TypeDB
activeby TypeDB Ltd. · since 2016 · also known as Grakn, Vaticle TypeDB
Strongly typed entity-relation database with TypeQL, polymorphic queries and a Rust core.
Overview
TypeDB (formerly Grakn, developed by the company previously called Vaticle) models data as typed entities, n-ary relations and attributes with inheritance, and queries it in TypeQL, a declarative pattern language that supports polymorphic queries and user-defined functions. Version 3.0 rewrote the engine in Rust, and 3.x releases ship frequently (3.14.1 in October 2026). It sits between graph and relational: richer type semantics than a property graph, without SQL tables. It is compelling for complex domain models (cybersecurity, biomedical, engineering) and less so for teams that want a mainstream query language.
Strengths & trade-offs
Strengths
- +Type system with inheritance and n-ary relations captures complex domains cleanly
- +Polymorphic queries return all subtypes without union boilerplate
- +Strict schema validation catches modeling errors at write time
- +Rust 3.x engine with ACID transactions and frequent releases
Trade-offs
- −TypeQL is unique to TypeDB; no Cypher, SQL or SPARQL compatibility
- −Smaller ecosystem of tools, connectors and talent
- −Breaking changes between 2.x and 3.x required migration work
- −No horizontal sharding for very large datasets
Great for
- +Cybersecurity threat intelligence models
- +Biomedical and drug-discovery knowledge graphs
- +Engineering and digital-twin data models
- +Complex access-control and policy modeling
Think twice for
- −Simple CRUD apps
- −Teams standardized on Cypher or SQL
- −Massive-scale graph analytics
Capabilities
Native or official first-party support · 6 of 25 tracked
Scale & consistency
- Comfortable data size
- Medium · ≤ 10 TB
- Horizontal scaling
- None
- Multi-region
- Read replicas
- Transactions
- Full ACID
- Consistency
- Strong
- Schema
- Strict
- Architecture
- Single node, Primary replica, Client server
- Query languages
- TypeQL
Clustered editions replicate the database with Raft for HA; no sharding.
Deployment
available on · AWS · Google Cloud · Azure
Ecosystem
Alternatives to TypeDB
The default property-graph database, with Cypher, a big ecosystem and a managed cloud.
typedb vs neo4j →Git-for-data document and knowledge-graph database with branches, diffs and time travel.
typedb vs terminusdb →Enterprise knowledge-graph platform: RDF store, reasoning and virtual graphs over your sources.
typedb vs stardog →Distributed, horizontally scalable graph database in Go with native GraphQL and DQL.
typedb vs dgraph →Rust multi-model database (documents, graph, vectors, live queries) that runs embedded, in WASM or clustered.
typedb vs surrealdb →Standards-compliant RDF triplestore with reasoning, connectors and MCP support for GraphRAG.
typedb vs ontotext-graphdb →TypeDB FAQ
What is TypeDB?
TypeDB is a graph database by TypeDB Ltd., first released in 2016. TypeDB (formerly Grakn, developed by the company previously called Vaticle) models data as typed entities, n-ary relations and attributes with inheritance, and queries it in TypeQL, a declarative pattern language that supports polymorphic queries and user-defined functions. Version 3.0 rewrote the engine in Rust, and 3.x releases ship frequently (3.14.1 in October 2026). It sits between graph and relational: richer type semantics than a property graph, without SQL tables. It is compelling for complex domain models (cybersecurity, biomedical, engineering) and less so for teams that want a mainstream query language.
Is TypeDB open source?
Yes. TypeDB is open source. License: Mozilla Public License 2.0.
Does TypeDB support ACID transactions?
Yes. TypeDB supports full ACID transactions, with strong consistency.
Does TypeDB scale horizontally?
TypeDB 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). It supports cross-region read replicas.
How can I run TypeDB?
You can self-host it and use the vendor's managed cloud. Managed offerings include TypeDB Cloud. It is available on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure.
What is TypeDB best for?
TypeDB is a strong fit for cybersecurity threat intelligence models; biomedical and drug-discovery knowledge graphs; and engineering and digital-twin data models. Think twice for simple CRUD apps.
What are the best alternatives to TypeDB?
Common alternatives to TypeDB include Neo4j, TerminusDB, Stardog, Dgraph and SurrealDB. The right choice depends on your workload, scale and hosting; WhichDB's smart match ranks them against your requirements.
How popular is TypeDB?
TypeDB ranks #108 of 844 databases on the WhichDB Score (27.0/100), and #6 among graph databases. The score combines public adoption signals such as package downloads, GitHub activity, job posts and developer discussion.