Databases · head to head
Dgraph vs Harness
Dgraph
Databases
Apache 2.0 distributed graph database written in Go, maintained by Hypermode, queried through GraphQL or its own DQL language.
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Harness
Developer Tools
Software delivery platform across CI, CD, security testing and cost management
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Harness is free; Dgraph starts at $39/mo.
- Where Harness falls short: essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates.
- Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Dgraph and Harness actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Freemium), free tier (Yes).
Not yet recorded: founded for Harness.
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 Harness
Nothing recorded that Dgraph does not also cover.
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 Harness
- A knowledge graph that outgrew a single machine and needs storage distributed across nodes without a per-core licence negotiationnot Harness
- Recommendation or fraud-detection features that traverse several hops at request time, where a relational join chain has become the bottlenecknot Harness
- Teams that want a graph database they can read, fork and self-host under a permissive licence rather than a source-available onenot Harness
Harness
- Deploying apps to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud with rollbacksnot Dgraph
- Integrating security scanners throughout build pipelines before productionnot Dgraph
- Automating cloud cost reduction and tracking unit-level expensesnot Dgraph
- Enabling developers to provision infrastructure without operations bottlenecksnot Dgraph
- Assessing deployment frequency and lead time productivity metricsnot 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
Harness
- Essentials and Enterprise pricing requires sales contact; no published rates
- DevOps Essentials has no on-premises deployment option
- Internal Developer Portal requires minimum 20 developer licenses
- Pipeline execution history retention 6 months (Essentials) vs 25 months as add-on (Enterprise)
Pricing, plan by plan
Dgraph
Free- CommunityFree
- Native GraphQL
- Graph queries
- Full-text search
- Cloud$39/mo
- Managed service
- Auto-scaling
- Enterprise support
Harness
Free- FreeFree
- Starter platform for software delivery lifecycle
- Open source options available (Harness Open Source, Litmus Chaos)
- EssentialsOn request
- Growing organizations with small to mid-size teams
- Packaged DevOps Essentials bundle
- Continuous software delivery capabilities
- EnterpriseOn request
- Large-scale organizations
- Pick any modules based on needs
- Advanced features
Which should you pick?
Choose Dgraph if
- You need apache 2.0 licence.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Web.
- You also want generated graphql api.
Questions people ask
- Is Dgraph or Harness better?
- Neither clearly leads. Dgraph starts at Free and Harness at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Dgraph or Harness?
- Dgraph starts at Free and Harness at Free.
- Does Dgraph or Harness run on more platforms?
- Dgraph runs on Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Web. Harness runs on Web.
- 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 Harness is typically brought in for.
- What can Dgraph do that Harness cannot?
- Dgraph covers Apache 2.0 licence, Generated GraphQL API, DQL query language, Predicate sharding.
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.
Harness: Is there a free Harness plan?
Yes, Harness offers a free plan for individual developers and small teams with open source options including Harness Open Source and Litmus Chaos.
SourceDgraph: 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.
Harness: What are Harness's paid pricing tiers?
Harness offers Essentials for growing teams and Enterprise for large-scale organizations. Both require contacting sales for custom pricing. Pricing is based on modules and features selected.
SourceDgraph: 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.
Harness: Can Harness be deployed on-premises?
Enterprise plans include self-managed platform deployment option. DevOps Essentials bundle does not offer on-premises deployment.
SourceDgraph: 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.
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.
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