Kuzu
Embedded property-graph database (Cypher) with a built-in vector index and full-text search, widely used as an embedded store for agent memory and GraphRAG. The kuzudb/kuzu repository was archived on 2025-10-10 after Apple acquired the company; 0.11.3 is the final release and earlier releases remain usable.
Archived · Verified 2026-10-29 · fresh as of 2026-10-29 · 49 cited facts, 26 with a third-party source · 2 recorded changes · Suggest a correction
At a glance
- Type
- Embedded graph DB + sub-3ms recall third-party fix
- Tier
- T2
- Section
- Knowledge-graph platforms
- Latest release
- 0.11.3 (final release; repository archived 2025-10-10) repo fix
- Funding
- No external funding confirmed; acquired by Apple ~Oct 2025 third-party fix
- Freshness
- 2026-10-29 fix
- Layer
- model-infra repo fix
- Licensing
- open-source repo fix
- Developer activity
- OpenRank 15.09 (12-mo avg 35.35) · 6 participants — 2025-10 third-party fix
When to use
Optimised for: relationship modeling + reasoning + governance over pure vector
Anti-fit: not for purely-vector or simple-RAG use cases (graph adds setup cost)
Pros & cons
Pros
Embedded graph DB (think SQLite for graphs) — fastest path to local graph querying with no ops.
Cons
Embedded scope; not appropriate for production multi-user services.
Claims & capabilities
Sub-3ms recall via MCP.
Technical surface
- API surface
- SDK: Python, C++, Java, Node.js, Rust
- Backend storage
- custom (embedded native graph)
- Deployment
- Self-hosted only (embedded library; no managed cloud at time of acquisition)
- Embedding model
- BYO
- Multi-tenancy
- not applicable — embedded library
- MCP
- via community port
- A2A
- not supported
- OpenTelemetry
- no first-party OpenTelemetry exporter documented; standard logs/metrics typically available.
Alternatives to Kuzu → live options ranked by shared design, licence, hosting and MCP support
Similar systems
Other knowledge-graph platforms in the catalog, ranked by inbound references.
- Neo4j T1
Property graph DB with Cypher; native vector search; Aura Agent + MCP server for graph-as-memory. $100M GenAI investment in 2025.
- Amazon Neptune Analytics T1
Vector index on graph nodes queryable via openCypher. Mem0 integration GA 2025; Cognee integration for agentic RAG. Combines semantic recall with multi-hop traversal in one managed service.
- FalkorDB T2
Native GraphRAG SDK. Graph-memory backend for Mem0; MCP server via Graphiti integration; context graphs for long-term agent memory.
- ArangoDB T1
HybridGraphRAG combines vector search, graph traversal, full-text in one AQL query. ArangoGraphML for ML pipelines; LangChain integration. The company now brands itself Arango (Arango Contextual Data Platform unifying graph, vector, document and search), with ArangoDB as its database.
- Memgraph T2
In-memory GraphRAG engine. Memgraph 3.0 adds native vector search alongside graph traversal. LangChain toolkit.
- Diffbot T1
Auto-built knowledge graph from web crawl. 1T+ facts, 10B+ entities. GraphRAG-fine-tuned model based on open-source Llama 3.3.
Sources (48 cited facts, 26 third-party)
Each fact links to the page it came from; the badge says who published it (how to read sources).
- What it is Embedded graph DB + sub-3ms recall third-party
- What it does & what's distinct Embedded property-graph database (Cypher) with a built-in vector index and full-text sea… repo
- Claims / benefits Sub-3ms recall via MCP. third-party
- Modalities text vendor
- Created 2025-09 repo
- Latest release 0.11.3 (final release; repository archived 2025-10-10) repo
- License MIT repo
- GitHub kuzudb/kuzu — ~4.0k stars, archived 2025-10-10 (read-only) repo
- Funding No external funding confirmed; acquired by Apple ~Oct 2025 third-party
- Customers / scale Research / developer community; Apple acquisition signals enterprise interest third-party
- Pricing Free (MIT-licensed open source); acquired by Apple so no commercial cloud vendor
- Deployment Self-hosted only (embedded library; no managed cloud at time of acquisition) vendor
- HQ CA (Toronto Ontario; University of Waterloo origin) third-party
- Founders / pedigree Semih Salihoglu (founder/CEO; assoc. professor CS University of Waterloo) vendor
- Memory volume / scale no scale claim vendor
- Performance LDBC Snapchat benchmark: Kuzu outperforms DuckDB-style relational by 2-5× on graph patte… third-party
- API surface SDK: Python, C++, Java, Node.js, Rust third-party
- Backend storage custom (embedded native graph) third-party
- Embedding model BYO third-party
- Versioning immutable append-log third-party
- Schema evolution schema with migration third-party
- Namespace primitives per-tenant third-party
- Contradiction handling always overwrite (last-write-wins) vendor
- Forgetting policy none (permanent) third-party
- MCP support via community port third-party
- A2A support not supported third-party
- Webhooks / events no third-party
- Import / export Parquet, CSV, JSON, Cypher third-party
- Validated verticals financial-services, healthcare, legal, government, internal IT, KM third-party
- Time to running <1hr (Docker / managed cloud) to <1week (enterprise procurement) third-party
- Anti-fit not for purely-vector or simple-RAG use cases (graph adds setup cost) third-party
- Optimised for relationship modeling + reasoning + governance over pure vector third-party
- Adjacent infrastructure BYO LLM; bundled graph store; some require additional vector index third-party
- Pros Embedded graph DB (think SQLite for graphs) — fastest path to local graph querying with … third-party
- Cons Embedded scope; not appropriate for production multi-user services. third-party
- Project & sources kuzu kuzu-memory MCP third-party
- commit-trajectory [{"ym":"2025-09","cum":18},{"ym":"2025-10","cum":171},{"ym":"2025-11","cum":294},{"ym":"… repo
- download-trajectory [{"ym":"2025-11","monthly":75935,"cum":75935},{"ym":"2025-12","monthly":162754,"cum":238… registry
- cost-input-usd-per-mtok 0 vendor
- cost-output-usd-per-mtok 0 vendor
- cost-tier free vendor
- cost-pricing-model free-tier vendor
- cost-last-verified 2026-06-29 vendor
- architecture-deployment-locus local repo
- licensing-bucket open-source repo
- positioning-platform-vs-product platform repo
- taxonomy-three-layer-rollup model-infra repo
- developer-activity-opendigger {"activity":6.86,"as_of":"2025-10","openrank_12mo":35.35,"openrank_current":15.09,"parti… third-party
What changed
Changes to this record's lifecycle, licence, release, pricing and hosting facts, from the catalog's git history. Subscribe (Atom)
Related systems
References (1)
- Model Context Protocol (MCP spec) depends on at runtime — Sub-3ms recall via MCP.
Referenced by (2)
- LangChain (framework) integrates with — LangChain docs have a Kuzu integration provider page (Embedded graph database management system). (verified 2026-10-29)
- Zep & Graphiti integrates with — Graphiti README lists Kuzu as a graph backend, now marked deprecated but still shipped. (verified 2026-10-29)