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Updated 1 week ago · Independent Analysis
DuckDB vs SurrealDB
Capability Overview
DuckDBvs SurrealDB
4.8G2+0.3 vs SurrealDB
Only in DuckDB
- ✦ In-process execution
- ✦ Parquet/CSV/JSON direct query
- ✦ S3 and GCS file access
✓ Free planN/A users · est.
SurrealDBvs DuckDB
-0.3 vs DuckDB
Only in SurrealDB
- ✦ Multi-Model (Document + Graph + Relational)
- ✦ SurrealQL (SQL-like Query Language)
- ✦ Real-Time Live Queries
✓ Free plan30k+ users · est. 2021
Quick VerdictIndependent Analysis
DuckDB and SurrealDB are both Databases tools. Compare features, pricing, and ratings below to find the best fit for your team.
When to Choose DuckDB vs SurrealDB
The question that matters: “In what situation will I regret choosing A over B after 3 months?”
DuckDB Unique Strength
Ad-hoc Parquet Analysis
Query 50GB Parquet files on S3 directly from Python without ETL, returning results in seconds
→ Choose DuckDB if this scenario applies to you. SurrealDB doesn't offer a comparable solution.
DuckDB Unique Strength
Data Science Pipelines
Replace pandas aggregations with SQL-based DuckDB queries for 10-50x faster group-by operations
→ Choose DuckDB if this scenario applies to you. SurrealDB doesn't offer a comparable solution.
DuckDB Unique Strength
dbt Local Development
Run dbt models locally against DuckDB instead of cloud warehouses to cut development cycle time
→ Choose DuckDB if this scenario applies to you. SurrealDB doesn't offer a comparable solution.
DuckDB Unique Strength
Lakehouse Query Layer
Use DuckDB as a compute engine over Delta Lake or Iceberg tables without a dedicated cluster
→ Choose DuckDB if this scenario applies to you. SurrealDB doesn't offer a comparable solution.
Pricing Comparison & PlansHigh· Verified May 30, 2026
DuckDB Plans
Free tier available
SurrealDB Plans
Free tier available
Start
FreeBest for: This free tier is ideal for individual developers, small projects, and evaluating SurrealDB's capabilities
- ✓Best for prototypes, testing, and development
- ✓Only pay for what you use
- ✓Scale vertically to terabytes
- ✓Automatic burst scaling
- ✓Daily automated backups
View on vendor site
MOST POPULARScale
Contact SalesBest for: The Scale plan is designed for growing teams and applications requiring more robust performance and support
- ✓For production workloads requiring fault-tolerance and high availability
- ✓Highly-available and fault-tolerant
- ✓Multiple availability-zone deployment
- ✓Scale horizontally to Petabytes
- ✓Multi-region disaster recovery
View on vendor site
Enterprise
Contact SalesBest for: Enterprise offers comprehensive solutions for large organizations with complex needs, including advanced security, dedicated support, and custom integrations
- ✓On-premises or in your own private cloud
- ✓Full control, your infrastructure
- ✓Highly available, fault tolerant
- ✓Horizontal scalability
- ✓Audit logging and compliance
View on vendor site
Capability Breakdown
9 differences found across 18 standardized features
Feature
DuckDB
SurrealDB
Self-Hosted
✓
✗
SQL Support
✓
✗
Column-oriented
✓
✗
Full-Text Search
✗
✓
Geospatial
✓
✗
Time-series
✓
✗
OLAP Optimized
✓
✗
Time Series
✗
✓
Multi-Model
✗
✓
Total (raw)
18
16
DuckDB Features
- •In-process execution
- •Parquet/CSV/JSON direct query
- •S3 and GCS file access
- •SQL support
- •Python/R/Node.js integration
- •Vectorized execution
- •Parallel query processing
- •Apache Arrow integration
- •Zero-copy pandas exchange
- •Window functions
- •ACID transactions
- •Column-oriented storage
- •Schema inference
- •HTTPFS extension
- •REST API
- •SDK
- •CLI
- •Connection Pooling
SurrealDB Features
- •Multi-Model (Document + Graph + Relational)
- •SurrealQL (SQL-like Query Language)
- •Real-Time Live Queries
- •Built-in Auth (JWT/Sessions)
- •Record Links (Graph)
- •Geospatial Support
- •Full-Text Search
- •Transactions
- •Schema-Full and Schema-Less
- •Time Series Support
- •WebSocket API
- •REST API
- •SDKs (Rust, JS, Python, Go)
- •In-Memory Mode
- •RocksDB Storage
- •Embedded Mode
Strengths & Limitations
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses: not feature lists
Pros
- +Runs in-process with zero infrastructure setup
- +Directly queries Parquet and CSV on S3 without ETL
- +Outperforms many server-based DBs on single-machine workloads
Cons
- −Sometimes we have memory issues that cause job failures, which we don't fully understand why, but we can rerun the jobs without pr
Pros
- +Multi-model flexibility: document, graph, and relational in one
- +Built-in auth eliminates separate auth layer for simple apps
- +Real-time live queries via WebSocket
- +Strong developer community enthusiasm
Cons
- −Managed cloud still in preview: not production-ready
- −Business Source License limits some use cases
At a Glance
User Rating
4.8/5vs4.5/5
DuckDB
▲
SurrealDB
Starting Price
Pay-per-usevsFree tier
DuckDB
SurrealDB
Feature Count
18 featuresvs16 features
DuckDB
▲
SurrealDB
User Base
0vs30
DuckDB
SurrealDB
▲
DuckDB · Price & Data SyncLast verified: May 30, 2026 · CE-PRICING-2026W21-16638D · ✓ Pricing updated May 30, 2026
SurrealDB · Price & Data SyncLast verified: May 30, 2026 · CE-DB-2026W23-977363 · ✓ Pricing updated May 30, 2026
Recent Price History
DuckDB
DuckDB removed the "Commercial Support" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
SurrealDB
SurrealDB removed the "Cloud Professional" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
SurrealDB
SurrealDB removed the "Cloud Starter" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
SurrealDB
SurrealDB removed the "Cloud Enterprise" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
SurrealDB
SurrealDB removed the "Cloud Sandbox" plan
Plan removed · May 30, 2026
SurrealDB
SurrealDB added a new "Enterprise" plan (Custom pricing)
Plan added · May 30, 2026
DuckDB
DuckDB added a new "Commercial Support" plan
Plan added · May 21, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Comparisons
DuckDBFree plan
SurrealDBFree planSources & Data Trail · DuckDB
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-05-30)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.G2·G2 verified reviews · 4.8/5 · 101 reviews
- 4.PeerSpot·PeerSpot enterprise peer reviews
Sources & Data Trail · SurrealDB
- 1.Official Pricing Page·Source of verified tiers(Checked: 2026-05-30)
- 2.Official Website·Official vendor website
- 3.PeerSpot·PeerSpot enterprise peer reviews