ActorDB review
A self-hosted SQL cluster for teams needing sharding, failover, and multi-actor ACID transactions.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
ActorDB is an open-source distributed relational SQL database for applications that need strong consistency and horizontal scaling. It organizes data into independent actor databases, distributes those actors across shards and clusters, and replicates writes with Raft. Teams can run it on Linux, macOS, or Windows, making it a fit for organizations that want to operate their own distributed SQL infrastructure rather than adopt a hosted database service.
Its architecture combines several capabilities relevant to distributed workloads. Actor-based sharding spreads databases across servers and nodes, while Raft-based replication provides failover for writes. ACID transactions can span multiple actors, and the SQLite-based SQL engine supports relational queries. Applications can connect through the MySQL protocol or Thrift, while key/value store mode provides a second data-access model. Backup tooling for LMDB data is also included. These features make ActorDB especially relevant where horizontal distribution and transactional consistency matter more than a broad integration catalog.
ActorDB is distributed as self-hosted open-source software, so the main operational consideration is deployment and maintenance responsibility. The listed stable release is version 0.10.29, dated 1 October 2019, which may matter to teams prioritizing a more recent release cadence. It is a focused choice for engineers comfortable managing clusters, shards, replication, and backups directly. Teams seeking managed deployment or connectivity beyond the MySQL protocol and Thrift should consider an alternative distributed SQL database.
ActorDB pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Horizontal scaling through actor-based sharding across nodes
- Raft replication and failover for distributed writes
- ACID transactions across multiple actor databases
- Where it doesn't
- Self-hosted deployment requires teams to manage the database environment
- Connectivity centers on MySQL protocol and Thrift
- Latest stable release listed is dated 1 October 2019
ActorDB fact sheet, pricing and score →
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
Last updated · How we research and update