Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Datomic VS RethinkDB

Compare Datomic VS RethinkDB and see what are their differences

Datomic logo Datomic

The fully transactional, cloud-ready, distributed database

RethinkDB logo RethinkDB

The open-source database for the realtime web
  • Datomic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-14
  • RethinkDB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-13

Datomic features and specs

  • 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 of Datomic

  • 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.

RethinkDB features and specs

  • Real-time Capabilities
    RethinkDB offers built-in real-time capabilities that allow applications to subscribe to data changes. This makes it ideal for building real-time applications like live dashboards, multiplayer games, or collaborative tools.
  • Flexible Query Language
    RethinkDB's query language, ReQL, is highly flexible and allows for complex queries. It supports operations such as joins, aggregations, and transformations directly within the database.
  • Distributed Database
    RethinkDB is designed to be distributed from the ground up. It can automatically replicate data and distribute queries across multiple machines to improve scalability and fault tolerance.
  • Web-based Administration
    RethinkDB provides a user-friendly web-based administration interface that simplifies database management and monitoring. This interface makes it easier for developers and system administrators to manage their databases.
  • JSON Data Model
    RethinkDB uses JSON as its data model, which makes it easy to store and work with structured data. This can be especially beneficial for web developers who are used to working with JSON data.

Possible disadvantages of RethinkDB

  • Limited Ecosystem
    Compared to more established databases like MySQL or MongoDB, RethinkDB has a smaller ecosystem. This means fewer third-party tools, libraries, and community support are available.
  • Stalled Development
    After the company behind RethinkDB shut down in 2016, the development slowed significantly. Although the project was later open-sourced and the community keeps it alive, the updates and new features are not as frequent.
  • Learning Curve
    While ReQL is powerful, it can have a steep learning curve for developers who are new to RethinkDB or who are more familiar with SQL or other NoSQL query languages.
  • Resource Intensive
    RethinkDB can be more resource-intensive compared to some other databases. It may require more RAM and CPU resources to achieve optimal performance, which can be a consideration for resource-constrained environments.
  • Fewer Enterprise Features
    RethinkDB lacks some enterprise-level features such as advanced security options, comprehensive backup solutions, and robust user management compared to other database systems like MongoDB or PostgreSQL.

Datomic videos

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

More videos:

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

RethinkDB videos

Mike Glukhovsky - RethinkDB Year in Review 2015

More videos:

  • Review - RethinkDB for Windows: developer preview
  • Review - Michael Glukhovsky - Advancing the realtime web with RethinkDB

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Datomic and RethinkDB)
Databases
30 30%
70% 70
NoSQL Databases
34 34%
66% 66
Network & Admin
100 100%
0% 0
Relational Databases
21 21%
79% 79

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Datomic and RethinkDB

Datomic Reviews

We have no reviews of Datomic yet.
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RethinkDB Reviews

12 Best Open-source Database Backend Server and Google Firebase Alternatives
RethinkDB is an open-source real-time database engine for creating modern reactive apps. It features a rich dashboard with real-time analytics and graphs, data explorer, simple learning curve, rich data models and queries with Geospatial queries support, and a large set of administration tools.The official binary packages for RethinkDB are available for: Ubuntu, Debian,...
Source: medevel.com
9 Best MongoDB alternatives in 2019
RethinkDB is the open-source, scalable DBMS system. It helps you to makes real-time building apps dramatically easier. This DBMS tool offers a flexible query language, intuitive operations, monitoring APIs, and is easy to set up and learn.
Source: www.guru99.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, RethinkDB seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 13 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.

Datomic mentions (0)

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

RethinkDB mentions (13)

  • Ask HN: Why isn't anyone using RethinkDB anymore?
    Hey HN. I came across RethinkDB lately and I'm curious why most startups, projects and folks don't use it? https://rethinkdb.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Ask HN: How Can I Make My Front End React to Database Changes in Real-Time?
    Throwing RethinkDB in the mix as well. https://rethinkdb.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • You forget RethinkDB, it's a shame
    I've been poking around, testing and breaking database servers for a long time (more than 20 years today). But a few years ago I came across a jewel, the grail, one of the best solutions available. Under the radar, shunned for whatever reason, RethinkDB is nonetheless one of the finest database server projects I've ever tested. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: Anyone Using RethinkDB in Production?
    RethinkDB[0] looks like a "too good to be true" type of database. Anyone using it in production? What is your experience like? What are the pros and cons? [0] https://rethinkdb.com. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Help wanted for a project idea - A multi-room live chat experience, similar to Twitch chat's functionality
    Since youโ€™re not new to the field you might want to peek https://rethinkdb.com/ since it got picked up as an open source project. Source: almost 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Datomic and RethinkDB, you can also consider the following products

MySQL - The world's most popular open source database

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

MarkLogic Server - MarkLogic Server is a multi-model database that has both NoSQL and trusted enterprise data management capabilities.

CouchDB - HTTP + JSON document database with Map Reduce views and peer-based replication

Valentina Server - Valentina Server is 3 in 1: Valentina DB Server / SQLite Server / Report Server

Apache Cassandra - The Apache Cassandra database is the right choice when you need scalability and high availability without compromising performance.