Actian Zen vs HSQLDB
Actian Zen
actian.com
HSQLDB
hsqldb.orgSide by side
| Figure | Actian Zen | HSQLDB |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 11 |
| Spec score · Relational Databases | 8.4 (#7) | 9.1 (#2) |
| Spec score · Sql Databases | 8.4 (#9) | 9.2 (#1) |
| Founded | 1980 | 2001 |
| Integrations | The product page says Zen Enterprise integrates with existing ERP, point-of-sale, and accounting applications. | The project documents JDBC and ODBC connectivity and integration with OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice. |
| Product | Actian Zen is an embedded database for edge-to-cloud data management that combines relational data, vector search, semantic queries, and AI-agent connectivity in a lightweight engine. | HSQLDB is a Java-based relational database engine with in-memory and disk-based tables, supporting embedded and server modes. |
| Support | Actian Support Services says technical expertise, guidance, and knowledge are available 24/7. | Support options include a help forum, a user mailing list, bug and feature request trackers, paid SupportWare, and professional commercial support. |
Plans
HSQLDB
- Developer subscription$100 a year
- Basic Corporate subscriptionPrice not published
- Premier Corporate subscription$2,500 a year
- HSQLDBFree
- HSQLDB softwareFree
- Developer SupportWare$100 a year
- SupportWare Developer subscription$100 a year
- Basic Corporate SupportWare$500 a year
- SupportWare Basic Corporate subscription$500 a year
- Premier Corporate SupportWare$2,500 a year
In their own words
Actian Zen
Actian Zen is an embedded database for managing data from edge devices through on-premises and cloud applications. Its lightweight engine combines relational storage, native vector search, semantic queries, and connectivity for AI agents. Vector search supports up to 1 million vectors, while hybrid queries combine relational filters with semantic similarity. A native MCP server allows agents such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to query local data. Zen supports SQL through ODBC and JDBC, and NoSQL through Btrieve and Btrieve 2 APIs. Semantic search, vector queries, and agent workflows can run offline, including in air-gapped environments. Zen Enterprise is designed for embedded, on-premises, and cloud deployments, including branch and remote field settings, and supports Windows, Linux, macOS, Intel, ARM, VMware, Hyper-V, and Docker. Zen Mobile supports Android and iOS with AES 256-bit encryption for stored data. Edge supports over 100 concurrent users; Enterprise is designed for thousands. A 30-day trial is available, with paid pricing from $417/mo (annual).
HSQLDB
HSQLDB is a Java-based relational database engine for embedded or server use, with both in-memory and disk-based tables. It supports SQL:2023 core features and many optional features, plus lock-based and MVCC transaction models; the engine is fully multithreaded. Listed capabilities include JSON constructor functions, CSV loading and unloading, temporal system-versioned tables, row-level access control, and log-based replica synchronization. It includes a command-line SQL tool and simple GUI query tools. The latest official release listed is version 2.7.4, compatible with JDK 8 and above, and packages include Java 11 module jars as well as Java 8 jars for HSQLDB and SQL Tool. HSQLDB is self-hosted, with high availability, read replicas, and JSON data support listed. Its default combined limit for CACHED tables is 8TB, extendable to 256TB with a connection property; each TEXT table is limited to 256GB, and memory tables depend on available memory. The software is free to use in commercial products when license terms are met; its licenses are based on the new BSD License. The HSQLDB plan is free. A Developer subscription is $100 a year; Premier Corporate is $2,500 a year at the base level. Support options include community channels and paid commercial support.