vs

ParadeDB vs pgvectorscale

ParadeDB: Elasticsearch-quality BM25 search and fast aggregations inside Postgres via the pg_search extension. pgvectorscale: TigerData's Postgres extension adding StreamingDiskANN indexes on top of pgvector.

key differences

  • ParadeDB is primarily a search engine database; pgvectorscale is vector.
  • Licensing: ParadeDB is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3 (Community); commercial license for Enterprise); pgvectorscale is open source (permissive) (PostgreSQL License).
  • pgvectorscale is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than ParadeDB (≤ 10 TB).
  • Only ParadeDB has columnar storage.

choose paradedb for

  • +Search inside a Postgres-backed SaaS app
  • +Hybrid search for RAG next to relational data
  • +Faceted catalog and marketplace search
  • +Replacing Elasticsearch + ETL with one database

best at · Search, Vector search, RAG

choose pgvectorscale for

  • +Large pgvector tables that no longer fit HNSW in RAM
  • +Cost-efficient RAG on Postgres
  • +Filtered semantic search with labels

best at · Vector search, RAG, OLTP

overview
Primary model
Search Engine
Vector
Also supports
Relational, Vector
Relational
Type
Extension
Extension
Status
Active
Active
Developer
ParadeDB, Inc.
TigerData (formerly Timescale)
First release
2023
2024
Latest version
0.26.3 (Oct 22, 2026)
0.9.1 (Sep 4, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3 (Community); commercial license for Enterprise
Open source (permissive)PostgreSQL License
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
25.1
13.9
Rank
#122
#243
GitHub stars
9.5K
3.2K
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
None
None
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Single node, Primary replica, Client server
Single node, Primary replica, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Railway, Render, Fly.io, DigitalOcean
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
SQL
SQL
Client languages
Any PostgreSQL driver
Any PostgreSQL driver
Best for
Search, Vector search, RAG, Real-time analytics
Vector search, RAG, OLTP

ParadeDB vs pgvectorscale: FAQ

What is the difference between ParadeDB and pgvectorscale?

ParadeDB: Elasticsearch-quality BM25 search and fast aggregations inside Postgres via the pg_search extension. pgvectorscale: TigerData's Postgres extension adding StreamingDiskANN indexes on top of pgvector. ParadeDB is primarily a search engine database; pgvectorscale is vector. Licensing: ParadeDB is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3 (Community); commercial license for Enterprise); pgvectorscale is open source (permissive) (PostgreSQL License). pgvectorscale is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than ParadeDB (≤ 10 TB).

When should I choose ParadeDB over pgvectorscale?

Choose ParadeDB for search inside a Postgres-backed SaaS app; hybrid search for RAG next to relational data; and faceted catalog and marketplace search. Choose pgvectorscale for large pgvector tables that no longer fit HNSW in RAM, cost-efficient RAG on Postgres and filtered semantic search with labels.

Is ParadeDB or pgvectorscale more popular?

ParadeDB ranks #122 on the WhichDB Score (25.1/100) and pgvectorscale ranks #243 (13.9/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are ParadeDB and pgvectorscale open source?

Yes. ParadeDB is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3 (Community); commercial license for Enterprise. Yes. pgvectorscale is open source. License: PostgreSQL License.