Is Dgraph or DuckDB better?

Neither clearly leads. Dgraph starts at Free and DuckDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Dgraph or DuckDB?

Dgraph starts at Free and DuckDB at Free.

Does Dgraph or DuckDB run on more platforms?

Dgraph runs on Linux, Mac, Docker, Web. DuckDB runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, WebAssembly.

Can I use Dgraph for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Dgraph best used for?

Dgraph is most often used for an application whose core data is a graph, such as permissions, social connections or product relationships, where the frontend already consumes graphql, a knowledge graph that outgrew a single machine and needs storage distributed across nodes without a per-core licence negotiation, recommendation or fraud-detection features that traverse several hops at request time, where a relational join chain has become the bottleneck, teams that want a graph database they can read, fork and self-host under a permissive licence rather than a source-available one. Of those, an application whose core data is a graph, such as permissions, social connections or product relationships, where the frontend already consumes graphql and a knowledge graph that outgrew a single machine and needs storage distributed across nodes without a per-core licence negotiation are not what DuckDB is typically brought in for.

What can Dgraph do that DuckDB cannot?

Dgraph covers Apache 2.0 licence, Generated GraphQL API, DQL query language, Predicate sharding. DuckDB covers In-process execution, Vectorised columnar engine, Direct file querying, Zero dependencies.

Databases · head to head

Dgraph vs DuckDB

Dgraph

Databases

Apache 2.0 distributed graph database written in Go, maintained by Hypermode, queried through GraphQL or its own DQL language.

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

DuckDB

Databases

MIT-licensed analytical SQL database that runs inside your process, with no server, no dependencies and one writer at a time.

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Dgraph sharding is by predicate, so a single very hot predicate lives entirely in one Raft group and cannot be split further; adding nodes does not relieve it and the fix is a data model change.; DuckDB a database file accepts one read-write process at a time; other processes must open it read-only and will not see subsequent writes, so DuckDB cannot be the shared database behind several services.
They diverge on capability: Dgraph covers Apache 2.0 licence, DuckDB covers In-process execution.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dgraph and DuckDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Dgraph and DuckDB differ
Attribute	Dgraph	DuckDB
Pricing model	freemium	open-source
Platforms	Linux, Mac, Docker, Web	Linux, macOS, Windows, WebAssembly
Founded	2016	2019

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Dgraph

Apache 2.0 licence
Generated GraphQL API
DQL query language
Predicate sharding
Raft replication
Distributed ACID transactions
Written in Go
Full-text and geo indexing

Only in DuckDB

In-process execution
Vectorised columnar engine
Direct file querying
Zero dependencies
Larger-than-memory queries
MIT licence
Postgres-flavoured SQL
Extension ecosystem

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Dgraph

An application whose core data is a graph, such as permissions, social connections or product relationships, where the frontend already consumes GraphQLnot DuckDB
A knowledge graph that outgrew a single machine and needs storage distributed across nodes without a per-core licence negotiationnot DuckDB
Recommendation or fraud-detection features that traverse several hops at request time, where a relational join chain has become the bottlenecknot DuckDB
Teams that want a graph database they can read, fork and self-host under a permissive licence rather than a source-available onenot DuckDB

DuckDB

Transformation steps in a data pipeline that would otherwise need Spark, replaced by SQL over Parquet in a single processnot Dgraph
Analytical queries embedded in an application or a dashboard where shipping a database server alongside it is not acceptablenot Dgraph
Local exploration of files that are too large for a pandas dataframe but far too small to justify a warehousenot Dgraph
Continuous integration and testing of analytical SQL, where a real engine can run in the test process without provisioning anythingnot Dgraph

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Dgraph

Sharding is by predicate, so a single very hot predicate lives entirely in one Raft group and cannot be split further; adding nodes does not relieve it and the fix is a data model change.
Stewardship passed from Dgraph Labs to Hypermode after the original company stopped operating independently, so anyone building on it is betting on a second custodian rather than on the original team's roadmap.
The GraphQL layer is generated and opinionated, so anything it does not express drops you into DQL, which is a second language your team must learn and which no other database speaks.
The community is a fraction of Neo4j's, so operational answers, tuning experience, hiring and third-party tooling are all thinner, and unusual failure modes in a Zero and Alpha cluster leave you reading source rather than a forum.
There is no portable graph standard to migrate to; Cypher, Gremlin and SPARQL are all different query models, so the schema and every query is a rewrite if you later leave, and that cost grows with the application.

DuckDB

A database file accepts one read-write process at a time; other processes must open it read-only and will not see subsequent writes, so DuckDB cannot be the shared database behind several services.
There is no network protocol, authentication or user management, so exposing it to remote clients means writing and securing your own service around it.
It is built for scans and aggregations, not for many small transactions, so a workload of high-frequency single-row inserts and updates performs badly compared with SQLite or Postgres.
Storage files are backwards compatible but not forwards compatible, so a file written by a newer version cannot be read by an older one and every consumer of a shared file must be upgraded together.
Query memory settings matter: some operations still need to hold significant state, so an under-configured memory limit turns a large join or a high-cardinality aggregation into a spill-heavy query or an out-of-memory failure rather than a slow success.

Pricing, plan by plan

Dgraph

Free

CommunityFree
- Native GraphQL
- Graph queries
- Full-text search
Cloud$39/month
- Managed service
- Auto-scaling
- Enterprise support

DuckDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DuckDB review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Dgraph if

You need apache 2.0 licence.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Mac, Docker, Web.
You also want generated graphql api.

Dgraph review

Choose DuckDB if

You need in-process execution.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, WebAssembly.
You also want vectorised columnar engine.

DuckDB review

Questions people ask

Is Dgraph or DuckDB better?: Neither clearly leads. Dgraph starts at Free and DuckDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dgraph or DuckDB?: Dgraph starts at Free and DuckDB at Free.
Does Dgraph or DuckDB run on more platforms?: Dgraph runs on Linux, Mac, Docker, Web. DuckDB runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, WebAssembly.
Can I use Dgraph for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Dgraph best used for?: Dgraph is most often used for an application whose core data is a graph, such as permissions, social connections or product relationships, where the frontend already consumes graphql, a knowledge graph that outgrew a single machine and needs storage distributed across nodes without a per-core licence negotiation, recommendation or fraud-detection features that traverse several hops at request time, where a relational join chain has become the bottleneck, teams that want a graph database they can read, fork and self-host under a permissive licence rather than a source-available one. Of those, an application whose core data is a graph, such as permissions, social connections or product relationships, where the frontend already consumes graphql and a knowledge graph that outgrew a single machine and needs storage distributed across nodes without a per-core licence negotiation are not what DuckDB is typically brought in for.
What can Dgraph do that DuckDB cannot?: Dgraph covers Apache 2.0 licence, Generated GraphQL API, DQL query language, Predicate sharding. DuckDB covers In-process execution, Vectorised columnar engine, Direct file querying, Zero dependencies.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dgraph: Is Dgraph open source?

Yes. The current repository is Apache 2.0, which is a permissive OSI licence, and the project is at v25 under Hypermode's maintenance.

DuckDB: Can multiple applications share one DuckDB database?

Not for writing. One process holds the database read-write; others may attach read-only and will not see later writes. Shared multi-writer access needs a different database or a table format with a catalogue.

Dgraph: Is it really GraphQL?

It serves a generated GraphQL API, which is real GraphQL for clients. Its native language, DQL, resembles GraphQL syntactically but is Dgraph's own language and is not the GraphQL specification.

DuckDB: Is it a replacement for a data warehouse?

For single-node analytical workloads up to a few hundred gigabytes it very often is. It is not a replacement when many concurrent users need a shared, governed, always-on service.

Dgraph: How does it compare to Neo4j?

Neo4j has the larger ecosystem, Cypher, and far more operational precedent. Dgraph distributes storage across nodes by default and gives you a GraphQL endpoint without writing resolvers. The choice usually turns on whether you need horizontal scale and a GraphQL surface more than you need ecosystem depth.

DuckDB: Do I have to load data into it?

No. It queries Parquet, CSV, JSON and Arrow in place, including on object storage. Its own storage format is optional and mainly useful when you want indexes, constraints and faster repeated access.

Dgraph: What does a production cluster look like?

At minimum a set of Zero nodes for coordination and a replicated set of Alpha nodes for data, typically three of each for fault tolerance, which is a meaningfully larger operational footprint than a single graph server.

DuckDB: What is MotherDuck's relationship to it?

MotherDuck is a separate company offering a managed and hybrid service built on the DuckDB engine. DuckDB itself remains MIT-licensed and independent of it, with the IP held by the DuckDB Foundation.

Dgraph: Who maintains it now?

Hypermode. Dgraph Labs, the original company, no longer operates it, and that change of custodian is the main non-technical risk to weigh.

DuckDB: Is it suitable for OLTP?

No. It is designed for analytical scans. For transactional workloads with frequent small writes, SQLite or Postgres is the right tool.

Dgraph vs DuckDB

Dgraph

DuckDB

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Dgraph

Only in DuckDB

What people use each for

Dgraph

DuckDB

Where each one falls short

Dgraph

DuckDB

Pricing, plan by plan

Dgraph

DuckDB

Which should you pick?

Choose Dgraph if

Choose DuckDB if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Dgraph

More on DuckDB

Keep looking

Other head to heads