YDB

Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted

What YDB is

YDB is a distributed SQL database for OLTP, OLAP and streaming workloads. It supports global ACID transactions and strong consistency, while automatically sharding and rebalancing data; compute and storage can scale independently. For analytics, YDB provides columnar tables and a distributed vectorized query engine. YDB Topics supports Kafka API 3.4.0, exactly-once delivery and automatic partitioning. A native vector index supports approximate nearest-neighbor queries, with documented uses in semantic search, recommendations and RAG pipelines. YDB can run on premises, on virtual machines with Ansible, or in cloud environments with Kubernetes. Listed integrations include DBeaver, DataGrip, Grafana, Apache Airflow, Apache Spark, Kafka API, dbt, SQLAlchemy and LangChain. The Open-Source plan is free under Apache 2.0 and is community-supported. Managed YDB Serverless is also listed as free, billed by usage, with a monthly free package that includes the first 1,000,000 operations and first 1 GB/month of storage free. The dbt-YDB connector is marked Preview and does not support all dbt features.

Who it suits

YDB suits teams building transaction, analytics or streaming workloads that need self-managed or cloud deployment. Its enterprise edition is described for business-critical applications requiring enhanced security, compliance and SLA-backed support.

What it does well

Supports global ACID transactions and strong consistency.
Compute and storage scale independently.
Offers native vector indexing for approximate nearest-neighbor queries.
Open-source plan is Apache 2.0.

What to know first

dbt-YDB connector is marked Preview.
The connector does not support all dbt features.

Plans

Plan	Billed and limits	Price
Open-Source	Apache 2.0 · community-supported · self-host anywhere	Free
Managed YDB Serverless	Usage-based; billed for queries and stored data, with a monthly free package · First 1,000,000 operations and first 1 GB/month of storage free	Free
Managed YDB Dedicated	Hourly for dedicated resources, regardless of actual use · Compute and storage resources specified by customer	On request
Enterprise	Enhanced security and compliance · 24×7 SLA-backed commercial support	On request

As ydb.tech lists them, read 4 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.

Verdict

YDB spans transactional, analytical and streaming use cases, with both self-hosted and cloud deployment options. Teams relying on dbt should account for the connector's Preview status and incomplete feature support.

Facts from YDB's own pages

AI and vector search: YDB provides a native vector index for approximate nearest-neighbor queries and documents use in semantic search, recommendations, and RAG pipelines. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Analytics: YDB provides columnar tables and a distributed vectorized query engine for analytical workloads. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Compliance: YDB states that its security features help meet requirements including PCI-DSS, SOC 2, and ISO 27001. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Deployment: YDB can be deployed on premises and on virtual machines with Ansible, or in cloud environments with Kubernetes. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Integrations: The integrations documentation lists DBeaver, DataGrip, Grafana, Apache Airflow, Apache Spark, Kafka API, dbt, SQLAlchemy, and LangChain among supported integrations. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Intended users: YDB describes its enterprise edition as intended for business-critical applications, with enhanced security, compliance, and SLA-backed commercial support. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Notable limitation: The dbt-YDB connector is marked Preview and does not currently support all dbt features. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Observability and backups: YDB integrates with observability software using Prometheus and OpenTelemetry protocols, and backups can use S3-compatible object stores or a filesystem. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Product: YDB is a distributed SQL database for OLTP, OLAP, and streaming workloads. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Scaling: YDB automatically shards and rebalances data, and compute and storage can scale independently. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Security: YDB supports internal users and external users from directory services such as LDAP and IAM, along with user and group access rights. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Streaming: YDB Topics supports the Kafka API 3.4.0, exactly-once delivery, and automatic partitioning. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Support: Commercial support offers a Basic 8×5 ticket service and an Advanced 24×7 service through tickets, chat, and videoconferencing. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026
Transactions: YDB supports global ACID transactions and strong consistency. · ydb.tech, 4 Oct 2026

Where YDB stands on Freedom251

Distributed SQL Databases#15 of 25
Distributed Systems#24 of 30