CrateDB
Document databases
Database as a service (DBaaS) providers
Real-time analytic database software
Time series databases
Vector database software
Columnar databases
Database software
NoSQL databases
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What is CrateDB
CrateDB is a distributed SQL database designed for real-time analytics on machine data, including time series and semi-structured JSON documents. It targets teams building operational analytics, monitoring, and IoT/industrial applications that need fast ingest and low-latency queries across large datasets. The product combines a PostgreSQL-compatible wire protocol with a shared-nothing cluster architecture and supports both self-managed deployments and a managed cloud service.
SQL access to JSON data
CrateDB stores and queries semi-structured data using JSON objects while exposing SQL for querying and aggregation. This can reduce the need for custom query layers compared with systems that require proprietary query DSLs. It also supports PostgreSQL client connectivity, which helps reuse existing BI tools and drivers. The approach fits teams that want relational-style analytics over evolving event schemas.
Distributed scale-out architecture
CrateDB runs as a clustered, shared-nothing system designed to scale horizontally by adding nodes. It supports parallel query execution and distributed aggregations, which is useful for high-ingest telemetry and log-like workloads. Replication and sharding are built into the cluster design to support availability and capacity growth. This aligns with use cases where a single-node database becomes a bottleneck.
Time-series oriented analytics features
CrateDB is commonly used for time series and machine data analytics, with SQL aggregations suited to windowed and roll-up style queries. It supports fast ingest patterns and querying recent data with low latency, which is important for operational dashboards. The system’s document model can accommodate changing sensor/event payloads without frequent schema migrations. This combination is useful for IoT and observability-style analytics workloads.
Not a full OLTP RDBMS
CrateDB focuses on analytics and high-ingest machine data rather than full-featured transactional workloads. Applications that require complex multi-row transactions, strict relational constraints, or extensive stored procedure ecosystems may find gaps. While it speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol, it is not PostgreSQL and does not provide complete feature parity. Teams may need to validate SQL compatibility and transaction semantics for their specific application patterns.
Operational complexity at scale
Running and tuning a distributed cluster introduces operational overhead compared with single-node databases. Capacity planning, shard/replica configuration, and performance troubleshooting can require specialized expertise. Workloads with skewed data distribution or very high cardinality can require careful modeling to avoid hotspots. Organizations without strong SRE/DBA support may prefer a managed service to reduce this burden.
Ecosystem and tooling differences
Compared with more widely adopted document databases and search/analytics stacks, CrateDB may have a smaller ecosystem of third-party integrations and community examples. Some advanced features (for example, specialized indexing or search-oriented capabilities) may require complementary systems depending on requirements. Migration from other NoSQL/document stores can require data model and query rewrites. Buyers should confirm connector availability for their ETL, streaming, and BI toolchain.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| CrateDB Cloud — Free (Shared free plan) | Free | Free plan with 2 vCPUs, 2 GB RAM, and 8 GB storage (no credit card required); backups once per day; intended for development/non-critical workloads. |
| CrateDB Cloud — Shared (paid) | From $0.073 / hour | Shared environment (single node); up to 8 shared vCPUs and 12 GB RAM; up to 1 TB storage; development support; backups once per day. |
| CrateDB Cloud — Dedicated | From $0.246 / hour (incl. basic support) | Dedicated environment for production; up to 9 nodes, up to 144 vCPUs and 495 GB RAM; up to 72 TB storage; uptime SLAs; AWS/Azure Private Link; backups once per hour; premium support available. |
| CrateDB Cloud — Custom | Contact sales | Unlimited nodes, custom compute and storage, premium support, custom SLAs and backups. |
| CrateDB Enterprise (self-hosted) | Contact sales | Enterprise edition adds advanced capabilities and official support for mission-critical self-deployed environments; multiple support plans (development, basic, premium). |
| CrateDB OSS (self-hosted) | Free / Open Source | Full access to core CrateDB engine; suitable for local development, proofs of concept, and small/non-critical production workloads; downloadable from vendor site. |
Seller details
CrateDB GmbH
Dornbirn, Austria
2013
Private
https://cratedb.com/
https://x.com/cratedb
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cratedb/
