whichdb
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ParadeDB vs Tantivy

ParadeDB: Elasticsearch-quality BM25 search and fast aggregations inside Postgres via the pg_search extension. Tantivy: Lucene-inspired full-text search library in Rust, the engine under Quickwit and ParadeDB.

key differences

  • Licensing: ParadeDB is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3 (Community); commercial license for Enterprise); Tantivy is open source (permissive) (MIT License).
  • Horizontal scaling is none in ParadeDB and manual in Tantivy.
  • Transactions: ParadeDB offers full ACID; Tantivy offers limited.
  • Only ParadeDB has transactions, joins, secondary indexes, vector search, change data capture.
  • Tantivy can run embedded in your application process.

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 tantivy for

  • +Embedding full-text search in Rust applications
  • +Building custom search services
  • +Search inside other databases (e.g., Postgres extensions)

best at · Search, Embedded

ParadeDBElasticsearch-quality BM25 search and fast aggregations inside Postgres via the pg_search extension.
TantivyLucene-inspired full-text search library in Rust, the engine under Quickwit and ParadeDB.
overview
Primary model
Search Engine
Search Engine
Also supports
Relational, Vector
–
Type
Extension
Embedded library
Status
Active
Active
Developer
ParadeDB, Inc.
Quickwit (Datadog) and contributors
First release
2023
2016
Latest version
0.26.3 (Oct 22, 2026)
0.27.0 (Oct 17, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3 (Community); commercial license for Enterprise
Open source (permissive)MIT License
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
25.1
22.6
Rank
#122
#135
GitHub stars
9.5K
16.3K
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
None
Manual
Multi-region
Read replicas
None
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Single node, Primary replica, Client server
Embedded
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
✓
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Railway, Render, Fly.io, DigitalOcean
–
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
Tantivy query parser (Lucene-like), Rust API
Client languages
Any PostgreSQL driver
Rust, Python
Best for
Search, Vector search, RAG, Real-time analytics
Search, Embedded
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

ParadeDB vs Tantivy: FAQ

What is the difference between ParadeDB and Tantivy?

ParadeDB: Elasticsearch-quality BM25 search and fast aggregations inside Postgres via the pg_search extension. Tantivy: Lucene-inspired full-text search library in Rust, the engine under Quickwit and ParadeDB. Licensing: ParadeDB is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3 (Community); commercial license for Enterprise); Tantivy is open source (permissive) (MIT License). Horizontal scaling is none in ParadeDB and manual in Tantivy. Transactions: ParadeDB offers full ACID; Tantivy offers limited.

When should I choose ParadeDB over Tantivy?

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 Tantivy for embedding full-text search in Rust applications; building custom search services; and search inside other databases (e.g., Postgres extensions).

Is ParadeDB or Tantivy more popular?

ParadeDB ranks #122 on the WhichDB Score (25.1/100) and Tantivy ranks #135 (22.6/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are ParadeDB and Tantivy open source?

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