ledger; and software supply-chain and compliance records.

Is Datomic or immudb more popular?

immudb ranks #193 on the WhichDB Score (17.2/100) and Datomic ranks #225 (14.9/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Datomic and immudb open source?

Yes. Datomic is open source. License: Apache-2.0 (binaries only; source not published). Not in the OSI sense. immudb is source-available: you can read the code, but the license restricts some uses, typically offering it as a competing managed service. License: Business Source License 1.1.