Softwr

Databases · head to head

RavenDB vs Vitess

RavenDB logo

RavenDB

Databases

The fully transactional NoSQL document database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vitess logo

Vitess

Databases

Scalable database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: RavenDB the free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal; Vitess vTGate scatter queries without sharding key incur significant performance penalties
  • They diverge on capability: RavenDB covers ACID Transactions, Vitess covers Horizontal Sharding.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which RavenDB and Vitess actually diverge.

Attributes where RavenDB and Vitess differ
AttributeRavenDBVitess
Pricing modelfreemiumUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, Docker, WebLinux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Databases), founded (2010).

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 RavenDB

  • ACID Transactions
  • Auto-indexing
  • Full-text Search
  • Graph Queries
  • Distributed Counters
  • Time Series
  • Document Compression
  • .NET

Only in Vitess

  • Horizontal Sharding
  • Connection Pooling
  • Query Routing
  • Online Schema Changes
  • Shard Management
  • Replication Management
  • Automated Failover
  • MySQL

Both cover

  • Linux support
  • Docker support

What people use each for

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

RavenDB

  • Running a distributed document database with ACID transactionsnot Vitess
  • Self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardwarenot Vitess
  • Replicating operational data out to analytics systems through ETLnot Vitess

Vitess

  • Transaction processingnot RavenDB
  • Data storagenot RavenDB
  • Application backendnot RavenDB
  • Reportingnot RavenDB
  • Data analyticsnot RavenDB

Where each one falls short

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

RavenDB

  • The free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal
  • The free Community licence caps a customer at 60 cores and forces you to stay on the latest major version
  • The Professional licence is limited to a single database, a 5 node cluster, 40 cores and 240 GB RAM
  • Sharding across nodes, ETL to OLAP, Elasticsearch and Kafka, and data archival are Enterprise only
  • Enterprise and AI licence pricing is contact us only with no published rate

Vitess

  • VTGate scatter queries without sharding key incur significant performance penalties
  • Foreign key constraints not enforced across shards, requiring application-level integrity handling
  • Single primary per keyspace limits multi-region write capabilities
  • Distributed transactions without proper sharding key routing suffer performance degradation

Pricing, plan by plan

RavenDB

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • 3 cores
    • 6GB RAM
    • Community support
  • Professional$499/year
    • Production use
    • Professional support
    • Advanced features

Vitess

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Vitess review.

Which should you pick?

Choose RavenDB if

  • You need acid transactions.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
  • You also want auto-indexing.
RavenDB review

Choose Vitess if

  • You need horizontal sharding.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want connection pooling.
Vitess review

Questions people ask

Is RavenDB or Vitess better?
Neither clearly leads. RavenDB starts at Free and Vitess at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, RavenDB or Vitess?
RavenDB starts at Free and Vitess at Free.
Does RavenDB or Vitess run on more platforms?
RavenDB runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web. Vitess runs on Linux, macOS, Docker, Kubernetes.
Can I use RavenDB for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is RavenDB best used for?
RavenDB is most often used for running a distributed document database with acid transactions, self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardware, replicating operational data out to analytics systems through etl. Of those, running a distributed document database with acid transactions and self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardware are not what Vitess is typically brought in for.
What can RavenDB do that Vitess cannot?
RavenDB covers ACID Transactions, Auto-indexing, Full-text Search, Graph Queries. Vitess covers Horizontal Sharding, Connection Pooling, Query Routing, Online Schema Changes. Both handle Linux support, Docker support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

RavenDB: Is RavenDB free or open source?

RavenDB is open source under the AGPLv3 license and available on GitHub. It also offers a free developer license with enterprise-level features limited to 9 cores, 36GB max RAM, 3 nodes, and non-commercial use.

Source
Vitess: Is Vitess free to use?

Yes. Vitess is completely free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license. It is a graduated CNCF project with no licensing costs or pricing tiers.

Source
RavenDB: Can I use RavenDB commercially for free?

RavenDB offers a free Community License that permits commercial deployment with unlimited databases and sizes, subject to a 60-core maximum per customer and requirement to run the latest major version.

Source
Vitess: What databases does Vitess support?

Vitess supports MySQL and MariaDB as backend databases. It acts as a middleware layer that adds sharding and orchestration capabilities on top of these databases.

Source
RavenDB: What commercial licensing options does RavenDB offer?

RavenDB offers Professional, Enterprise, and AI tiers for commercial use. Pricing for these tiers requires contacting their sales team at [email protected].

Source
Vitess: Does Vitess require Kubernetes to run?

No. Vitess can run on Kubernetes using the Vitess Operator, but it can also be deployed on traditional infrastructure. Kubernetes integration is optional and provides additional automation benefits.

Source
RavenDB: Does RavenDB offer a cloud hosting option?

RavenDB Cloud provides a fully managed cloud database with maintenance, failover, and backups included. Pricing is available at cloud.ravendb.net/pricing.

Source
Vitess: How does Vitess handle cross-shard transactions?

Vitess supports distributed transactions across shards, but they require queries to be routed through the sharding key. Transactions without a proper sharding key can result in slower performance.

Source
RavenDB: Is there a refund window if I purchase RavenDB?

RavenDB offers a 30-day refund window for purchased licenses.

Source
Vitess: Does Vitess enforce foreign key constraints?

Vitess does not enforce foreign key constraints across shards by default. Referential integrity must be managed at the application layer, though per-database support can be enabled with limitations.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on RavenDB

More on Vitess

Keep looking

Other head to heads