What is OrientDB used for?

OrientDB is an open-source multi-model NoSQL database combining graph, document, full-text, geospatial and reactive features, with SQL and ACID transactions. It is a good fit for graph-style relationship queries, combining document and graph data, and distributed JVM database deployments.

Is OrientDB open source?

Yes. OrientDB is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at orientechnologies/orientdb and is written mainly in Java.

Yes. OrientDB is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host OrientDB?

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

What is OrientDB an alternative to?

OrientDB is an open-source alternative to Amazon Neptune, Neo4j AuraDB and MarkLogic. Other open-source alternatives to Amazon Neptune include ArangoDB, ArcadeDB and Neo4j.

Is OrientDB actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to OrientDB was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 3.2.56, published on 2 September 2026. The project has 5k stars on GitHub.

OrientDB: open-source alternative to Amazon Neptune

About OrientDB

OrientDB is an open-source multi-model NoSQL database management system written in Java. It brings native graph, document, full-text search, reactive, geospatial and object-oriented concepts into one product, so one engine can serve several data shapes rather than needing separate databases for each.

Instead of expensive run-time joins, connections between records are stored as persistent pointers, which lets traversals cover thousands of records quickly. It supports schema-less, schema-full and mixed modes, has a security model based on users, roles and predicates, and offers SQL among its query languages so people with relational skills can adopt it easily. It can run distributed with a multi-master setup and supports ACID transactions, full-text indexing and reactive queries.

OrientDB is licensed under Apache-2.0 and is self-hosted on your own servers, either as a single node or distributed across several. It suits teams who want graph and document capabilities in one JVM-based database without running two separate systems.

Key features

Multi-model graph and document storage
SQL query support
ACID transaction support
Multi-master distributed operation
Full-text and geospatial indexing
Schema-less, schema-full or mixed modes

Good fit for

→Graph-style relationship queries
→Combining document and graph data
→Distributed JVM database deployments

Built with: Java
Tags: multi-model; graph-database; document-database; nosql; java; sql; distributed; database

OrientDB: questions and answers

What is OrientDB used for?: OrientDB is an open-source multi-model NoSQL database combining graph, document, full-text, geospatial and reactive features, with SQL and ACID transactions. It is a good fit for graph-style relationship queries, combining document and graph data, and distributed JVM database deployments.
Is OrientDB open source?: Yes. OrientDB is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at orientechnologies/orientdb and is written mainly in Java.
Is OrientDB free?: Yes. OrientDB is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host OrientDB?: Yes. OrientDB can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is OrientDB an alternative to?: OrientDB is an open-source alternative to Amazon Neptune, Neo4j AuraDB and MarkLogic. Other open-source alternatives to Amazon Neptune include ArangoDB, ArcadeDB and Neo4j.
Is OrientDB actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to OrientDB was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is 3.2.56, published on 2 September 2026. The project has 5k stars on GitHub.