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Surrealist

Surrealist

Build smarter knowledge graphs for data-rich applications

Website surrealdb.com
Overview

What it is

SurrealDB is a Rust multi-model database and context layer for AI agents: documents, graphs, vectors, time-series, and relations are native in one ACID engine, no stitched stores. Query with SurrealQL, connect via MCP, WebSocket, and SDKs, with GraphQL generated from your schema. Built-in auth, permissions, HTTP APIs, and live queries reduce separate backend glue. Runs embedded, at the edge, or as a highly-scalable cluster in the cloud. Same engine, everywhere.

Intent

I need it when

Build knowledge graphs and perform hybrid semantic search with vector and keyword relevance

SurrealDB supports native graph traversal, vector similarity search, and full-text indexing. Hybrid RAG combines vector cosine similarity with BM25 full-text scoring in a single weighted query, and graph-based re-ranking allows semantic results to be contextualized by relationship importance.

Deploy database with fine-grained access control and compliance requirements

SurrealDB includes built-in authentication, row-level security, and record-level access methods defined in SurrealQL. Enterprise plans offer audit logging, FIPS-compliant cryptography, SSO, and compliance certifications (SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA, Cyber Essentials Plus).

Implement real-time applications with live data subscriptions and reactive updates

SurrealDB provides live queries that push changes matching predicates to connected clients in real-time, enabling reactive state management without polling. Supports multi-node distributed live queries for scalable real-time applications.

Consolidate multiple specialized databases into a single platform

SurrealDB unifies document storage, graph relationships, vector embeddings, time-series data, full-text search, and relational queries in one multi-model engine with one query language (SurrealQL), eliminating the need to manage separate systems and their integration glue code.

Build AI agent applications with persistent memory and unified context retrieval

SurrealDB serves as the context layer for AI agents, combining documents, graphs, vectors, and time-series in one ACID transaction. Agents can retrieve complete context in a single query without stitching multiple databases together, enabling reliable reasoning over consistent data.

Drop

Not a fit when

  • User needs a simple key-value store without multi-model capabilities or complex querying
  • Organization requires a fully managed solution with zero infrastructure responsibility and cannot use AWS-based cloud
  • Project demands real-time analytics on massive time-series datasets with sub-millisecond latency at petabyte scale
  • Team lacks experience with graph databases, vector search, or ACID transactions and needs a simpler database
  • Budget is extremely constrained and cannot accommodate any compute costs beyond free tier limits
Commercials

Pricing

Freemium cloud with hourly compute billing; self-hosted and enterprise options available View pricing