TiCDC vs TurbineProxy

TiCDC is a free, open-source, self-hosted tool for replicating incremental data changes from TiDB. It captures TiKV change logs, sorts the changes, and exports row-based data to systems including TiDB, MySQL-compatible databases, Kafka, Amazon S3, GCS, Azure Blob Storage, and NFS. Recommended Kafka formats include Canal-JSON, Avro, and Debezium. Filters can select databases, tables, DMLs, and DDLs, while the Open API can check task status, change task configuration, and create or delete tasks. TiCDC supports replication between TiDB clusters for disaster recovery, with second-level RPO and minute-level RTO, as well as bidirectional replication for multi-active deployments. It can be deployed with a new cluster or added to an existing one; production guidance recommends at least two instances. The system has no single point of failure and allows nodes to be added or removed dynamically. Delivery is at least once, so failures can lead to repeated statements or Kafka messages.

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.