PgDog vs TurbineProxy
PgDog
pgdog.devTurbineProxy
turbineproxy.comSide by side
| Figure | PgDog | TurbineProxy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Database Proxy Software | 7.7 (#12) | 7.6 (#16) |
| Deployment | PgDog can be deployed with Kubernetes Helm, Docker, AWS ECS Terraform, pre-built binaries, or from source. | The site lists binary, Docker, Homebrew, AUR, .deb, and .rpm installation options. |
| License | The project is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, and the documentation says internal use does not require sharing source code. | The site describes TurbineProxy as open source under the Apache-2.0 license, with no per-query fees. |
| Load balancing | It distributes read queries across replicas and routes writes to the primary, with health checks and failover detection. | The site lists round-robin or least-connections balancing across replicas and automatic exclusion of replicas beyond a lag threshold. |
| Security | The enterprise control plane page describes SSO for access protection, while installation documentation says user credentials can be encrypted at rest in supported environments such as Kubernetes or AWS Secrets Manager. | Listed security features include SQL injection detection, per-user read-only enforcement, query allowlists, and AES-256-GCM at-rest encryption. |
Plans
In their own words
PgDog
PgDog is a PostgreSQL connection pooler, load balancer, and database sharder designed to scale databases without application changes. It multiplexes many application connections across fewer PostgreSQL server connections and supports SET, LISTEN/NOTIFY, and advisory locks. Read queries can be distributed across replicas while writes go to the primary, with health checks and failover detection. Sharding keys guide query routing; queries without a key can run across databases in parallel. Cross-shard transactions use PostgreSQL prepared transactions and two-phase commit, with automatic rollback on errors. PgDog can copy data and stream row changes to another database without pausing query traffic. Deployment options include Kubernetes Helm, Docker, AWS ECS Terraform, pre-built binaries, and source. Releases include Linux arm64 and amd64, Apple Silicon Mac, and Debian packages; the macOS binary is unsigned. The project is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, and documentation says internal use does not require sharing source code. Enterprise support includes architecture reviews, a dedicated Slack channel, and an SLA promising a response within 15 minutes.
TurbineProxy
TurbineProxy is a self-hosted Rust proxy for MySQL and PostgreSQL that directs reads and writes according to query intent, without requiring application code changes. It can route across replicas or run as a standalone proxy in front of one database server. Replica routing supports round-robin or least-connections balancing and excludes replicas when lag exceeds a configured threshold. Per-backend connection pools use multiplexing and configurable sizes. Security controls include SQL injection detection, per-user read-only rules, query allowlists, and AES-256-GCM encryption at rest. For MySQL 8.0 and later, it specifies GTID-aware read-your-own-writes support. A web dashboard, Prometheus metrics, query analytics, a heatmap, and Grafana dashboard JSON cover observability. Its embedded MCP server offers seven tools over JSON-RPC 2.0 with Basic Auth, including slow-query analysis, N+1 detection, index advice, replica lag, and backend health. It is open source under Apache-2.0, with a free plan at free and no per-query fees. Install options include binary, Docker, Homebrew, AUR,.deb, and.rpm.