vs

Datomic vs TerminusDB

Datomic: Immutable Datalog database from Nubank where every fact is timestamped and queries run in the app process. TerminusDB: Git-for-data document and knowledge-graph database with branches, diffs and time travel.

key differences

  • Datomic is primarily a relational database; TerminusDB is graph.
  • Datomic is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than TerminusDB (≤ 100 GB).
  • Only Datomic has secondary indexes, full-text search, change data capture.
  • Only TerminusDB has json, compression, role-based access, branching, online schema changes.
  • Datomic can run embedded in your application process.

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 terminusdb for

  • +Collaborative curation of reference or master data
  • +Auditable knowledge graphs with review workflows
  • +Versioned configuration and product data
  • +Data products that need reproducible snapshots

best at · Knowledge graph, Content, Metadata

overview
Primary model
Relational
Graph
Also supports
Graph
Document, RDF / Triple Store
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Nubank (Cognitect)
Gettier (DFRNT AB) and TerminusDB community
First release
2012
2019
Latest version
1.0.7745 (Oct 16, 2026)
12.0.8 (Oct 12, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache-2.0 (binaries only; source not published)
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
14.9
21.0
Rank
#225
#146
GitHub stars
–
3.5K
Stack Overflow questions
436
2
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
None
None
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Flexible
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage
Single node, Client server
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
WOQL (Datalog), GraphQL
Client languages
Clojure, Java
Python, JavaScript, Rust, Elixir
Best for
OLTP, Event sourcing, Ledger, Knowledge graph
Knowledge graph, Content, Metadata

Datomic vs TerminusDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Datomic and TerminusDB?

Datomic: Immutable Datalog database from Nubank where every fact is timestamped and queries run in the app process. TerminusDB: Git-for-data document and knowledge-graph database with branches, diffs and time travel. Datomic is primarily a relational database; TerminusDB is graph. Datomic is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than TerminusDB (≤ 100 GB). Only Datomic has secondary indexes, full-text search, change data capture.

When should I choose Datomic over TerminusDB?

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 TerminusDB for collaborative curation of reference or master data; auditable knowledge graphs with review workflows; and versioned configuration and product data.

Is Datomic or TerminusDB more popular?

TerminusDB ranks #146 on the WhichDB Score (21.0/100) and Datomic ranks #225 (14.9/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Datomic and TerminusDB open source?

Yes. Datomic is open source. License: Apache-2.0 (binaries only; source not published). Yes. TerminusDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.