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MarkLogic vs Stardog

MarkLogic: Enterprise multi-model database for XML, JSON and RDF with built-in search and semantic RAG. Stardog: Enterprise knowledge-graph platform: RDF store, reasoning and virtual graphs over your sources.

key differences

  • MarkLogic is primarily a document database; Stardog is RDF / triple store.
  • MarkLogic is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Stardog (≤ 10 TB).
  • Horizontal scaling is native in MarkLogic and none in Stardog.
  • Only MarkLogic has joins, secondary indexes, vector search, json, triggers.

choose marklogic for

  • +Publishing and media content repositories
  • +Government and intelligence data hubs
  • +Financial regulatory and trade data integration
  • +Semantic knowledge graphs combined with documents

best at · Content, Search, Knowledge graph

choose stardog for

  • +Enterprise data fabric and semantic layer
  • +Life-sciences and pharma knowledge graphs
  • +Regulatory and compliance data integration
  • +Natural-language question answering over enterprise data

best at · Knowledge graph, Metadata, RAG

MarkLogicEnterprise multi-model database for XML, JSON and RDF with built-in search and semantic RAG.
StardogEnterprise knowledge-graph platform: RDF store, reasoning and virtual graphs over your sources.
overview
Primary model
Document
RDF / Triple Store
Also supports
XML, RDF / Triple Store, Search Engine, Graph, Vector, Spatial
Graph
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Progress Software
Stardog Union
First release
2003
2012
Latest version
12.1.0 (Sep 10, 2026)
12.2.1 (Oct 26, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary commercial licence
ProprietaryProprietary (free 1-year renewable license available)
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
21.6
12.7
Rank
#138
#265
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
3.9K
97
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
None
Multi-region
Read replicas
None
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Flexible
Flexible
Architecture
Distributed, Client server
Single node, Primary replica, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Azure
AWS, Azure
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
XQuery, Server-side JavaScript, SPARQL, SQL, Optic API
SPARQL, GraphQL, SQL, Stardog Rules
Client languages
Java, JavaScript, Python, C#
Java, Python, JavaScript, .NET
Best for
Content, Search, Knowledge graph, Metadata
Knowledge graph, Metadata, RAG, Traversal
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

MarkLogic vs Stardog: FAQ

What is the difference between MarkLogic and Stardog?

MarkLogic: Enterprise multi-model database for XML, JSON and RDF with built-in search and semantic RAG. Stardog: Enterprise knowledge-graph platform: RDF store, reasoning and virtual graphs over your sources. MarkLogic is primarily a document database; Stardog is RDF / triple store. MarkLogic is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than Stardog (≤ 10 TB). Horizontal scaling is native in MarkLogic and none in Stardog.

When should I choose MarkLogic over Stardog?

Choose MarkLogic for publishing and media content repositories; government and intelligence data hubs; and financial regulatory and trade data integration. Choose Stardog for enterprise data fabric and semantic layer; life-sciences and pharma knowledge graphs; and regulatory and compliance data integration.

Is MarkLogic or Stardog more popular?

MarkLogic ranks #138 on the WhichDB Score (21.6/100) and Stardog ranks #265 (12.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are MarkLogic and Stardog open source?

No. MarkLogic is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Stardog is proprietary, closed-source software.