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Databases · head to head

SurrealDB vs Turso

SurrealDB logo

SurrealDB

Databases

Multi-model database combining documents, graphs, vectors and time-series

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Turso logo

Turso

Databases

SQLite-lineage database platform for running very large numbers of small per-tenant databases, with an MIT-licensed engine.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: SurrealDB the listed $0.192/node/hr Scale pricing lacks transparent higher-tier rates, requiring a sales conversation for full production sizing.; Turso sQLite allows one writer per database, so a single tenant's write throughput cannot be scaled horizontally and a busy tenant serialises against itself with no sharding option.
  • They diverge on capability: SurrealDB covers Multi-model engine, Turso covers Per-tenant databases.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SurrealDB and Turso actually diverge.

Attributes where SurrealDB and Turso differ
AttributeSurrealDBTurso
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
Platformsweb, api, windows, mac, linuxWeb
Founded2022Unknown

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 SurrealDB

  • Multi-model engine
  • ACID transactions
  • Hybrid retrieval
  • Horizontal scaling
  • Multi-region disaster recovery
  • FIPS-compliant cryptography

Only in Turso

  • Per-tenant databases
  • MIT licence
  • Embedded replicas
  • SQLite compatibility
  • HTTP access
  • Branching
  • Point-in-time restore
  • In-process engine

What people use each for

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

SurrealDB

  • AI agent memory and retrieval-augmented generationnot Turso
  • Applications needing documents, graphs and vectors in one databasenot Turso
  • Knowledge graph construction from unstructured datanot Turso
  • Regulated workloads requiring SOC2/ISO27001/HIPAA-eligible hostingnot Turso

Turso

  • Multi-tenant SaaS where each customer gets their own database for real isolation, per-tenant restore and clean deletionnot SurrealDB
  • Agent or session infrastructure that creates a throwaway database per task and destroys it afterwardsnot SurrealDB
  • Local-first and offline-capable applications where an embedded replica serves reads at file speed and syncs when connectivity returnsnot SurrealDB
  • Embedding a SQLite-compatible engine in a product where the public domain original's closed contribution model is a problemnot SurrealDB

Where each one falls short

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

SurrealDB

  • The listed $0.192/node/hr Scale pricing lacks transparent higher-tier rates, requiring a sales conversation for full production sizing.
  • As a newer multi-model database, it has a smaller ecosystem of drivers, ORMs and community tooling than established single-model databases.
  • HIPAA compliance is only available as an Enterprise add-on rather than included in standard paid tiers.
  • Combining multiple data models in one engine can add query-planning complexity compared to purpose-built single-model databases.

Turso

  • SQLite allows one writer per database, so a single tenant's write throughput cannot be scaled horizontally and a busy tenant serialises against itself with no sharding option.
  • Per-tenant databases mean per-tenant migrations, so every schema change becomes a fan-out job that must be idempotent and resumable, and multi-database schemas, the feature meant to solve this, is deprecated.
  • There are no cross-database queries; ATTACH is deprecated on the cloud, so any report or analytic spanning tenants must be assembled in your application or in a separate warehouse you also operate.
  • Data Edge, the multi-region edge replication that was Turso's original positioning, is deprecated, so a large share of the tutorials and articles describing Turso as an edge database describe behaviour you can no longer rely on.
  • Three engine lineages share the name, SQLite, the libSQL fork and the Rust rewrite, and the Rust engine is still maturing, so SQLite compatibility needs verifying against your specific pragmas, extensions and query patterns; the cloud already restricts journal_mode and busy_timeout and makes user_version read-only.

Pricing, plan by plan

SurrealDB

Free
  • StartFree
    • 1 free instance, then from $0.021/hr
    • 1GB storage free forever
    • Vertical scaling to terabytes
  • Scale$0.192/month
    • $0.192/node/hr
    • Production-grade fault tolerance
    • Horizontal scaling to petabytes
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Self-hosted, custom pricing
    • Clustered fault-tolerant deployments
    • FIPS-compliant cryptography

Turso

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100 databases
    • 5 GB storage
    • 500M monthly rows read
  • Developer$4.99/month
    • Unlimited databases
    • 9 GB storage
    • 2.5B monthly rows read
  • Scaler$24.92/month
    • Unlimited databases
    • 24 GB storage
    • 100B monthly rows read
  • Pro$416.58/month
    • Unlimited databases
    • 50 GB storage
    • 250B monthly rows read

Which should you pick?

Choose SurrealDB if

  • You need multi-model engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api, windows, mac, linux.
  • You also want acid transactions.
SurrealDB review

Choose Turso if

  • You need per-tenant databases.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want mit licence.
Turso review

Questions people ask

Is SurrealDB or Turso better?
Neither clearly leads. SurrealDB starts at Free and Turso at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SurrealDB or Turso?
SurrealDB starts at Free and Turso at Free.
Does SurrealDB or Turso run on more platforms?
SurrealDB runs on web, api, windows, mac, linux. Turso runs on Web.
Can I use SurrealDB for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is SurrealDB best used for?
SurrealDB is most often used for ai agent memory and retrieval-augmented generation, applications needing documents, graphs and vectors in one database, knowledge graph construction from unstructured data, regulated workloads requiring soc2/iso27001/hipaa-eligible hosting. Of those, ai agent memory and retrieval-augmented generation and applications needing documents, graphs and vectors in one database are not what Turso is typically brought in for.
What can SurrealDB do that Turso cannot?
SurrealDB covers Multi-model engine, ACID transactions, Hybrid retrieval, Horizontal scaling. Turso covers Per-tenant databases, MIT licence, Embedded replicas, SQLite compatibility.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SurrealDB: What does SurrealDB cost?

SurrealDB Cloud's Start plan is free with one free instance (then from $0.021/hr), the Scale plan runs $0.192/node/hr for production workloads, and Enterprise self-hosted deployments use custom pricing.

Source
Turso: Is Turso just hosted SQLite?

Not exactly. It hosts databases built on the SQLite lineage: libSQL, an MIT fork of SQLite, and Turso Database, a newer Rust rewrite. The platform adds branching, backups, an HTTP API and programmatic database creation.

SurrealDB: Is there a free plan and what are its limits?

Yes, the Start plan includes one free instance with 1GB of storage free forever and 1GB of outbound data transfer per month, aimed at prototypes and development.

Source
Turso: Can I really run a million databases?

That is the design goal and the platform API exists to make provisioning and deletion programmatic. The practical constraints are the ones that come with it: migrations fan out, and nothing can query across databases.

SurrealDB: How is billing handled?

Customers are invoiced monthly based on actual usage in a pay-as-you-go model with no long-term commitments, though commitment-based discounts are available.

Source
Turso: How do embedded replicas handle read-after-write?

Reads come from the local replica and writes go to the primary, so a read immediately after a write can return stale data unless you wait for a sync. Application code has to account for that rather than assume it.

Turso: What licence is it under?

libSQL and Turso Database are both MIT. Turso Cloud is a commercial managed service built on them, so the engine is genuinely open even though the platform is not.

Turso: Is Turso still an edge database?

No. Data Edge, the multi-region edge replication feature, is deprecated. The current positioning is per-tenant and embedded databases, and older material describing edge replication is out of date.

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