PgCat review

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026

PgCat is an open-source connection pooler and proxy for teams operating PostgreSQL deployments that need to reuse server connections or route queries across a primary and replicas. It sits between applications and PostgreSQL servers, accepting connections through the PostgreSQL wire protocol. The project supports transaction and session pooling, so it can suit workloads that need either mode. Its focus is PostgreSQL rather than a general-purpose pooler for multiple database systems.

Routing and operations are central to PgCat’s feature set. It can send read queries to replicas and writes to a primary, balance load across replicas, and use health checks and failover routing. A Prometheus metrics endpoint provides an operational monitoring path. PgCat also documents PgBouncer-compatible admin databases and SHOW commands, plus live configuration reloading. These capabilities make it a fit for teams that want pooling alongside routing controls; teams seeking only a basic connection pool may not need the additional proxy features.

PgCat is self-hosted and self-managed: the project documents running it as a process with configurable pools and server connections. Connection capacity depends on configured pool_size values, so operators need to size and manage those settings for their deployment. The project is open source with a free plan, and documentation is the listed support channel. Sharding and query mirroring are experimental, so they are not the strongest reason to choose it. PgCat is a sensible option for teams comfortable operating PostgreSQL infrastructure; teams wanting a managed service or mature sharding and mirroring should look elsewhere.

PgCat pros and cons

• Where it wins
  • Supports both transaction and session pooling modes.
  • Routes reads to replicas and writes to a primary, with replica balancing.
  • Includes health checks, failover routing, and a Prometheus metrics endpoint.
• Where it doesn't
  • Requires teams to manage configuration and deployment themselves.
  • Supports PostgreSQL through the PostgreSQL wire protocol only.
  • Sharding and query mirroring are experimental.

PgCat fact sheet, pricing and score →

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Last updated 14 Nov 2026 · How we research and update