whichdb
vs

Google Spanner Omni vs TiDB

Google Spanner Omni: Downloadable Spanner that runs on your own servers, other clouds or a laptop, with Paxos and auto-sharding. TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics.

key differences

  • Licensing: Google Spanner Omni is proprietary (Proprietary (Developer and Commercial editions)); TiDB is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • TiDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Google Spanner Omni (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only Google Spanner Omni has full-text search.
  • Only TiDB has change data capture, ttl / expiry, encryption at rest, time travel, branching.
  • TiDB has a serverless option; Google Spanner Omni does not.

choose spanner-omni for

  • +Regulated or sovereign deployments that cannot use public cloud
  • +Hybrid apps sharing a data model with managed Spanner
  • +Multi-cloud distributed SQL with Spanner semantics
  • +Local development and CI against a real Spanner engine

best at · OLTP, Traversal, Vector search

choose tidb for

  • +Replacing hand-sharded MySQL
  • +HTAP dashboards on live transactional data
  • +SaaS platforms with very large tenant counts
  • +Payment and order systems at internet scale

best at · OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics

Google Spanner OmniDownloadable Spanner that runs on your own servers, other clouds or a laptop, with Paxos and auto-sharding.
TiDBMySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Graph, Key-Value, Vector, Search Engine, Columnar / OLAP
Document, Columnar / OLAP, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Google
PingCAP
First release
2026
2017
Latest version
–
8.5.8 (Aug 27, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (Developer and Commercial editions)
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
1.1
35.9
Rank
#577
#56
GitHub stars
–
40.7K
Stack Overflow questions
–
102
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Active active
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Multi primary, Client server
Distributed, Client server, Serverless
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
✓
Serverless
—
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Google Cloud, AWS
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, 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
GoogleSQL, PostgreSQL dialect, GQL
SQL
Client languages
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, C++
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, PHP, Rust
Best for
OLTP, Traversal, Vector search, Search
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Google Spanner Omni vs TiDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Google Spanner Omni and TiDB?

Google Spanner Omni: Downloadable Spanner that runs on your own servers, other clouds or a laptop, with Paxos and auto-sharding. TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics. Licensing: Google Spanner Omni is proprietary (Proprietary (Developer and Commercial editions)); TiDB is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). TiDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Google Spanner Omni (≤ 1 PB). Only Google Spanner Omni has full-text search.

When should I choose Google Spanner Omni over TiDB?

Choose Google Spanner Omni for regulated or sovereign deployments that cannot use public cloud, hybrid apps sharing a data model with managed Spanner and multi-cloud distributed SQL with Spanner semantics. Choose TiDB for replacing hand-sharded MySQL, HTAP dashboards on live transactional data and SaaS platforms with very large tenant counts.

Is Google Spanner Omni or TiDB more popular?

TiDB ranks #56 on the WhichDB Score (35.9/100) and Google Spanner Omni ranks #577 (1.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Google Spanner Omni and TiDB open source?

No. Google Spanner Omni is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. TiDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.