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Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Spanner Omni

Google Cloud Spanner: Google's globally consistent, horizontally scaling SQL service with graph, vector and full-text built in. Google Spanner Omni: Downloadable Spanner that runs on your own servers, other clouds or a laptop, with Paxos and auto-sharding.

key differences

  • Google Cloud Spanner is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Google Spanner Omni (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only Google Cloud Spanner has change data capture, ttl / expiry, encryption at rest, time travel.
  • Only Google Spanner Omni has columnar storage.

choose google-cloud-spanner for

  • +Global financial ledgers and payment systems
  • +Gaming backends with worldwide player state
  • +Inventory and supply-chain systems of record
  • +Identity and metadata services at very high write rates

best at · OLTP, Traversal, Vector search

choose spanner-omni for

  • +Regulated or sovereign deployments that cannot use public cloud
  • +Hybrid apps sharing a data model with managed Spanner
  • +Multi-cloud distributed SQL with Spanner semantics
  • +Local development and CI against a real Spanner engine

best at · OLTP, Traversal, Vector search

Google Cloud SpannerGoogle's globally consistent, horizontally scaling SQL service with graph, vector and full-text built in.
Google Spanner OmniDownloadable Spanner that runs on your own servers, other clouds or a laptop, with Paxos and auto-sharding.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Graph, Key-Value, Vector, Search Engine
Graph, Key-Value, Vector, Search Engine, Columnar / OLAP
Type
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Google
Google
First release
2017
2026
Latest version
–
–
License
ProprietaryProprietary (Google Cloud service)
ProprietaryProprietary (Developer and Commercial editions)
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
34.5
1.1
Rank
#59
#577
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
733
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
Active active
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Multi primary
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Google Cloud
Google Cloud, 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
GoogleSQL, PostgreSQL dialect, GQL
GoogleSQL, PostgreSQL dialect, GQL
Client languages
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, C++, PHP, Ruby
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, C++
Best for
OLTP, Traversal, Vector search, Search
OLTP, Traversal, Vector search, Search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Spanner Omni: FAQ

What is the difference between Google Cloud Spanner and Google Spanner Omni?

Google Cloud Spanner: Google's globally consistent, horizontally scaling SQL service with graph, vector and full-text built in. Google Spanner Omni: Downloadable Spanner that runs on your own servers, other clouds or a laptop, with Paxos and auto-sharding. Google Cloud Spanner is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Google Spanner Omni (≤ 1 PB). Only Google Cloud Spanner has change data capture, ttl / expiry, encryption at rest, time travel. Only Google Spanner Omni has columnar storage.

When should I choose Google Cloud Spanner over Google Spanner Omni?

Choose Google Cloud Spanner for global financial ledgers and payment systems; gaming backends with worldwide player state; and inventory and supply-chain systems of record. Choose Google Spanner Omni for regulated or sovereign deployments that cannot use public cloud, hybrid apps sharing a data model with managed Spanner and multi-cloud distributed SQL with Spanner semantics.

Is Google Cloud Spanner or Google Spanner Omni more popular?

Google Cloud Spanner ranks #59 on the WhichDB Score (34.5/100) and Google Spanner Omni ranks #577 (1.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Google Cloud Spanner and Google Spanner Omni open source?

No. Google Cloud Spanner is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Google Spanner Omni is proprietary, closed-source software.