whichdb
vs

TiDB vs YDB

TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics. YDB: Open-source distributed SQL from Yandex combining row and column tables, topics and vector search.

key differences

  • Only TiDB has time travel, branching.
  • Only YDB has pub/sub, streaming ingest.

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

choose ydb for

  • +High-load OLTP services needing automatic sharding
  • +Combined transactional and analytical workloads on one platform
  • +Event streaming with transactional consistency to tables
  • +Serverless backends on Yandex Cloud

best at · OLTP, OLAP, HTAP

TiDBMySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics.
YDBOpen-source distributed SQL from Yandex combining row and column tables, topics and vector search.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Columnar / OLAP, Vector
Key-Value, Columnar / OLAP, Document, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
PingCAP
YDB (Yandex)
First release
2017
2022
Latest version
8.5.8 (Aug 27, 2026)
26.2.1.14 (Sep 17, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
35.9
27.4
Rank
#56
#103
GitHub stars
40.7K
4.8K
Stack Overflow questions
102
6
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Active active
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong, Tunable
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Client server, Serverless
Distributed, Client server, Serverless
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
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
YQL (SQL dialect)
Client languages
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, PHP, Rust
Java, Go, Python, C++, JavaScript, C#, Rust, PHP
Best for
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search
OLTP, OLAP, HTAP, Queue
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

TiDB vs YDB: FAQ

What is the difference between TiDB and YDB?

TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics. YDB: Open-source distributed SQL from Yandex combining row and column tables, topics and vector search. Only TiDB has time travel, branching. Only YDB has pub/sub, streaming ingest.

When should I choose TiDB over YDB?

Choose TiDB for replacing hand-sharded MySQL, HTAP dashboards on live transactional data and SaaS platforms with very large tenant counts. Choose YDB for high-load OLTP services needing automatic sharding; combined transactional and analytical workloads on one platform; and event streaming with transactional consistency to tables.

Is TiDB or YDB more popular?

TiDB ranks #56 on the WhichDB Score (35.9/100) and YDB ranks #103 (27.4/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are TiDB and YDB open source?

Yes. TiDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. Yes. YDB is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.