whichdb

InterSystems Caché

deprecated

by InterSystems Corporation · since 1997 · also known as Caché, Cache, Ensemble

InterSystems' MUMPS-lineage object/SQL database, superseded by IRIS and winding down maintenance.

hierarchicalobjectrelationalkey-valuedatabase engineproprietarylegacy
Website Docs Compare Find similar

deprecated. Superseded by InterSystems IRIS (2018). Frozen at 2018.1.x; InterSystems plans no maintenance releases after March 31, 2027 and recommends migrating to IRIS.

Overview

Caché was InterSystems' database from 1997 to 2018: a MUMPS-descended engine storing data in hierarchical 'globals' with object and SQL projections, plus the Ensemble integration layer. It ran a huge share of hospital systems and some notable science projects. InterSystems replaced it with IRIS in 2018, froze it at the 2018.1 line, and has said no Caché/Ensemble maintenance releases are planned after March 31, 2027 (macOS maintenance already ended in 2024). Support contracts continue, but every remaining installation should be planning its IRIS migration.

Transactional apps (OLTP)

Strengths & trade-offs

Strengths

  • +Globals storage gives very fast hierarchical reads and writes
  • +Same data accessible as objects and SQL without mapping layers
  • +Proven at scale in hospital systems for two decades
  • +Migration path to IRIS is vendor-supported and largely in place

Trade-offs

  • −End of maintenance releases is announced for March 2027
  • −No new features since 2018
  • −Proprietary ObjectScript skills are increasingly scarce

Great for

  • +Keeping existing Caché/Ensemble applications supported until migration
  • +Planning in-place conversion to InterSystems IRIS

Think twice for

  • −Any new project
  • −Installations that need fixes beyond 2027
  • −Running on macOS

Capabilities

Native or official first-party support · 9 of 25 tracked

✓Transactions
✓Joins
✓Secondary indexes
✓Full-text search
✓Triggers
✓Stored procedures
✓Durable persistence
✓Encryption at rest
✓Role-based access
–Vector search
–Geospatial
–JSON
–Change data capture
–Materialized views
–TTL / expiry
–Pub/Sub
–Columnar storage
–In-memory
–Compression
–Time travel
–Branching
–Online schema changes
–Streaming ingest
–Offline sync
–Runs in WebAssembly

Scale & consistency

Comfortable data size
Medium · ≤ 10 TB
Horizontal scaling
Addon
Multi-region
Read replicas
Transactions
Full ACID
Consistency
Strong
Schema
Flexible
Architecture
Client server, Primary replica, Distributed
Query languages
ObjectScript, SQL, MUMPS (M)

ECP application servers for scale-out reads and mirroring for HA/DR.

Deployment

Self-hosted Vendor-managed cloud Serverless Embedded Edge Kubernetes operator

Ecosystem

apis & protocolsODBC, JDBC, Caché Object API, CSP/REST
client languagesJava, C#, C++, Python

Alternatives to InterSystems Caché

Compare all→
InterSystems IRISRelational13.3

Multi-model data platform (SQL, objects, globals, vectors) with built-in interoperability, big in healthcare.

intersystems-cache vs intersystems-iris →
YottaDBHierarchical7.9

Open-source MUMPS/M hierarchical key-value database forked from GT.M, with SQL via Octo.

intersystems-cache vs yottadb →
GT.MHierarchical8.1

FIS's high-throughput M (MUMPS) database and compiler, behind major core-banking systems.

intersystems-cache vs gt-m →
PostgreSQLRelational93.2

The extensible, standards-first open-source relational database.

intersystems-cache vs postgresql →
StarcounterObject2.6

In-memory .NET application platform where C# classes are database tables, with no ORM in between.

intersystems-cache vs starcounter →
BASISRelational0.0

Keyed-file ISAM database plus SQL engine bundled with BASIS International's BBj Business BASIC platform.

intersystems-cache vs basis →

InterSystems Caché FAQ

What is InterSystems Caché?

InterSystems Caché is a hierarchical database by InterSystems Corporation, first released in 1997. Caché was InterSystems' database from 1997 to 2018: a MUMPS-descended engine storing data in hierarchical 'globals' with object and SQL projections, plus the Ensemble integration layer. It ran a huge share of hospital systems and some notable science projects. InterSystems replaced it with IRIS in 2018, froze it at the 2018.1 line, and has said no Caché/Ensemble maintenance releases are planned after March 31, 2027 (macOS maintenance already ended in 2024). Support contracts continue, but every remaining installation should be planning its IRIS migration.

Is InterSystems Caché open source?

No. InterSystems Caché is proprietary, closed-source software.

Does InterSystems Caché support ACID transactions?

Yes. InterSystems Caché supports full ACID transactions, with strong consistency.

Does InterSystems Caché scale horizontally?

InterSystems Caché scales horizontally through an official extension, proxy or edition rather than in the core engine. It is comfortable at medium scale (≤ 10 TB). It supports cross-region read replicas.

How can I run InterSystems Caché?

You can self-host it.

What is InterSystems Caché best for?

InterSystems Caché is a strong fit for keeping existing Caché/Ensemble applications supported until migration and planning in-place conversion to InterSystems IRIS. Think twice for any new project.

What are the best alternatives to InterSystems Caché?

Common alternatives to InterSystems Caché include InterSystems IRIS, YottaDB, GT.M, PostgreSQL and Starcounter. The right choice depends on your workload, scale and hosting; WhichDB's smart match ranks them against your requirements.

Is InterSystems Caché still maintained?

InterSystems Caché is deprecated. Superseded by InterSystems IRIS (2018). Frozen at 2018.1.x; InterSystems plans no maintenance releases after March 31, 2027 and recommends migrating to IRIS.

How popular is InterSystems Caché?

InterSystems Caché ranks #259 of 844 databases on the WhichDB Score (13.0/100), and #3 among hierarchical databases. The score combines public adoption signals such as package downloads, GitHub activity, job posts and developer discussion.