ShardingSphere-Proxy vs PgDog

ShardingSphere-Proxy9.0Visit PgDog8.4Visit

Higher score ShardingSphere-Proxy #3 in Database Proxy Software 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit ShardingSphere

vs

PgDog #8 in Database Proxy Software 8.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit PgDog

• ShardingSphere-Proxy fits best

  Open-source multi-database proxy deployments

• PgDog fits best

  Free PostgreSQL pooling and sharding

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Side by side

Feature	ShardingSphere-Proxy 9.0/10 Visit ↗	PgDog 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.4
Ranking	#3 in Database Proxy Software	#8 in Database Proxy Software
Best for	Open-source multi-database proxy deployments	Free PostgreSQL pooling and sharding
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Linux, Windows, macOS	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Email, Community, Docs
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features ShardingSphere-Proxy 4/4 · PgDog 4/4
Connection pooling	✓	✓
Query routing	✓	✓
Load balancing	✓	✓
Automatic failover	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Self-hosted	Both
Supported databases	MySQL, PostgreSQL, openGauss, Firebird	PostgreSQL
Maximum connections	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Combines sharding, routing, pooling, and read/write splitting Supports failover, load balancing, migration, and distributed transactions Runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS with four protocol options	Free, open-source PostgreSQL connection pooling and multiplexing Combines routing, read/write splitting, lag monitoring, and sharding Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, on-premises, or customer cloud accounts
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires teams to operate the proxy No commercial paid tiers for teams seeking a managed plan Protocol access centers on MySQL, PostgreSQL, openGauss, and Firebird	Supports PostgreSQL rather than multiple database engines Failover detection is disabled by default AGPLv3 licensing may not suit every deployment or distribution model
Our verdict	ShardingSphere-Proxy is a self-hosted transparent database proxy in the Apache ShardingSphere ecosystem. It provides a common proxy endpoint for applications and database tools while applying rules for sharding, query routing, read/write… Read the review →	PgDog is an open-source PostgreSQL proxy for teams that need to manage connection capacity, distribute reads across replicas, or route traffic across sharded databases. Its scope covers transaction-mode connection pooling, connection… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• ShardingSphere-Proxy — where it wins

  • Combines sharding, routing, pooling, and read/write splitting
  • Supports failover, load balancing, migration, and distributed transactions
  • Runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS with four protocol options

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires teams to operate the proxy
  • No commercial paid tiers for teams seeking a managed plan
  • Protocol access centers on MySQL, PostgreSQL, openGauss, and Firebird

• PgDog — where it wins

  • Free, open-source PostgreSQL connection pooling and multiplexing
  • Combines routing, read/write splitting, lag monitoring, and sharding
  • Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, on-premises, or customer cloud accounts

  Where it doesn't

  • Supports PostgreSQL rather than multiple database engines
  • Failover detection is disabled by default
  • AGPLv3 licensing may not suit every deployment or distribution model

• ShardingSphere-Proxy9.0/10 · Free plan

  A self-hosted proxy for routing, scaling, and high availability across four database protocols.

  Visit ShardingSphereFull verdict →
• PgDog8.4/10 · Free plan

  A free PostgreSQL proxy with pooling, routing, replica balancing, and sharding.

  Visit PgDogFull verdict →