Apache Geode vs Apache Ignite
Apache Geode
geode.apache.orgApache Ignite
ignite.apache.orgSide by side
| Figure | Apache Geode | Apache Ignite |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · In-Memory Databases | 8.9 (#3) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Deployment | The installation guide describes installing Geode on physical or virtual machines and provides Unix and Windows instructions. | Ignite can run on bare metal, virtual machines, Docker, Kubernetes and cloud environments, with thick and thin clients plus JDBC, ODBC and REST access. |
| License | Geode binary and source distributions are available under the Apache License at no charge. | The project source is licensed under the Apache License 2.0, with some bundled components under separate licenses. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.4 out of 5 from 20 reviews | 3.9 out of 5 from 17 reviews |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 7 out of 10 from 1 review | 8 out of 10 from 4 reviews |
| Security controls | Security documentation covers authentication, authorization, role-based access control, SSL communication and region-data post-processing. | Ignite documents username/password authentication, authorization permissions, and SSL/TLS encryption for client and node communication. |
| Storage | Geode provides in-memory storage with optional off-heap storage, compression, disk overflow, eviction, and expiration. | Data is stored in memory as the primary tier, with persistence available through AIPERSIST. |
| Support | The project's hosted support options are its user mailing list and issue tracker, with release support provided by project volunteers. | The project directs usage questions to its user mailing list and technical Q&A to Stack Overflow. |
| Transactions | Geode supports coordinated ACID distributed transactions that clients or servers can start or suspend. | Ignite supports ACID transactions across partitions using Raft consensus. |
| What it does | Apache Geode is a distributed in-memory data-management platform for consistent, real-time access across widely distributed cloud architectures. | Apache Ignite is a distributed database designed for high-performance computing with in-memory speed. |
Plans
In their own words
Apache Geode
Apache Geode is a data management platform for applications that need consistent, real-time access to data across distributed cloud architectures. It combines replication, partitioning, and distributed processing for low-latency, high-concurrency workloads. Data is stored in memory, with options for off-heap storage, compression, disk overflow, eviction, and expiration. Its write-ahead-log persistence is designed to speed parallel recovery of nodes or a whole cluster. Geode supports distributed ACID transactions and OQL queries, including joins. Clients can subscribe to server-side data events; servers can respond synchronously or asynchronously with ordered delivery. Clusters can replicate across WANs in several arrangements, including active-active, active-passive, ring, hub-spoke, and star. Listed client options include Java, C++, and C# .NET Framework, alongside a REST API for other languages. The software is free as binary and source distributions under the Apache License. Authentication, authorization, role-based access control, and SSL are available, but are not active in the default installation.
Apache Ignite
Apache Ignite is a free, open-source, memory-first distributed SQL database for high-velocity workloads. It keeps data primarily in memory, with persistence available through AIPERSIST, and supports ACID transactions across partitions using Raft consensus. MVCC snapshot isolation enables non-blocking reads. SQL access includes JDBC drivers, a Table API and native APIs, while catalog-driven schema management allows column and index changes without stopping the cluster. DataStreamer handles high-throughput writes with backpressure control. Native clients are listed for Java, .NET, C++ and Python, alongside AWS, Azure, GCE and Spring extensions. Built-in operational capabilities include authentication, SSL/TLS security, OpenTelemetry metrics, recovery snapshots and backups. Listed uses include event stream processing, microservices state management, session management and AI/ML feature stores. Ignite is self-hosted and available through binary, source, Docker and Maven/Gradle options. The project identifies Ignite 2 as a long-term-support release recommended for existing deployments.