Databases · head to head
FaunaDB vs Namespace
FaunaDB
Databases
Document-relational database whose hosted service closed in 2025 and whose core is now unmaintained Apache 2.0 code.
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Namespace
Developer Tools
The dev platform for the next 100 billion commits
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Namespace is a developer infrastructure platform.
- Free plans on both; paid from $25/mo and $100/mo.
- Only FaunaDB lists document-relational model; only Namespace lists GitHub Actions runners.
- Where Namespace falls short: developer plan is pay-as-you-go only; minimum usage unclear.
- Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which FaunaDB and Namespace actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).
Not yet recorded: pricing model for Namespace, founded for Namespace.
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 FaunaDB
- Document-relational model
- FQL v10
- Distributed ACID transactions
- HTTPS access
- User-defined functions
- Attribute-based access control
- Document history
- Event streaming
Only in Namespace
- Devboxes
- GitHub Actions runners
- Docker builds
- Cross-invocation caching
- NVMe storage
- High-speed networking
- Multiple OS support
- Bazel and Turborepo support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
FaunaDB
- Keeping an existing Fauna-backed application alive on self-hosted infrastructure while a migration is planned and fundednot Namespace
- Extracting historical data from a Fauna dataset that can no longer be reached through the hosted APInot Namespace
- Studying a production implementation of deterministic distributed transactions, since the full server source is now readable under Apache 2.0not Namespace
- Forking the engine deliberately, where an organisation has JVM and distributed-systems staff and wants a document-relational store it fully controlsnot Namespace
Namespace
- Providing AI coding agents with cloud-based development environmentsnot FaunaDB
- Accelerating CI builds with faster GitHub Actions runnersnot FaunaDB
- Distributing builds across teams with managed infrastructurenot FaunaDB
- Scaling development velocity for monorepo organizationsnot FaunaDB
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
FaunaDB
- The hosted service was wound down in 2025, so there is no managed Fauna to buy; every remaining user either operates a JVM cluster themselves or migrates, and both are projects rather than tasks
- The open-sourced repository has had no substantive activity since May 2025 and the drivers were frozen alongside it, so you inherit responsibility for security patches in a Scala distributed database that almost nobody else is running
- FQL has no wire or dialect compatibility with anything else, so migrating off is a rewrite of every query, index and access rule in the application rather than a data export
- No BI tool, ORM or CDC connector speaks FQL, so reporting and analytics always required exporting the data first, and that export tooling is now also unmaintained
- The community was small before the shutdown and has dispersed since, so operational answers, tuning advice and people who have run a Fauna cluster in anger are all scarce when something breaks
Namespace
- Developer plan is pay-as-you-go only; minimum usage unclear
- Team plan $100/mo is competitive but usage limits may be tight
- Devbox pricing separate at $0.004/minute could add up quickly
- Enterprise plan requires custom sales conversation
Pricing, plan by plan
FaunaDB
Free- FreeFree
- 100K read ops
- 50K write ops
- 1GB storage
- Pro$25/mo
- Pay per use
- Priority support
- Advanced features
Namespace
Free- DeveloperFree
- Pay-as-you-go
- On-demand compute
- Docker builds
- Team$100/mo
- 100,000 unit minutes
- 1,000 Docker builds
- Everything in Developer
- Business$250/mo
- 250,000 unit minutes
- 2,500 Docker builds
- Everything in Team
- EnterpriseOn request
- Custom compute/Docker build limits
- Audit log export
- Enterprise SSO
Which should you pick?
Choose FaunaDB if
- You need document-relational model.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want fql v10.
Choose Namespace if
- You need devboxes.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
- You also want github actions runners.
Questions people ask
- Is FaunaDB or Namespace better?
- Neither clearly leads. FaunaDB starts at Free and Namespace at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, FaunaDB or Namespace?
- FaunaDB starts at Free and Namespace at Free.
- Does FaunaDB or Namespace run on more platforms?
- FaunaDB runs on Web. Namespace runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.
- Can I use FaunaDB for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is FaunaDB best used for?
- FaunaDB is most often used for keeping an existing fauna-backed application alive on self-hosted infrastructure while a migration is planned and funded, extracting historical data from a fauna dataset that can no longer be reached through the hosted api, studying a production implementation of deterministic distributed transactions, since the full server source is now readable under apache 2.0, forking the engine deliberately, where an organisation has jvm and distributed-systems staff and wants a document-relational store it fully controls. Of those, keeping an existing fauna-backed application alive on self-hosted infrastructure while a migration is planned and funded and extracting historical data from a fauna dataset that can no longer be reached through the hosted api are not what Namespace is typically brought in for.
- What can FaunaDB do that Namespace cannot?
- FaunaDB covers Document-relational model, FQL v10, Distributed ACID transactions, HTTPS access. Namespace covers Devboxes, GitHub Actions runners, Docker builds, Cross-invocation caching.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
FaunaDB: Can I still sign up for Fauna as a service?
No. Fauna Inc. wound down the hosted service in 2025 and the company website is no longer serving. The only way to run Fauna now is to build and operate the open-sourced server yourself.
Namespace: How is compute usage metered on the Developer plan?
Developer plan uses pay-as-you-go billing. Devboxes bill at $0.004 per minute. Storage and caching services have separate usage-based fees. A 30-day free trial is available to test usage patterns.
SourceFaunaDB: What licence is the open-sourced code under?
Apache 2.0, with the copyright held by a FaunaDB Foundation. That is a permissive OSI licence with no competing-use clause, so you may run it, modify it and even offer it as a service.
Namespace: What is the difference between Team and Business plans?
Team ($100/mo) includes 100,000 unit minutes and 1,000 Docker builds with email support. Business ($250/mo) includes 250,000 unit minutes, 2,500 Docker builds, and high concurrency with a dedicated Slack channel.
SourceFaunaDB: Is the open source version the same software that ran the cloud?
It is the core database engine. The control plane, billing, dashboard and multi-tenant operational tooling that made it a service are not part of the release, so you are running the engine, not the product.
Namespace: Can Namespace support AI coding agents?
Yes, Namespace Devboxes are specifically designed as feature-rich development environments for AI coding agents, with full tooling and performance optimization.
SourceFaunaDB: What should I migrate to?
There is no drop-in target. Teams that valued the document model with relationships usually land on Postgres with JSONB, and teams that valued the serverless HTTP access pattern usually land on DynamoDB or a managed Postgres with an HTTP driver. Either way the query layer is rewritten.
FaunaDB: How hard is it to self-host?
It builds as a fat JAR and runs as a multi-node JVM cluster. There is an OPERATING.md, but no supported packaging, no operator, no upstream releases and no support contract, so budget for a distributed-systems engineer, not a container.
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