whichdb
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TiDB vs YugabyteDB

TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics. YugabyteDB: Apache-licensed distributed SQL that reuses the PostgreSQL query layer on a Raft-replicated storage engine.

key differences

  • TiDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than YugabyteDB (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only TiDB has columnar storage, time travel, branching.
  • Only YugabyteDB has full-text search, triggers, stored procedures, materialized views.
  • TiDB has a serverless option; YugabyteDB does not.

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 yugabytedb for

  • +Scaling a Postgres application beyond one primary
  • +Multi-region customer and order data with zone/region resilience
  • +Retail and financial OLTP needing horizontal write capacity
  • +IoT and telemetry metadata with TTL on YCQL tables

best at · OLTP, Metadata, IoT

TiDBMySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics.
YugabyteDBApache-licensed distributed SQL that reuses the PostgreSQL query layer on a Raft-replicated storage engine.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Document, Columnar / OLAP, Vector
Document, Wide-Column, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
PingCAP
Yugabyte, Inc.
First release
2017
2017
Latest version
8.5.8 (Aug 27, 2026)
2026.1.2.0 (Sep 22, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
35.9
32.7
Rank
#56
#69
GitHub stars
40.7K
10.6K
Stack Overflow questions
102
370
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Large (≤ 1 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, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Alibaba Cloud
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
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, PL/pgSQL, CQL
Client languages
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Ruby, PHP, Rust
Java, Go, Python, JavaScript, C#, Rust, Ruby, C++
Best for
OLTP, HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search
OLTP, Metadata, IoT, Vector search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

TiDB vs YugabyteDB: FAQ

What is the difference between TiDB and YugabyteDB?

TiDB: MySQL-compatible distributed SQL with a row store for OLTP and a columnar replica for real-time analytics. YugabyteDB: Apache-licensed distributed SQL that reuses the PostgreSQL query layer on a Raft-replicated storage engine. TiDB is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than YugabyteDB (≤ 1 PB). Only TiDB has columnar storage, time travel, branching. Only YugabyteDB has full-text search, triggers, stored procedures, materialized views.

When should I choose TiDB over YugabyteDB?

Choose TiDB for replacing hand-sharded MySQL, HTAP dashboards on live transactional data and SaaS platforms with very large tenant counts. Choose YugabyteDB for scaling a Postgres application beyond one primary; multi-region customer and order data with zone/region resilience; and retail and financial OLTP needing horizontal write capacity.

Is TiDB or YugabyteDB more popular?

TiDB ranks #56 on the WhichDB Score (35.9/100) and YugabyteDB ranks #69 (32.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are TiDB and YugabyteDB open source?

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