Software Alternatives & Startups

Datomic VS Postgres-XC

Compare Datomic VS Postgres-XC and see what are their differences

Datomic

The fully transactional, cloud-ready, distributed database

Rating
0 reviews
Postgres-XC

Free, secure and fast downloads from the largest Open Source applications and software directory - SourceForge.net

Rating
0 reviews

Which is more popular?

Databases popularity
89% vs 11%
alternatives listed
67 vs 17

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Datomic
Postgres-XC
Website datomic.com sourceforge.net
Pricing —
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Datomic 6 features
Postgres-XC 0 features
  • Immutability
    Datomic employs an append-only data model where data is never overwritten but instead appended, ensuring historical data is always available and providing strong consistency.
  • Time Travel Queries
    Datomic allows you to query the database as of any point in time, facilitating auditing and debugging by allowing easy access to historical data states.
  • Rich Data Model
    Supports complex data types like maps and sets directly within its schema, providing a flexible way to represent data.
  • ACID Transactions
    Datomic supports fully ACID-compliant transactions, ensuring reliable and predictable database operations.
  • Scalability
    Separates storage and compute, allowing for horizontal scaling of read operations, making it suitable for handling large datasets.
  • Query Flexibility
    Offers a powerful query language that supports recursive queries, making it suitable for complex data retrieval needs.

Possible disadvantages

  • Complexity
    The architecture of Datomic can be complex to understand and implement, particularly for teams unfamiliar with its design principles.
  • Cost
    Can be expensive to operate, especially in a cloud environment, where costs increase with the amount of data stored and the compute resources required.
  • Limited Write Throughput
    Due to its append-only design, Datomic can have limited write throughput, which may not be suitable for applications with heavy write requirements.
  • Closed Source
    Datomic is a proprietary database system, which may not appeal to organizations that prefer open-source solutions.
  • Learning Curve
    Requires a learning curve as its conceptual model and query language are different from traditional databases, potentially requiring additional training.
  • Dependency on AWS
    Relying on AWS ecosystem for the storage backend can limit choices for deployment environments, impacting flexibility.

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Datomic
Postgres-XC

No analysis of Datomic yet.

Overall verdict

  • Postgres-XC is a discontinued open-source project that provided write-scalable, multi-master synchronous PostgreSQL clustering, but it has been superseded by newer forks and is no longer actively maintained, making it a poor choice for new deployments today.

Why this product is good

  • Was one of the earliest solutions to add horizontal write scalability to PostgreSQL through a distributed architecture
  • Offered multi-master synchronous replication allowing reads and writes from any node
  • Maintained strong consistency (ACID compliance) across the cluster, unlike many NoSQL alternatives
  • Inspired successor projects like Postgres-XL and later influenced Citus and other distributed Postgres solutions
  • Free and open-source, allowing full inspection and modification of the codebase

Recommended for

  • Users researching the historical evolution of distributed PostgreSQL architectures
  • Legacy systems still running Postgres-XC that need maintenance knowledge
  • Developers evaluating old codebases before migrating to actively maintained alternatives like Postgres-XL, Citus, or YugabyteDB
  • Not recommended for new production deployments due to lack of updates, security patches, and community support

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Datomic 3 videos + Add
Postgres-XC 0 videos + Add

KotlinConf 2018 - Datomic: The Most Innovative DB You've Never Heard Of by August Lilleaas

More videos

  • - "Real-World Datomic: An Experience Report" by Craig Andera (2013)
  • - Rich Hickey on Datomic Ions, September 12, 2018

No Postgres-XC videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Datomic
Postgres-XC
89% 89%
11% 11%
88% 88%
12% 12%
100% 100%
0% 0%
66% 66%
34% 34%

User comments

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Alternatives to Datomic and Postgres-XC

When comparing Datomic and Postgres-XC, you can also consider the following products.