SurrealDB
SurrealDB holds place 19 of 22 in our database management systems ranking. The catalogue describes it as: multi-model database under BSL 1.1 with a free cloud instance.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderA vendor never writes its own entry here, SurrealDB included, although paid placement exists; see the disclosure for how links are marked.
Visit SurrealDB See it in the database management systems ranking
Key facts about SurrealDB
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Deployment | Cloud or hosted |
| Best for | Teams wanting documents and graph relations in one engine |
| API | Not stated in the pages we read |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Pricing model | Free 1 GB cloud instance; instances from $0.021 per hour |
What is SurrealDB?
SurrealDB is a database made by SurrealDB Ltd, a UK company based in Altrincham, Cheshire, founded in 2022 according to the vendor. It stores relational, document, graph, vector, time-series and key-value data in one engine and queries them through a single language, SurrealQL. The vendor positions it as a database for AI agents, and sells a separate Agent Memory product built on it.
The engine is fully ACID, includes authentication with record and field-level permissions, and offers live queries that push changes to clients. It can run serverless on Cloudflare (SurrealDB Earth), as dedicated clusters in SurrealDB Cloud on AWS or Azure, self-hosted on your own servers, or embedded in an application. The engine uses the Business Source License 1.1, which allows free use and self-hosting but restricts offering it as a database service to third parties.
SurrealDB key features
- Multi-model storage. Relational, document, graph, vector, time-series and key-value data are held and queried together, so a project need not run separate systems for each shape of data.
- SurrealQL. One query language covers SQL-style queries, graph traversal, vector and full-text search, and temporal queries, according to the vendor.
- ACID transactions. The engine provides fully ACID transactions, which matters when graph or document updates must succeed or fail together.
- Postgres and MySQL wire protocols. The vendor says the database speaks both protocols, so many existing drivers and ORMs can connect. It adds that some types and ORM schema definitions behave differently.
- Built-in permissions and live queries. Authentication, row, record and field-level permissions are part of the database, and live queries notify clients of changes without polling.
- Surrealist Studio and MCP. Studio offers browser-based querying and schema design, and MCP support lets models reach the database directly.
- Agent Memory. A separate product that turns conversations, documents and events into a knowledge graph where each fact keeps its source and time.
Who SurrealDB suits
- A 5-person startup building an AI assistant. The team can store chat history as documents, links between entities as graph edges and embeddings as vectors in one database, and start on the Free Earth plan before moving to always-on nodes.
- A backend team replacing several stores. A team running Postgres plus a graph database plus a search index can test whether SurrealQL and the wire-protocol compatibility let it consolidate, keeping in mind that some ORM behavior differs.
- An app developer shipping a local-first product. The engine can be embedded in an application, with the same queries working on Cloud later. In-memory (SurrealMX) and on-disk (SurrealKV) single-node options are listed for self-hosting.
Getting started with SurrealDB
The vendor describes three starting points. The Studio Sandbox runs in the browser with nothing to install but does not keep data, so it suits learning SurrealQL. SurrealDB Cloud gives a managed instance with persistence, and the default is a serverless Earth instance that scales to zero when idle.
Installing the surreal CLI gives full control, including offline work and self-hosting as a single-node in-memory server, a single-node on-disk server, a multi-node cluster or Docker. Ten official SDKs exist: Rust, JavaScript, Python, Go, .NET, Java, Kotlin, PHP, Swift and Mojo. No learning-curve estimate is published.
The case for and against SurrealDB
- Already in graph-database; reuse the existing entry and tool-fit.
- BSL 1.1, one of the three traits the catalogue lists for SurrealDB.
- SurrealQL, one of the three traits the catalogue lists for SurrealDB.
- Where it fits: Teams wanting documents and graph relations in one engine.
- Catalogue tag: Multi-model.
- Business Source Licence bars offering it as a database service.
- Look elsewhere if you are Teams needing an OSI-approved licence today.
- Own query language, no MongoDB drivers.
Verdict: SurrealDB
Already in graph-database; reuse the existing entry and tool-fit. Licence page: BSL 1.1, change date 1 January 2030 to Apache 2.0, no use as a database service.
In our database management systems ranking SurrealDB stands at #19 of 22: the products next to it are Azure Cosmos DB above and DuckDB below. After the challenger places, SurrealDB is one of the established names, ranked in order and without a score.
Counting headquarters, 1 out of 22 sit in Europe; for SurrealDB that is the United Kingdom.
SurrealDB pros and cons in practice
- One engine for documents, graph and vectors can cut the number of systems a small team has to run and keep in sync.
- The Free plan needs no card and pauses rather than bills when limits are reached.
- The same engine runs serverless, on dedicated nodes, self-hosted or embedded, which keeps a migration path open.
- Ten official SDKs cover most mainstream languages.
- The BSL 1.1 licence bars offering SurrealDB as a database service to third parties, which blocks some commercial plans.
- Wire-protocol compatibility is partial: the vendor warns that some types and ORM schema definitions behave differently.
- The Pro price is labelled a launch price and the regular figure is not published, so long-term cost is unclear.
- Compliance certifications are not stated on the pages we read, which complicates security reviews.
SurrealDB pricing
Pricing as recorded: Free 1 GB cloud instance; instances from $0.021 per hour.
Earth is serverless and billed by usage. Free is $0 per month with no card and includes 3M requests, 10 GB storage and 100 database active hours; at a limit the database pauses and data is kept. Pro is $15 per month per account as a launch price and includes 10M requests, 25 GB and 1,000 active hours, with overage at $0.65 per 1M requests, $0.25 per GB and $0.05 per active hour. The regular Pro price is not stated. Cloud instances start from $0.021 per node-hour. Enterprise self-hosted is custom. Annual plans carry a discount; payment is by card by default.
We took this from surrealdb.com, the vendor’s own site, when we reviewed Best Database Management Systems in 2026; that review is dated 7 November 2026.
Living with SurrealDB: setup and exit
Already exists in tool-fit.json under surrealdb; add the existing entry to database-management-systems too.
SurrealDB: data and security
The vendor lists authentication and row, record and field-level permissions as built into the database. Cloud runs on AWS or Azure in selectable regions, and Earth runs on Cloudflare. Certifications, encryption details and data export options are not stated on the vendor pages we read; the trust page returned not found.
SurrealDB integrations and ecosystem
Integrations the vendor names (8):
- Postgres wire protocol
- MySQL wire protocol
- MCP
- Docker
- Cloudflare (Earth)
- AWS
- Azure
- Surrealist Studio
SurrealDB fact sheet
| Product | SurrealDB |
|---|---|
| Vendor website | surrealdb.com |
| Head-to-head pages | Not paired so far |
| Catalogue tags | Multi-model, BSL 1.1, SurrealQL |
| Alternatives page | Not part of the alternatives set |
| Listed in | 2 guides |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom (Europe) |
| Price visibility | A price or free offer is shown |
| Primary guide | Best Database Management Systems in 2026 |
| Rank there | #19 of 22 |
| Gaps in our records | company size and funding |
Alternatives to SurrealDB
These are the nearest neighbours of SurrealDB in the same list, picked on shared traits and price model.
- Redis (#6 of 22): Best for: Teams already running Redis who want vector queries beside their cache. (United States)
- FerretDB (#13 of 22): Open-source proxy that serves MongoDB drivers from PostgreSQL.
- ScyllaDB (#15 of 22): Suits: Teams with very high write throughput and key-based access. (United States)
- DuckDB (#20 of 22): Embedded analytical SQL database that runs inside your application process.
Also ranked in
| Guide | Position |
|---|---|
| Best Database Management Systems in 2026 | #19 of 22 |
| Best Graph Databases in 2026 The entry reads: A multi-model database where graph edges are one data type. | #6 of 12 |
SurrealDB: questions
9 answersIs SurrealDB free, or what does it charge?
As recorded: Free 1 GB cloud instance; instances from $0.021 per hour. On free access, there is a free offer in our records.
Where is SurrealDB based?
SurrealDB is established in the United Kingdom, which our regional grouping counts as Europe. Check hosting separately: the data centre need not be in that country.
Is SurrealDB the right fit for me?
Teams wanting documents and graph relations in one engine. It is a weaker match for the following: teams needing an OSI-approved licence today.
What else should I look at besides SurrealDB?
The nearest neighbours in our ranking are Redis, FerretDB, ScyllaDB and DuckDB. They are ranked and described in the same list.
How does SurrealDB rank for database management systems?
Position 19 of 22 is where SurrealDB sits among database management systems. SurrealDB is listed in 2 guides in total.
Is SurrealDB open source?
The engine uses BSL 1.1, which is source-available. It is free to use, modify and self-host in production, but not to offer as a database service to third parties. Each version converts to Apache 2.0 within four years; the SDKs are Apache 2.0 or MIT.
What happens when the Free plan hits its limit?
The vendor says the database pauses and data is kept, with no overage charges. Pro keeps running and bills usage above its allowance instead.
Can I use Postgres drivers with it?
The vendor says SurrealDB speaks the Postgres and MySQL wire protocols, so many drivers and ORMs can connect. It also says some types and ORM schema definitions behave differently, so test your stack before committing.
Where does it run?
Options are Earth (serverless on Cloudflare), Cloud (dedicated clusters by region on AWS or Azure), self-hosted servers, or embedded in your application. The vendor says the same engine and queries work across all of them.
SurrealDB: sources
Read from the vendor’s own pages on 5 November 2026.
- surrealdb.com: product, features, deployment, licensing
- surrealdb.com/pricing: plans and limits
- surrealdb.com/docs/surrealdb/introduction/start: getting started options
- surrealdb.com/docs/sdk: SDK languages
How we rank
We test for four things rather than for features: setup time, price in practice, exit and audience. On those tests SurrealDB lands at place 19 of 22. Read the editorial process for the method and where paid visibility fits in.