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Reality vs Rocket UniData / UniVerse

Reality: The original commercial Pick MultiValue database (1973), still sold and updated by NEC Software Solutions. Rocket UniData / UniVerse: Rocket's Pick-style MultiValue databases, powering thousands of vertical business applications.

key differences

  • Transactions: Reality offers full ACID; Rocket UniData / UniVerse offers limited.
  • Only Rocket UniData / UniVerse has joins, triggers, encryption at rest.

choose reality for

  • +Running established Pick-based public-sector and housing applications
  • +Line-of-business systems already written in DataBasic
  • +Migrating Pick applications between hardware platforms

best at · OLTP

choose rocket-unidata-universe for

  • +Running vertical ERP, distribution and healthcare packages built on U2
  • +Higher-education student information systems
  • +Modernising Pick applications behind REST and .NET

best at · OLTP

RealityThe original commercial Pick MultiValue database (1973), still sold and updated by NEC Software Solutions.
Rocket UniData / UniVerseRocket's Pick-style MultiValue databases, powering thousands of vertical business applications.
overview
Primary model
Multivalue (Pick)
Multivalue (Pick)
Also supports
Relational
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
NEC Software Solutions UK (formerly Northgate Public Services)
Rocket Software
First release
1973
1985
Latest version
V15.5 (Sep 2024)
UniVerse 14.2.1 (Nov 5, 2025)
License
ProprietaryProprietary
ProprietaryProprietary commercial license
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
0.0
11.0
Rank
#799
#289
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
–
121
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
None
None
Multi-region
None
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Flexible
Flexible
Architecture
Single node, Client server
Client server, Primary replica
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
–
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
DataBasic, ENGLISH, SQL
UniVerse BASIC / UniBasic, RetrieVe / UniQuery, SQL
Client languages
–
C#, Java, Python, C
Best for
OLTP
OLTP
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Reality vs Rocket UniData / UniVerse: FAQ

What is the difference between Reality and Rocket UniData / UniVerse?

Reality: The original commercial Pick MultiValue database (1973), still sold and updated by NEC Software Solutions. Rocket UniData / UniVerse: Rocket's Pick-style MultiValue databases, powering thousands of vertical business applications. Transactions: Reality offers full ACID; Rocket UniData / UniVerse offers limited. Only Rocket UniData / UniVerse has joins, triggers, encryption at rest.

When should I choose Reality over Rocket UniData / UniVerse?

Choose Reality for running established Pick-based public-sector and housing applications; line-of-business systems already written in DataBasic; and migrating Pick applications between hardware platforms. Choose Rocket UniData / UniVerse for running vertical ERP, distribution and healthcare packages built on U2; higher-education student information systems; and modernising Pick applications behind REST and .NET.

Is Reality or Rocket UniData / UniVerse more popular?

Rocket UniData / UniVerse ranks #289 on the WhichDB Score (11.0/100) and Reality ranks #799 (0.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Reality and Rocket UniData / UniVerse open source?

No. Reality is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Rocket UniData / UniVerse is proprietary, closed-source software.