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TDSQL (Tencent) vs TiDB

TDSQL (Tencent): Tencent's financial-grade MySQL-compatible database family: distributed TDSQL and cloud-native TDSQL-C. TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics.

key differences

  • Licensing: TDSQL (Tencent) is proprietary (Proprietary (Tencent Cloud service / private deployment)); TiDB is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • TiDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than TDSQL (Tencent) (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only TDSQL (Tencent) has stored procedures.
  • Only TiDB has vector search, ttl / expiry, columnar storage, time travel, branching.

choose tencent-tdsql for

  • +Core banking and payment systems in China
  • +Scaling MySQL workloads on Tencent Cloud
  • +Gaming and social backends in the Tencent ecosystem
  • +Oracle and DB2 replacement in financial services

best at · OLTP, Ledger, HTAP

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

TDSQL (Tencent)Tencent's financial-grade MySQL-compatible database family: distributed TDSQL and cloud-native TDSQL-C.
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
Document, Wide-Column
Document, Columnar / OLAP, Vector
Type
Managed service
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Tencent Cloud
PingCAP
First release
2014
2017
Latest version
–
8.5.8 (Aug 27, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (Tencent Cloud service / private deployment)
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
—
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
0.0
35.9
Rank
#828
#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
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Multi primary, Shared storage, Serverless
Distributed, Client server, Serverless
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
Tencent Cloud
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
SQL
SQL
Client languages
Java, Go, Python, PHP, C++, JavaScript
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, PHP, Rust
Best for
OLTP, Ledger, HTAP
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

TDSQL (Tencent) vs TiDB: FAQ

What is the difference between TDSQL (Tencent) and TiDB?

TDSQL (Tencent): Tencent's financial-grade MySQL-compatible database family: distributed TDSQL and cloud-native TDSQL-C. TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics. Licensing: TDSQL (Tencent) is proprietary (Proprietary (Tencent Cloud service / private deployment)); TiDB is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). TiDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than TDSQL (Tencent) (≤ 1 PB). Only TDSQL (Tencent) has stored procedures.

When should I choose TDSQL (Tencent) over TiDB?

Choose TDSQL (Tencent) for core banking and payment systems in China; scaling MySQL workloads on Tencent Cloud; and gaming and social backends in the Tencent ecosystem. Choose TiDB for replacing hand-sharded MySQL, HTAP dashboards on live transactional data and SaaS platforms with very large tenant counts.

Is TDSQL (Tencent) or TiDB more popular?

TiDB ranks #56 on the WhichDB Score (35.9/100) and TDSQL (Tencent) ranks #828 (0.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are TDSQL (Tencent) and TiDB open source?

No. TDSQL (Tencent) is proprietary, closed-source software. Yes. TiDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.