SurrealDB

SurrealDB is a self-hosted database for developers building AI agents, knowledge graphs and applications that need several kinds of data together. It stores documents, relationships, vectors and time-series data in one engine, so an application's records and its AI retrieval layer can share the same database.

Its main distinction is how those data types work together. SurrealQL, its SQL-style query language, can combine graph traversal, vector similarity and full-text search in a single query. For GraphRAG applications, that means retrieving related entities alongside semantically relevant text without keeping separate graph and vector databases in sync. Queries can span data models within one ACID transaction.

SurrealDB includes authentication and permissions at the role, record and field level. These controls govern what each user, service or agent can read and change. Live queries and change streams send updates to connected clients as writes commit, supporting applications with shared, changing data.

Built in Rust, it can run on your own infrastructure, inside an application as an embedded database, or in a browser through WebAssembly. It also supports distributed clusters. SurrealDB Cloud is the separate managed hosting option, with a choice of cloud provider and region; self-hosted and embedded deployments use infrastructure you control.

The core database is source-available under the Business Source License 1.1. Offering SurrealDB itself as a managed service requires an agreement. Its SDKs and libraries use Apache 2.0 or MIT licenses.