# rethinkdb/rethinkdb

The open-source database for the realtime web.

Repository: https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rethinkdb
Homepage: https://rethinkdb.com
Language: C++
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-03-28T06:10:59+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 56/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 74, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5055, "days_push": 158, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 26994, forks 1849 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:47.269056+00:00)

## What it is
RethinkDB is an open-source, distributed NoSQL database that stores schemaless JSON documents and pushes updated query results to applications in realtime via changefeeds instead of requiring polling. It supports sharding, replication, automatic failover, joins, geospatial queries, and client drivers for many languages.

## Use cases
- build realtime collaborative apps like Google Docs or Trello clones
- stream database changes to clients without polling
- build multiplayer game backends with low-latency state sync
- create realtime dashboards and streaming analytics
- store and query JSON documents in a scalable distributed database
- build IoT infrastructures streaming data between connected devices
- run geospatial queries for location-aware apps

## When to choose
- your app needs continuous push of updated query results to clients
- you want a self-hosted NoSQL JSON document store with changefeeds
- you need easy sharding, replication, and automatic failover
- you build collaborative or realtime web/mobile applications

## When to avoid
- you need heavy write throughput or strict ACID transactions across entities
- you want a database with a large, actively growing ecosystem
- you need SQL or wide relational modeling support
- your project depends on cutting-edge features and frequent releases

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: database, streaming, search-engine
- domain: databases, web-development, backend
- platform: windows, cross-platform, self-hosted
- tags: nosql, json-database, changefeeds, distributed-database, reql, realtime-push, document-store, real-time, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- rethinkdb/rethinkdb (main) score 56

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:47.269056+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T16:54:36.216379+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:47.269056+00:00, sha d4856afa85d0)
  - homepage: https://rethinkdb.com (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.918090+00:00, sha 9c9533fda561)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/docs (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.929762+00:00, sha e34fb6ad8bb0)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/install (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.931507+00:00, sha 44136fa355b3)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/docs/install-drivers (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.933055+00:00, sha 5bdb0a432d17)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/docs/architecture (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.934691+00:00, sha dc962de3d861)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/docs/table-joins (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.937092+00:00, sha 6b1e0d4f4281)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/docs/geo-support (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.938858+00:00, sha 44136fa355b3)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/docs/storing-binary (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.940361+00:00, sha 44136fa355b3)
  - site_page: https://rethinkdb.com/faq (fetched 2026-08-29T07:52:04.927265+00:00, sha b1fef31f7993)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.