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FoundationDB vs Riak KV

FoundationDB: Apple's ordered, strictly serializable distributed key-value store, built to have layers on top. Riak KV: Erlang-based, Dynamo-style key-value store built to stay up through ugly failures.

key differences

  • Transactions: FoundationDB offers full ACID; Riak KV offers none.
  • Only FoundationDB has transactions, pub/sub, encryption at rest.
  • Only Riak KV has secondary indexes, ttl / expiry, compression.

choose foundationdb for

  • +Metadata stores for larger systems (catalogs, object stores)
  • +Foundation for custom databases and layers
  • +Multi-tenant app backends via the Record Layer
  • +Transactional queues and job systems

best at · OLTP, Metadata, Queue

choose riak-kv for

  • +Highly available session and profile storage
  • +Healthcare or betting systems needing extreme uptime
  • +Object and blob metadata stores
  • +Shopping carts with CRDT merges

best at · OLTP, Sessions, Metadata

FoundationDBApple's ordered, strictly serializable distributed key-value store, built to have layers on top.
Riak KVErlang-based, Dynamo-style key-value store built to stay up through ugly failures.
overview
Primary model
Key-Value
Key-Value
Also supports
–
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Apple
OpenRiak (Erlang Ecosystem Foundation)
First release
2013
2009
Latest version
7.3.77 (Apr 16, 2026)
3.4.1 (Jun 29, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
36.8
18.1
Rank
#54
#184
GitHub stars
16.8K
56
Stack Overflow questions
37
772
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Active active
ACID
Full
None
Consistency
Strong
Eventual, Causal
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Distributed, Client server
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server
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
FoundationDB API
Riak HTTP API, Protocol Buffers API
Client languages
C, Python, Java, Go, Ruby, Rust, JavaScript, Swift
Erlang, Java, Python, Go, C#, Ruby, JavaScript
Best for
OLTP, Metadata, Queue
OLTP, Sessions, Metadata, Content
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

FoundationDB vs Riak KV: FAQ

What is the difference between FoundationDB and Riak KV?

FoundationDB: Apple's ordered, strictly serializable distributed key-value store, built to have layers on top. Riak KV: Erlang-based, Dynamo-style key-value store built to stay up through ugly failures. Transactions: FoundationDB offers full ACID; Riak KV offers none. Only FoundationDB has transactions, pub/sub, encryption at rest. Only Riak KV has secondary indexes, ttl / expiry, compression.

When should I choose FoundationDB over Riak KV?

Choose FoundationDB for metadata stores for larger systems (catalogs, object stores); foundation for custom databases and layers; and multi-tenant app backends via the Record Layer. Choose Riak KV for highly available session and profile storage; healthcare or betting systems needing extreme uptime; and object and blob metadata stores.

Is FoundationDB or Riak KV more popular?

FoundationDB ranks #54 on the WhichDB Score (36.8/100) and Riak KV ranks #184 (18.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are FoundationDB and Riak KV open source?

Yes. FoundationDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. Yes. Riak KV is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.