OceanBase Database vs SPQR
OceanBase Database
en.oceanbase.comSPQR
docs.pg-sharding.techSide by side
| Figure | OceanBase Database | SPQR |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.38/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · Database Proxy Software | 9.1 (#2) | 7.8 (#9) |
| Deployment | OceanBase Community Edition is open source, OceanBase Enterprise is self-hosted, and OceanBase Cloud is fully managed across cloud providers. | The getting-started guide provides a Docker image and lists router, admin console, and gRPC API ports as 6432, 7432, and 7000. |
| Integrations | Documented integrations include Kafka, Debezium, Flink, Canal, dbt, DataWorks, AWS Glue, Informatica, NiFi, SeaTunnel and Maxwell. | The FAQ says SPQR works with managed PostgreSQL databases including Yandex Managed PostgreSQL and AWS RDS, and names pgx and JDBC as compatible driver examples. |
| License | The current OceanBase GitHub repository states Apache License 2.0 for the database project. | The source is distributed under the PostgreSQL Global Development Group License. |
| Security | The Trust Center lists role and permission management, network whitelists, encrypted communication, transparent data encryption, and SQL auditing. | The docs show PostgreSQL connections configured with SSL modes including require and verify-full. |
| Support | The Trust Center describes an L1–L2–L3 after-sales service system providing 24/7 service. | The project directs users to its Telegram chat for discussion and GitHub Issues for bug reports or feature requests. |
| What it does | OceanBase is a distributed relational database designed for transactional, analytical and AI workloads. | SPQR is a stateless PostgreSQL query router for horizontally scaling PostgreSQL through sharding. |
Plans
OceanBase Database
- Community EditionFree
- OceanBase Community EditionFree
- OceanBase Cloud Alibaba Cloud pay-as-you-go example$2.38 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- OceanBase EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
OceanBase Database
OceanBase Database is a distributed database for transactional, analytical, and AI workloads in one system. Built-in compatibility with Oracle and MySQL is intended to simplify migration. Deployment choices include the open-source Community Edition, self-hosted Enterprise, and fully managed OceanBase Cloud across cloud providers. Documentation describes high availability and disaster recovery at node, data-center, and region levels. Linux installation packages are listed for Alibaba Cloud Linux, CentOS, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Debian, and Anolis OS. Docker deployment can be used on Windows and macOS, though the documentation cautions that this method has not been validated at scale. A standalone instance can be used for learning; production environments require at least three servers. Community Edition is free and includes full kernel capabilities. Enterprise pricing is available on request. Security features include role and permission management, network whitelists, encrypted communication, transparent data encryption, and SQL auditing, but Community Edition does not support security audit.
SPQR
SPQR is a self-hosted query router for horizontally scaling PostgreSQL through sharding. It can extract a sharding key from a query and route it to the relevant key range and shard when possible; keys can use one column or several. Queries can also specify a key or shard in a SQL comment. Applications connect using the PostgreSQL protocol, and the router and coordinator provide administrative consoles accessible through psql. SPQR supports one-phase and two-phase commit strategies; two-phase commit provides atomicity across shards and requires max_prepared_transactions greater than zero on each shard. The system can move data between shards to balance workload, and the project describes reducing transferred ranges to limit locking impact. Its documentation includes Docker and configuration-file deployment instructions. SPQR is free and distributed under the PostgreSQL Global Development Group License. The FAQ cautions that it is not suited to complex cross-shard queries, transactions modifying multiple shards or OLAP workloads, and reports a roughly 10–30% performance drop versus vanilla PostgreSQL depending on workload.