whichdb
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OceanBase vs TiDB

OceanBase: Alipay-proven distributed SQL with MySQL (and Oracle, in Enterprise) compatibility, HTAP and vector search. TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics.

key differences

  • Only OceanBase has full-text search, geospatial, triggers, stored procedures, materialized views.
  • Only TiDB has ttl / expiry, branching.
  • TiDB has a serverless option; OceanBase does not.

choose oceanbase for

  • +Core banking and payment systems
  • +Oracle-to-distributed-SQL migrations
  • +Consolidating many MySQL instances into one multi-tenant cluster
  • +HTAP reporting on live order data

best at · OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics

choose tidb for

  • +Replacing hand-sharded MySQL
  • +HTAP dashboards on live transactional data
  • +SaaS platforms with very large tenant counts
  • +Payment and order systems at internet scale

best at · OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics

OceanBaseAlipay-proven distributed SQL with MySQL (and Oracle, in Enterprise) compatibility, HTAP and vector search.
TiDBMySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Columnar / OLAP, Vector, Spatial
Document, Columnar / OLAP, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
OceanBase (Ant Group)
PingCAP
First release
2010
2017
Latest version
5.0.1 CE (Aug 6, 2026)
8.5.8 (Aug 27, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0 (Community Edition)
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
19.4
35.9
Rank
#168
#56
GitHub stars
10.4K
40.7K
Stack Overflow questions
20
102
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Client server, Single node
Distributed, Client server, Serverless
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
—
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, Tencent Cloud
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Alibaba Cloud
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/SQL (Enterprise Oracle mode)
SQL
Client languages
Java, Python, Go, C, JavaScript, C#
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, PHP, Rust
Best for
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

OceanBase vs TiDB: FAQ

What is the difference between OceanBase and TiDB?

OceanBase: Alipay-proven distributed SQL with MySQL (and Oracle, in Enterprise) compatibility, HTAP and vector search. TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics. Only OceanBase has full-text search, geospatial, triggers, stored procedures, materialized views. Only TiDB has ttl / expiry, branching. TiDB has a serverless option; OceanBase does not.

When should I choose OceanBase over TiDB?

Choose OceanBase for core banking and payment systems; oracle-to-distributed-SQL migrations; and consolidating many MySQL instances into one multi-tenant cluster. Choose TiDB for replacing hand-sharded MySQL, HTAP dashboards on live transactional data and SaaS platforms with very large tenant counts.

Is OceanBase or TiDB more popular?

TiDB ranks #56 on the WhichDB Score (35.9/100) and OceanBase ranks #168 (19.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are OceanBase and TiDB open source?

Yes. OceanBase is open source. License: Apache License 2.0 (Community Edition). Yes. TiDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.