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July 20, 2022

Dreaming of something better

WE ARE LIVE!!!

After years of building cloud-based SaaS systems, with realtime APIs, complicated security permissions, and multiple separate database backends, in 2015 we started conceptualising and planning a new database platform for building and scaling applications more quickly, while still allowing for the storage and querying of data in a structured yet flexible manner. The result was SurrealDB.

Taking inspiration from a range of databases including MySQL, OrientDB, CouchDB, InfluxDB, DynamoDB, MongoDB, RethinkDB, CockroachDB, Neo4j, and Firebase, development began on SurrealDB in 2016 with the intention of creating a scalable cloud graph database, built using Golang.

We wanted to build a database that we didn’t have to manage, that handled schema-less or schema-full data patterns, that could operate like a relational database (but without the JOINs), that could compete with the best document databases (but with a nicer more powerful query language), and that enabled us to build real-time applications effortlessly. Finally we wanted to build applications directly against our database, right from Chrome, Edge, or Safari. No more complicated APIs, no more complicated backends, no more complicated (and often error prone) security permissions. A database that allowed us to focus on our apps, not our infrastructure.

In 2021 the decision was made to open source SurrealDB, making it available to other developers and organisations in a private beta. Having learnt a great deal about building a future-ready database, the decision was made to re-build using Rust, in order to enforce data-sharing guarantees.

Today we are very, very excited to announce that SurrealDB is now in open beta to the world - SurrealDB 1.0-beta! The first beta version supports a large amount of functionality, with the ability to run in a highly-available, highly-scalable distributed environment. A highly-performant query language enables use of many different data types, and embedded JavaScript functions can be used for more complex functions and triggers.

Please give SurrealDB a follow on Linkedin , star us on GitHub , follow us on Twitter , join us on Discord , and check out our website . If you have any questions about installing, starting or using SurrealDB, or you have an idea for a feature you would love to see in SurrealDB, let us know on GitHub Discussions and GitHub issues. We shall appreciate it immensely. Meanwhile, stay cool in this crazy weather and thank you for all the support over the years!

Jaime and Tobie Morgan Hitchcock

SurrealDB founders