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Greenplum vs Qserv

Greenplum: PostgreSQL-based MPP data warehouse, closed-sourced by Broadcom in 2024 and sold in Tanzu Data. Qserv: Distributed shared-nothing SQL database built to serve the Rubin Observatory's petascale sky catalogs.

key differences

  • Licensing: Greenplum is proprietary (Proprietary (open source until May 2024)); Qserv is open source (copyleft) (GNU General Public License v3.0).
  • Transactions: Greenplum offers full ACID; Qserv offers limited.
  • Only Greenplum has transactions, full-text search, vector search, json, stored procedures.

choose greenplum for

  • +Existing Greenplum estates
  • +On-prem Postgres-compatible MPP warehousing
  • +In-database analytics with MADlib

best at · Warehouse, OLAP

choose qserv for

  • +Serving petascale astronomical object and source catalogs
  • +Spatial cone and box searches over sky surveys
  • +Large read-mostly scientific tables partitioned by position

best at · OLAP, Scientific, Geo

GreenplumPostgreSQL-based MPP data warehouse, closed-sourced by Broadcom in 2024 and sold in Tanzu Data.
QservDistributed shared-nothing SQL database built to serve the Rubin Observatory's petascale sky catalogs.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Columnar / OLAP, Spatial, Document
Spatial
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Broadcom (VMware Tanzu)
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory / Vera C. Rubin Observatory
First release
2005
2011
Latest version
7.8.0 (May 7, 2026)
2026.10.2-rc2 (Oct 12, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (open source until May 2024)
Open source (copyleft)GNU General Public License v3.0
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
20.7
0.8
Rank
#151
#610
GitHub stars
–
36
Stack Overflow questions
796
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
None
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Eventual
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Client server
Distributed, 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
SQL, PL/pgSQL, PL/Python, PL/R
SQL (Qserv dialect)
Client languages
C, Java, Python, Go, JavaScript
Python, C++, Java
Best for
Warehouse, OLAP
OLAP, Scientific, Geo
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Greenplum vs Qserv: FAQ

What is the difference between Greenplum and Qserv?

Greenplum: PostgreSQL-based MPP data warehouse, closed-sourced by Broadcom in 2024 and sold in Tanzu Data. Qserv: Distributed shared-nothing SQL database built to serve the Rubin Observatory's petascale sky catalogs. Licensing: Greenplum is proprietary (Proprietary (open source until May 2024)); Qserv is open source (copyleft) (GNU General Public License v3.0). Transactions: Greenplum offers full ACID; Qserv offers limited. Only Greenplum has transactions, full-text search, vector search, json, stored procedures.

When should I choose Greenplum over Qserv?

Choose Greenplum for existing Greenplum estates, on-prem Postgres-compatible MPP warehousing and in-database analytics with MADlib. Choose Qserv for serving petascale astronomical object and source catalogs; spatial cone and box searches over sky surveys; and large read-mostly scientific tables partitioned by position.

Is Greenplum or Qserv more popular?

Greenplum ranks #151 on the WhichDB Score (20.7/100) and Qserv ranks #610 (0.8/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Greenplum and Qserv open source?

No. Greenplum is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. Qserv is open source. License: GNU General Public License v3.0.