Apache CouchDB vs RethinkDB
Apache CouchDB
couchdb.apache.org
RethinkDB
rethinkdb.comSide by side
| Figure | Apache CouchDB | RethinkDB |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Document Databases | 8.5 (#6) | 8.3 (#8) |
| Integrations | PouchDB is built for mobile devices and web browsers and can replicate data with CouchDB. | Official documentation covers Elasticsearch, RabbitMQ, Rails, publish-subscribe systems, Node.js libraries and multiple ORMs. |
| License | The Apache CouchDB website identifies the software as licensed under the Apache License 2.0. | The Linux Foundation licenses RethinkDB under the permissive Apache License 2.0. |
| Replication | CouchDB synchronizes databases incrementally and supports bidirectional replication between peers, including after periods of disconnection. | Per-table replication can be configured through the web console or ReQL, including placement by server tags. |
| Security | CouchDB provides administrator accounts, basic and cookie authentication, reader access controls, and JavaScript document-update validation that can enforce custom security rules. | The documentation describes TLS encryption for server, client, and web UI connections, and recommends setting a password for the admin account, which has no password by default. |
Plans
In their own words
Apache CouchDB
Apache CouchDB is a free document database that stores named documents and lets applications read and update them through a RESTful HTTP API. Documents can contain fields and binary attachments without following a fixed schema. Its query engine supports views made with JavaScript map functions and optional reduce functions. Incremental replication synchronizes databases in both directions between peers, including after disconnections; the project describes this as useful for offline-first applications across servers, phones, and browsers. PouchDB can replicate with CouchDB from mobile devices and web browsers. A cluster can present one logical database across multiple servers or virtual machines for added capacity and high availability. CouchDB uses an append-only file design, and its documentation describes document updates as ACID and all-or-nothing. Security features include administrator accounts, basic and cookie authentication, reader access controls, and JavaScript validation of document updates. Replicas may retain conflicting revisions for manual or automated resolution. CouchDB is self-hosted on servers or virtual machines, as a single node or cluster, and is licensed under Apache License 2.0.