Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Apache TinkerPop VS Cayley

Compare Apache TinkerPop VS Cayley and see what are their differences

Apache TinkerPop logo Apache TinkerPop

Apache TinkerPop is a graph computing framework for both graph databases (OLTP) and graph analytic systems (OLAP).

Cayley logo Cayley

Open-source graph database.
  • Apache TinkerPop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-24
  • Cayley Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-02-03

Apache TinkerPop features and specs

  • Graph Abstraction
    Apache TinkerPop provides a generalized graph computing framework, allowing developers to work with a property graph model that supports both OLTP and OLAP use cases.
  • Gremlin Query Language
    Gremlin is a powerful and flexible graph traversal language that supports both imperative and declarative query styles, making it versatile for complex graph queries.
  • Vendor Neutrality
    TinkerPop is vendor-agnostic and supports multiple graph database systems such as Neo4j, JanusGraph, and Amazon Neptune, providing flexibility in choosing underlying storage.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    TinkerPop has a strong ecosystem with numerous integrations, plugins, and extensions, which helps in building applications more efficiently.
  • Community and Support
    Being part of the Apache Software Foundation, TinkerPop benefits from a strong community, extensive documentation, and regular updates.

Possible disadvantages of Apache TinkerPop

  • Complexity
    The flexibility and power of TinkerPop come with a steep learning curve, especially for those new to graph databases or the Gremlin language.
  • Performance Overhead
    Due to its abstraction layer, there might be performance overhead compared to using a graph database's native query language directly.
  • Limited Graph Algorithms
    Compared to specialized graph processing frameworks like Apache Giraph or GraphX, TinkerPop might have limitations in built-in graph algorithms.
  • Integration Overhead
    Integrating TinkerPop with existing systems may require additional overhead in terms of setup and configuration, especially if leveraging its multi-database support.

Cayley features and specs

  • Open Source
    Cayley is open source, which means it is free to use and the source code is available for modification. This promotes transparency and community-driven development.
  • Graph Database
    Cayley is designed as a graph database and is optimized for storing and querying graph-structured data, which can be more efficient for certain types of complex queries.
  • Supports Multiple Storage Backends
    Cayley can be configured to use various storage backends like levelDB, BoltDB, and MongoDB, providing flexibility in terms of storage solutions.
  • Rich Query Language
    Cayley offers a powerful query language inspired by Google's GQL and supports multiple query methods, making it versatile for different query needs.

Possible disadvantages of Cayley

  • Limited Community Support
    As Cayley is an open-source project, it may have limited community support and a smaller ecosystem compared to more established databases like Neo4j.
  • Performance Concerns
    Depending on the size of the data set and the complexity of queries, performance might not match more specialized solutions without careful tuning.
  • Documentation
    The documentation for Cayley may not be as comprehensive or user-friendly as that of more mature projects, which could create challenges for new users.
  • Feature Set
    While Cayley is flexible, it might lack some advanced features present in other graph databases, which could limit its utility for complex use cases.

Apache TinkerPop videos

No Apache TinkerPop videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Cayley videos

Foundry Cigar- Cayley Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Apache TinkerPop and Cayley)
NoSQL Databases
39 39%
61% 61
Graph Databases
38 38%
62% 62
Databases
37 37%
63% 63
Big Data
50 50%
50% 50

User comments

Share your experience with using Apache TinkerPop and Cayley. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Apache TinkerPop seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Apache TinkerPop mentions (5)

  • All About Graph RAG
    Part of the Apache TinkerPop framework, an imperative graph traversal language for the property graph model. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Setup Azure Cosmos DB for Gremlin in Spring Boot Java
    The API for Gremlin is built based on Apache TinkerPop, a graph computing framework that uses the Gremlin query language. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Testcontainers
    You might take a look at Tinkerpop: https://tinkerpop.apache.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Getting Started with Redis and RedisGraph
    Property Graph, mainly represented as node and relationship in which they can have properties. The database for this kind of data is usually called Graph Database. Gremlin - by TinkerPop project and Cypher - by Neo4J are their query language (also AQL - Arango Query Language - by ArangoDB, but AQL does not only provides graph query language). - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Should You Invent a New Query Language? (Probably Not)
    The most common graph query language at the moment would be Gremlin, which is part of the Apache TinkePop graph computing framework. It is simple to write, easy to learn, and widely supported by many graph databases and even non-graph databases that can emulate graph queries. On the other hand, it can be verbose for long queries but generally works well for both OLTP and analysis work. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

Cayley mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Cayley yet. Tracking of Cayley recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Apache TinkerPop and Cayley, you can also consider the following products

neo4j - Meet Neo4j: The graph database platform powering today's mission-critical enterprise applications, including artificial intelligence, fraud detection and recommendations.

ArangoDB - A distributed open-source database with a flexible data model for documents, graphs, and key-values.

JanusGraph - JanusGraph is a scalable graph database optimized for storing and querying graphs.

Azure Cosmos DB - NoSQL JSON database for rapid, iterative app development.

OrientDB - OrientDB - The World's First Distributed Multi-Model NoSQL Database with a Graph Database Engine.

GrapheneDB - Graph databases as-a-service