vs

Fjall vs RocksDB

Fjall: Log-structured, embeddable key-value engine in pure Rust with keyspaces and transactions. RocksDB: Meta's embeddable LSM-tree key-value engine, the storage layer under dozens of databases.

key differences

  • Only RocksDB has ttl / expiry.

choose fjall for

  • +Write-heavy storage inside Rust services
  • +Embedded time-series or log storage
  • +Replacing RocksDB bindings in Rust code

best at · Embedded, Time-series, Metadata

choose rocksdb for

  • +Storage engine for a custom database or service
  • +Stream-processing state stores (Kafka Streams, Flink)
  • +MySQL storage engine via MyRocks
  • +Write-heavy local indexes and caches on SSD

best at · Embedded, OLTP, Streaming

overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Key-Value
Also supports
–
–
Type
Embedded library
Embedded library
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Marvin Jäger and contributors
Meta
First release
2023
2013
Latest version
3.1.13 (Oct 25, 2026)
11.12 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)MIT or Apache License 2.0
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0 or GPL-2.0 (dual)
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
15.4
48.2
Rank
#215
#30
GitHub stars
2.4K
32.2K
Stack Overflow questions
–
504
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
None
None
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Embedded
Embedded
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
✓
✓
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
–
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
Rust API
C++ API
Client languages
Rust
C++, C, Java
Best for
Embedded, Time-series, Metadata
Embedded, OLTP, Streaming, Metadata

Fjall vs RocksDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Fjall and RocksDB?

Fjall: Log-structured, embeddable key-value engine in pure Rust with keyspaces and transactions. RocksDB: Meta's embeddable LSM-tree key-value engine, the storage layer under dozens of databases. Only RocksDB has ttl / expiry.

When should I choose Fjall over RocksDB?

Choose Fjall for write-heavy storage inside Rust services, embedded time-series or log storage and replacing RocksDB bindings in Rust code. Choose RocksDB for storage engine for a custom database or service; stream-processing state stores (Kafka Streams, Flink); and MySQL storage engine via MyRocks.

Is Fjall or RocksDB more popular?

RocksDB ranks #30 on the WhichDB Score (48.2/100) and Fjall ranks #215 (15.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Fjall and RocksDB open source?

Yes. Fjall is open source. License: MIT or Apache License 2.0. Yes. RocksDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0 or GPL-2.0 (dual).