# XTDB

5 Hacker News commenters recommended XTDB and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free database people recommend for fintech-style work, now with SQL-like queries instead of Datalog. Main caveat: it must run as its own top-level database.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong fit for fintech (1 comments): "This category of databases is just fantastic for industries like fintech." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46497305))
- SQL-like query interface (1 comments): "mostly tend to use XTDB nowadays, which used to have a Datalog API but I think they removed in favor of SQL-like way instead, which was kind of a shame." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45812637))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [PostgreSQL](https://hackerapproved.com/p/postgresql.md): 816 recommend
- [MySQL](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mysql.md): 124 recommend
- [Microsoft SQL Server](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-sql-server.md): 73 recommend
- [Microsoft Access](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-access.md): 62 recommend
- [Turso](https://hackerapproved.com/p/turso.md): 53 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "XTDB", https://hackerapproved.com/p/xtdb/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).