TigerBeetle
activeby TigerBeetle, Inc. · since 2020 · also known as TigerBeetle DB
Purpose-built financial transactions database: double-entry accounts and transfers at very high throughput.
Overview
TigerBeetle is a distributed database that does one thing: debit/credit accounting. Its schema is fixed to accounts and transfers, with double-entry invariants, balance limits, two-phase (pending) transfers and linked events enforced inside the database. Because the data model is fixed, it can batch thousands of transfers per request and sustain throughput that general-purpose SQL databases struggle with under contention. It is written in Zig with deterministic simulation testing, static memory allocation and Viewstamped Replication across a six-replica cluster. Use it as the ledger next to your general-purpose OLTP database, not as a replacement for it.
Strengths & trade-offs
Strengths
- +Double-entry invariants, limits and two-phase transfers enforced in the database
- +Batching gives very high transfer throughput, even on hot accounts
- +Deterministic simulation testing and strict storage-fault handling
- +Strictly serializable replication with automatic failover
Trade-offs
- −Fixed schema: accounts and transfers only, with 128-bit user-data fields
- −Needs a separate OLTP database for everything else
- −No SQL or ad-hoc query interface
- −Pre-1.0 versioning with frequent releases to track
Great for
- +Payment and wallet ledgers
- +Real-time balance tracking for fintech and brokerages
- +Usage metering and billing credits
- +In-game currency and loyalty points
Think twice for
- −General application data
- −Analytics or reporting queries
- −Teams needing flexible schemas
Capabilities
Native or official first-party support · 4 of 25 tracked
Scale & consistency
- Comfortable data size
- Medium · ≤ 10 TB
- Horizontal scaling
- None
- Multi-region
- No
- Transactions
- Full ACID
- Consistency
- Strong
- Schema
- Strict
- Architecture
- Distributed, Client server
- Query languages
- TigerBeetle client API (create_accounts, create_transfers, lookups, queries)
One cluster replicates (not shards) all data across six replicas, which can span zones or regions for fault tolerance.
Deployment
Ecosystem
Alternatives to TigerBeetle
Immutable, tamper-evident database with cryptographic proofs, offering key-value, SQL and document APIs.
tigerbeetle vs immudb →The extensible, standards-first open-source relational database.
tigerbeetle vs postgresql →AWS's serverless ledger database with a cryptographically verifiable journal, retired in July 2025.
tigerbeetle vs amazon-qldb →Postgres-wire distributed SQL built to survive node, zone and region failures with serializable transactions.
tigerbeetle vs cockroachdb →Apple's ordered, strictly serializable distributed key-value store, built to have layers on top.
tigerbeetle vs foundationdb →Compact German SQL RDBMS from Transaction Software, with a Z-curve multidimensional index (Hypercube).
tigerbeetle vs transbase →TigerBeetle FAQ
What is TigerBeetle?
TigerBeetle is a ledger database by TigerBeetle, Inc., first released in 2020. TigerBeetle is a distributed database that does one thing: debit/credit accounting. Its schema is fixed to accounts and transfers, with double-entry invariants, balance limits, two-phase (pending) transfers and linked events enforced inside the database. Because the data model is fixed, it can batch thousands of transfers per request and sustain throughput that general-purpose SQL databases struggle with under contention. It is written in Zig with deterministic simulation testing, static memory allocation and Viewstamped Replication across a six-replica cluster. Use it as the ledger next to your general-purpose OLTP database, not as a replacement for it.
Is TigerBeetle open source?
Yes. TigerBeetle is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.
Does TigerBeetle support ACID transactions?
Yes. TigerBeetle supports full ACID transactions, with strong consistency.
Does TigerBeetle scale horizontally?
TigerBeetle does not scale horizontally; it runs on a single node, so you scale it up rather than out. It is comfortable at medium scale (≤ 10 TB).
How can I run TigerBeetle?
You can self-host it.
What is TigerBeetle best for?
TigerBeetle is a strong fit for payment and wallet ledgers; real-time balance tracking for fintech and brokerages; and usage metering and billing credits. Think twice for general application data.
What are the best alternatives to TigerBeetle?
Common alternatives to TigerBeetle include immudb, PostgreSQL, Amazon QLDB, CockroachDB and FoundationDB. The right choice depends on your workload, scale and hosting; WhichDB's smart match ranks them against your requirements.
How popular is TigerBeetle?
TigerBeetle ranks #172 of 844 databases on the WhichDB Score (19.2/100), and #1 among ledger databases. The score combines public adoption signals such as package downloads, GitHub activity, job posts and developer discussion.