Parliament review
A focused self-hosted RDF store for teams that need storage and inference.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Parliament is an open-source RDF triple store and reasoner for Semantic Web applications. It is designed for teams that need to store RDF data locally and apply OWL- or RDFS-oriented reasoning, with a SWRL rules engine for additional rule-based processing. Named-graph support helps organize RDF statements, while its SPARQL-compatible Semantic Web stack provides a foundation for querying and serving that data. The product is a fit for small self-hosted deployments where inference is central to the workload.
Deployment is available on Linux and Windows, with Docker support for containerized environments. Linux installations can use a systemd service, while Windows deployments include PowerShell startup support. The project also includes server components, configuration, startup scripts, and documentation for running and securing an instance. Configurable statement and resource-table growth gives administrators control over how storage structures expand, and query timeouts help limit long-running queries. These options make Parliament practical for teams willing to manage their own runtime and configuration.
The main reason to choose Parliament is its combination of RDF storage and built-in reasoning in an open-source package distributed under the BSD-3-Clause license. It covers OWL, RDFS, SWRL, named graphs, and operational controls without narrowing the product to storage alone. However, teams that need highly detailed SPARQL federation capabilities or a broader platform scope should consider an alternative. Parliament suits focused RDF workloads with local deployment and inference requirements; it is less suitable for organizations seeking a wide commercial ecosystem or managed service experience.
Parliament pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Supports OWL, RDFS, and SWRL reasoning
- Runs locally on Linux or Windows, with Docker support
- Adds named graphs, query timeouts, and configurable table growth
- Where it doesn't
- Self-hosted deployment requires local infrastructure management
- SPARQL federation details are limited
- Its scope is narrower than broader RDF database platforms
Parliament 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