RethinkDB

Free plan Open source APILinuxMacSelf-hostedWebWindows

What RethinkDB is

RethinkDB is a free, open-source JSON database that sends applications updates when query results change. Its changefeeds let an application subscribe to a query and receive updates as its underlying data changes. The maker identifies collaborative apps, streaming analytics, multiplayer games, real-time marketplaces, and connected devices as use cases.

Queries are written in ReQL, which supports joins, subqueries, geospatial queries, aggregation, and map-reduce, but not SQL. Official client drivers are listed for JavaScript, Ruby, Python, and Java; community-supported drivers cover additional languages. Integration guides cover Elasticsearch, RabbitMQ, and Rails, and the site names Socket.io and SignalR as real-time technologies that can be paired with RethinkDB.

Clusters can be sharded and replicated through a web UI or controlled by API. RethinkDB is available for self-hosted deployment, with official packages for several Linux distributions, OS X, and Windows, plus Docker deployment. The server and client libraries use Apache License 2.0. Writes are committed to disk before acknowledgment by default. The FAQ cautions that multi-document updates are not atomic and that RethinkDB is not a good fit where full ACID support or strong schema enforcement is required.

Who it suits

RethinkDB suits developers building applications that need query-result updates, including collaborative tools, streaming analytics, multiplayer games, marketplaces, or connected-device systems. It can also suit teams seeking a self-hosted JSON database with ReQL and client drivers for several languages.

What it does well

Changefeeds send updates as query results change.
ReQL supports joins, subqueries, geospatial queries, aggregation, and map-reduce.
Official drivers are listed for JavaScript, Ruby, Python, and Java.
Clusters can be sharded and replicated through a web UI or API.
Server and client libraries use Apache License 2.0.

What to know first

ReQL does not support SQL.
Multi-document updates are not atomic.
The FAQ cautions against use where full ACID support is required.
The admin account has no password by default.

Limits

The free plan is the open-source, self-hosted database. Multi-document updates are not atomic, and the FAQ says it is not a good fit when full ACID support or strong schema enforcement is required.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
RethinkDB	Open-source database; self-hosted	Free

As rethinkdb.com lists them, read 8 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Getting started

Visit https://rethinkdb.com/.
Choose an official package for Ubuntu, CentOS/AlmaLinux/RockyLinux, Debian, OS X, or Windows, or use Docker.
Deploy it as a self-hosted database.
Set a password for the admin account before relying on it; the account has no password by default.
Connect using an official client driver or a community-supported driver.

Verdict

Choose RethinkDB for a free, open-source JSON database when applications need to subscribe to changing query results. Look elsewhere if the workload requires SQL, strong schema enforcement, full ACID support, or atomic multi-document updates.

Questions

How much does RethinkDB cost?

The listed RethinkDB plan costs nothing and is described as an open-source, self-hosted database.

Is RethinkDB open source?

Yes. The server and client libraries are licensed under Apache License 2.0.

Which platforms are supported?

The installation page lists packages for Ubuntu, CentOS/AlmaLinux/RockyLinux, Debian, OS X, and Windows, plus Docker deployment. The FAQ describes server support on Linux and OS X.

Does it support SQL?

No. RethinkDB uses ReQL, which supports joins, subqueries, geospatial queries, aggregation, and map-reduce.

Which integrations and drivers are listed?

Official drivers are listed for JavaScript, Ruby, Python, and Java, with community-supported drivers for additional languages. Integration guides cover Elasticsearch, RabbitMQ, and Rails; Socket.io and SignalR are also named as pairable technologies.

What should I know about security and writes?

The documentation describes TLS for server, client, and web UI connections and recommends setting a password for the admin account, which has none by default. Writes are safely committed to disk before acknowledgment by default.

Facts from RethinkDB's own pages

API: The public ReQL API includes commands such as connect, run, table, joins, reconfigure and HTTP access. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Architectures: The server supports x86_64, ARM and s390x on Unix-like platforms plus Windows Subsystem for Linux 2; macOS DMG packages are x86_64 only. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Atomicity limit: Operations are not atomic across multiple keys, so the documentation says RethinkDB is not an ACID database. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Authentication: Users and permissions are supported, but passwords are sent in plaintext unless TLS is enabled. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Changefeeds: Changefeeds let applications subscribe to updates on query results as data changes. · rethinkdb.com, 8 Oct 2026
Community SDKs: The project lists community drivers for C#, C++, Clojure, Dart, Elixir, Erlang, Go, Haskell, Lua, PHP, Rust, Swift and other languages. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Company founded: The RethinkDB company was founded in 2009 and open-sourced version 1.2 in 2012. · en.wikipedia.org, 15 Oct 2026
Company shutdown: The original company announced on October 5, 2016 that it was shutting down after failing to build a sustainable business. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Consistency: RethinkDB supports single, majority and outdated read modes, with hard or soft durability and majority or single write acknowledgements. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Current release: The homepage identifies RethinkDB 2.4.4 as the latest release. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Documentation: The documentation includes quickstarts, tutorials, API references, cookbooks, administration, deployment, troubleshooting, integrations and architecture sections. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Drivers: Official client drivers are listed for JavaScript, Ruby, Python, and Java, with community-supported drivers for additional languages. · rethinkdb.com, 8 Oct 2026
Durability: The FAQ says writes are not acknowledged until safely committed to disk by default. · rethinkdb.com, 8 Oct 2026
Extensibility: Developers can implement drivers using the documented ReQL wire protocol and ql2.proto definitions. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Failover: Automatic failover requires at least three servers, at least three replicas and a majority of voting replicas available. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
Funding: Wellfound reports $12.2 million raised across four rounds, with the latest listed round dated November 25, 2013. · wellfound.com, 15 Oct 2026
Historical headquarters and size: Wellfound lists the company location as Mountain View and historical size as 11–50 employees. · wellfound.com, 15 Oct 2026
Integrations: Official documentation covers Elasticsearch, RabbitMQ, Rails, publish-subscribe systems, Node.js libraries and multiple ORMs. · rethinkdb.com, 15 Oct 2026
License: The Linux Foundation licenses RethinkDB under the permissive Apache License 2.0. · github.com, 15 Oct 2026
Licensing: The server and client libraries are licensed under Apache License 2.0. · rethinkdb.com, 8 Oct 2026
Limitations: The FAQ says RethinkDB is not a good fit when full ACID support or strong schema enforcement is required, and notes that multi-document updates are not atomic. · rethinkdb.com, 8 Oct 2026
Limit: development activity: A G2 reviewer warned that development slowed sharply after the company shutdown and transition to the Linux Foundation. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
Limit: performance and storage: G2 reviewers mention slower-than-expected batch ingestion and higher disk use than alternatives in some tests. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
Limit: transactions: G2 reviewers report that the lack of atomic updates across multiple documents led some teams to move to PostgreSQL. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026

Where RethinkDB stands on Freedom251

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