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Memgraph vs SpiceDB
Open-source fine-grained permissions system, not a graph database engine.
MemgraphOpen-Source, High-Performance, In-Memory: Memgraph is Redefining Graph Databases!
SpiceDBOpen Source, Google Zanzibar-inspired, fine-grained permissions management. https://play.authzed.com/schemaWhich to pick
Pick Memgraph if you want…
- Real-time in-memory graph analytics
- Integrations with Cypher, Python client libraries or LangChain (on Memgraph's list, not SpiceDB's)
Pick SpiceDB if you want…
- Zanzibar-style permission databases
- Permission management
- Integrations with Go, Java or NodeJS (on SpiceDB's list, not Memgraph's)
Side by side
- What it is
- Memgraph:Memgraph is an open-source, in-memory graph database for real-time analytics and AI workloads.
- SpiceDB:SpiceDB is an open-source, Google Zanzibar-inspired database for fine-grained permissions at scale.
- Best for
- Memgraph:Real-time in-memory graph analytics
- SpiceDB:Zanzibar-style permission databases
- Who it’s for
- Memgraph:Developers, data scientists and teams needing fast graph queries and AI-driven reasoning.
- SpiceDB:Developers building authorization services for cloud-native applications.
- Pricing
- Memgraph:Freemium
- SpiceDB:Freemium
- Plans
- Memgraph:Community Edition Free
- SpiceDB:Open Source Free
- Open source
- Memgraph:Yes, 4,581 GitHub stars
- SpiceDB:Yes, 7,099 GitHub stars
- Works with
- Memgraph:Cypher, Python client libraries, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Kafka, Pulsar, Redpanda
- SpiceDB:Go, Java, NodeJS, Python, Ruby, Kubernetes, Prometheus, OpenTelemetry
Memgraph features
- In-memory engine. Sub-millisecond graph traversals with 1,000+ tx/sec reads & writes.
- Cypher query language. Supports Neo4j-compatible Cypher for familiar graph queries.
- Vector search & AI platform. Unlimited vector indexes and built-in AI tooling for GraphRAG and memory.
- High-availability replication. ACID-compliant persistence with automatic failover and no-downtime updates.
- Stream connectors. Integrates with Kafka, Pulsar and Redpanda for real-time data ingestion.
- MAGE algorithm library. Includes PageRank, community detection, shortest-path and more out of the box.
SpiceDB features
- Expressive APIs. gRPC and HTTP/JSON endpoints for authorization logic.
- Distributed Graph Engine. Parallel graph processing faithful to the Zanzibar architecture.
- Pluggable Storage. Supports in-memory, Spanner, CockroachDB, PostgreSQL and MySQL backends.
- Configuration Language. SpiceDB Schema lets you define relationships, permissions and caveats.
- Deep Observability. Prometheus metrics, pprof profiles, structured logging and OpenTelemetry tracing.
- Kubernetes Operator. Manage, scale and upgrade SpiceDB clusters with a single resource.
- zed CLI. Command-line tool for schema validation, permission checks and context switching.
- Official Client Libraries. Go, Java, NodeJS, Python and Ruby SDKs for easy integration.
Memgraph vs SpiceDB FAQ
Is Memgraph or SpiceDB free?+
Memgraph has a free plan (Community Edition) and paid plans. SpiceDB has a free plan (Open Source) and paid plans.
Is Memgraph or SpiceDB open source?+
Yes, both are open source: Memgraph (memgraph/memgraph on GitHub) and SpiceDB (authzed/spicedb on GitHub, Apache-2.0 license).
Do Memgraph and SpiceDB integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: Memgraph lists Cypher, Python client libraries, LangChain, LlamaIndex and 3 more; SpiceDB lists Go, Java, NodeJS, Python and 4 more.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.