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Alibaba PolarDB vs PolarDB-X

Alibaba PolarDB: Alibaba Cloud's shared-storage relational service in MySQL-, PostgreSQL- and Oracle-compatible editions. PolarDB-X: Alibaba's open-source, MySQL-compatible shared-nothing distributed SQL with Paxos and columnar indexes.

key differences

  • Licensing: Alibaba PolarDB is proprietary (Proprietary (Alibaba Cloud service)); PolarDB-X is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • Horizontal scaling is addon in Alibaba PolarDB and native in PolarDB-X.
  • Only Alibaba PolarDB has full-text search, vector search, geospatial, triggers, materialized views.
  • Only PolarDB-X has ttl / expiry.
  • Alibaba PolarDB has a serverless option; PolarDB-X does not.

choose polardb for

  • +E-commerce and gaming backends on Alibaba Cloud
  • +Oracle migrations in Chinese enterprises
  • +Read-heavy apps needing fast replica scaling
  • +HTAP reporting with IMCI

best at · OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics

choose polardb-x for

  • +Scaling large MySQL e-commerce databases
  • +High-concurrency order and payment systems
  • +Consolidating sharded MySQL into one logical database
  • +Operational analytics via columnar indexes

best at · OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics

overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Spatial, Columnar / OLAP, Vector
Document, Columnar / OLAP
Type
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba Cloud
First release
2017
2021
Latest version
–
5.4.21 (Sep 20, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (Alibaba Cloud service)
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
—
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
2.7
5.0
Rank
#461
#391
GitHub stars
–
1.7K
Stack Overflow questions
61
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Addon
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Shared storage, Primary replica, Serverless
Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
—
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Alibaba Cloud
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/pgSQL, PL/SQL (Oracle-compatible edition)
SQL
Client languages
Java, Python, Go, PHP, JavaScript, C#
Java, Python, Go, PHP, JavaScript
Best for
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics, Geo
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics

Alibaba PolarDB vs PolarDB-X: FAQ

What is the difference between Alibaba PolarDB and PolarDB-X?

Alibaba PolarDB: Alibaba Cloud's shared-storage relational service in MySQL-, PostgreSQL- and Oracle-compatible editions. PolarDB-X: Alibaba's open-source, MySQL-compatible shared-nothing distributed SQL with Paxos and columnar indexes. Licensing: Alibaba PolarDB is proprietary (Proprietary (Alibaba Cloud service)); PolarDB-X is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). Horizontal scaling is addon in Alibaba PolarDB and native in PolarDB-X. Only Alibaba PolarDB has full-text search, vector search, geospatial, triggers, materialized views.

When should I choose Alibaba PolarDB over PolarDB-X?

Choose Alibaba PolarDB for E-commerce and gaming backends on Alibaba Cloud; oracle migrations in Chinese enterprises; and read-heavy apps needing fast replica scaling. Choose PolarDB-X for scaling large MySQL e-commerce databases; high-concurrency order and payment systems; and consolidating sharded MySQL into one logical database.

Is Alibaba PolarDB or PolarDB-X more popular?

PolarDB-X ranks #391 on the WhichDB Score (5.0/100) and Alibaba PolarDB ranks #461 (2.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Alibaba PolarDB and PolarDB-X open source?

No. Alibaba PolarDB is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. PolarDB-X is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.