{"data":{"slug":"citus","name":"Citus","tagline":"AGPL-3.0 Postgres extension for distributed tables","category":"databases","categoryName":"Databases","url":"https://www.citusdata.com","github":"https://github.com/citusdata/citus","pricing":"open-source","hook":"Citus is a PostgreSQL extension that turns Postgres into a distributed database: shard tables across a cluster of nodes and run queries in parallel, while it stays Postgres to your app.","whatsGood":"AGPL-3.0 (citusdata/citus), release v14.2.0 (2026-08-06), developed since 2016 and now maintained by Microsoft. Distributed tables are sharded across nodes, reference tables are replicated everywhere for joins, the distributed query engine parallelises SELECT and DML, and columnar storage speeds scans. Strong fit for multi-tenant SaaS (shard by tenant), real-time analytics and time series. The project says Citus is 100% open source. ★~12.8k.","theCatch":"Sharding means choosing a distribution column well; a poor choice makes cross-shard queries slow. AGPL-3.0 matters if you modify Citus and offer it as a service. Not every managed Postgres lets you install it, so you often self-host or use Azure's managed version. Cluster ops are more involved than one Postgres box.","verdict":"The most Postgres-native way to scale out — pick your shard key carefully.","addedAt":"2026-10-18","featured":false,"domain":"Databases","subSpecialty":"Data","subcategory":"Postgres","tags":["self-host","copyleft","postgres","active"],"capabilities":[],"surfaces":["Self-host","Hosted"],"ecosystem":["Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"AGPL-3.0","githubStars":12818,"starsPerWeek":23,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2016-02-01","pushedAt":"2026-10-18","license":"AGPL-3.0","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"supabase","name":"Supabase","tagline":"Open-source Firebase alternative built on Postgres"},{"slug":"turso","name":"Turso","tagline":"SQLite at the edge with libSQL"},{"slug":"redis","name":"Redis","tagline":"The in-memory data store everyone uses"},{"slug":"upstash","name":"Upstash","tagline":"Serverless Redis and Kafka"},{"slug":"pinecone","name":"Pinecone","tagline":"Vector database for AI applications"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/citus","html":"/gems/citus","markdown":"/gems/citus.md","category":"/api/gems?category=databases","categoryPage":"/stacks/databases"}}