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PostGIS vs Qserv

PostGIS: The standard spatial extension for PostgreSQL: geometry, geography, rasters and topology in SQL. Qserv: Distributed shared-nothing SQL database built to serve the Rubin Observatory's petascale sky catalogs.

key differences

  • PostGIS is primarily a spatial database; Qserv is relational.
  • Qserv is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than PostGIS (≤ 10 TB).
  • Horizontal scaling is addon in PostGIS and native in Qserv.
  • Transactions: PostGIS offers full ACID; Qserv offers limited.
  • Only PostGIS has transactions, json, triggers, stored procedures, materialized views.
  • Only Qserv has compression.

choose postgis for

  • +Store locators and proximity search
  • +Fleet tracking and logistics routing
  • +Land, utility and municipal GIS
  • +Vector tile generation for web maps

best at · Geo, OLTP, OLAP

choose qserv for

  • +Serving petascale astronomical object and source catalogs
  • +Spatial cone and box searches over sky surveys
  • +Large read-mostly scientific tables partitioned by position

best at · OLAP, Scientific, Geo

PostGISThe standard spatial extension for PostgreSQL: geometry, geography, rasters and topology in SQL.
QservDistributed shared-nothing SQL database built to serve the Rubin Observatory's petascale sky catalogs.
overview
Primary model
Spatial
Relational
Also supports
Relational
Spatial
Type
Extension
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
PostGIS Project Steering Committee (OSGeo)
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory / Vera C. Rubin Observatory
First release
2001
2011
Latest version
3.6.4 (Jun 8, 2026)
2026.10.2-rc2 (Oct 12, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU GPL v2.0
Open source (copyleft)GNU General Public License v3.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
47.5
0.8
Rank
#32
#610
GitHub stars
2.3K
36
Stack Overflow questions
4.7K
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Addon
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
None
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Eventual
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Single node, Primary replica, Client server
Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, DigitalOcean, Aiven, Heroku
–
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 (Qserv dialect)
Client languages
C, Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, Rust, C#, Ruby
Python, C++, Java
Best for
Geo, OLTP, OLAP
OLAP, Scientific, Geo
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

PostGIS vs Qserv: FAQ

What is the difference between PostGIS and Qserv?

PostGIS: The standard spatial extension for PostgreSQL: geometry, geography, rasters and topology in SQL. Qserv: Distributed shared-nothing SQL database built to serve the Rubin Observatory's petascale sky catalogs. PostGIS is primarily a spatial database; Qserv is relational. Qserv is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than PostGIS (≤ 10 TB). Horizontal scaling is addon in PostGIS and native in Qserv.

When should I choose PostGIS over Qserv?

Choose PostGIS for store locators and proximity search; fleet tracking and logistics routing; and land, utility and municipal GIS. Choose Qserv for serving petascale astronomical object and source catalogs; spatial cone and box searches over sky surveys; and large read-mostly scientific tables partitioned by position.

Is PostGIS or Qserv more popular?

PostGIS ranks #32 on the WhichDB Score (47.5/100) and Qserv ranks #610 (0.8/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are PostGIS and Qserv open source?

Yes. PostGIS is open source. License: GNU GPL v2.0. Yes. Qserv is open source. License: GNU General Public License v3.0.