What is Dolt used for?

Dolt is a MySQL-compatible SQL database with Git-style version control, letting you fork, clone, branch, merge, push and pull tables the way you would a code repository. It is a good fit for versioned datasets for collaboration, auditing and rolling back data changes, and branching databases for testing.

Yes. Dolt is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at dolthub/dolt and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. Dolt is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Dolt?

Yes. Dolt can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What are some alternatives to Dolt?

Similar open-source tools in the Databases category include TiDB, CockroachDB and etcd. SaaS products in the same category include Cloudflare D1, SingleStore and Aerospike.

Is Dolt actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Dolt was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.4.0, published on 30 September 2026. The project has 25k stars on GitHub.

Dolt: open-source databases

About Dolt

Dolt is a SQL database that can be versioned like a Git repository. You can fork it, clone it, branch it, merge changes, and push or pull updates, and you connect to it as you would any MySQL database to read and modify schema and data. In the maintainers' words, Git versions files while Dolt versions tables.

Version control features are exposed in SQL through system tables, functions and procedures, and there is also a Git-like command line interface for importing CSV files, committing changes, pushing to a remote and merging a teammate's work. Typical uses include auditing data changes, collaborating on datasets, and experimenting on a branch without touching production. It is written in Go.

The ecosystem includes DoltHub, a place to share Dolt databases with free hosting of public data; DoltLab, a self-hosted version of DoltHub; and Hosted Dolt, a managed server. Doltgres is a PostgreSQL-compatible variant in beta. Dolt is Apache-2.0 licensed, with a Discord community and public roadmap.

Key features

Git-style fork, branch and merge for tables
MySQL-compatible SQL interface
Version control through SQL tables and procedures
Git-like command line interface
DoltHub for sharing databases
Doltgres variant for PostgreSQL

Good fit for

→Versioned datasets for collaboration
→Auditing and rolling back data changes
→Branching databases for testing

Built with: Go; MySQL
Tags: database; version-control; git-for-data; mysql-compatible; sql; go; data-versioning; collaboration

Dolt: questions and answers

What is Dolt used for?: Dolt is a MySQL-compatible SQL database with Git-style version control, letting you fork, clone, branch, merge, push and pull tables the way you would a code repository. It is a good fit for versioned datasets for collaboration, auditing and rolling back data changes, and branching databases for testing.
Is Dolt open source?: Yes. Dolt is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at dolthub/dolt and is written mainly in Go.
Is Dolt free?: Yes. Dolt is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Dolt?: Yes. Dolt can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What are some alternatives to Dolt?: Similar open-source tools in the Databases category include TiDB, CockroachDB and etcd. SaaS products in the same category include Cloudflare D1, SingleStore and Aerospike.
Is Dolt actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Dolt was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.4.0, published on 30 September 2026. The project has 25k stars on GitHub.