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What is grafeo?

grafeodb/grafeo — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

★ 618RustAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

In one sentence

Grafeo is a fast, low-memory graph database written in Rust that runs embedded in your app or as a standalone server, supporting six query languages and vector search.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Grafeo))
    What it does
      Stores nodes and edges
      Embedded or server mode
      ACID transactions
      Vector search
    Tech stack
      Rust
      Python bindings
      JavaScript bindings
      WebAssembly
    Use cases
      Social networks
      Recommendation engines
      Semantic search
    Audience
      Backend developers
      Data engineers

Code map

Detail Auto

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Embed a graph database directly in an app to model social networks or recommendation engines.

USE CASE 2

Run graph queries with a familiar language like Cypher, GraphQL, or SQL/PGQ.

USE CASE 3

Combine graph traversals with vector similarity search for semantic search or recommendations.

What is it built with?

RustPythonJavaScriptGoWebAssembly

How does it compare?

grafeodb/grafeojustjavac/dvmpenthertz/luksbox
Stars618705502
LanguageRustRustRust
Setup difficultymoderateeasymoderate
Complexity3/52/53/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Available as a Rust crate or language binding, no external server required for embedded use.

Apache 2.0: use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright and license notices.

So what is it?

Grafeo is a graph database built in Rust, designed for speed and low memory use. A graph database stores data as nodes and relationships between them, rather than rows in tables, which makes it natural for things like social networks, recommendation engines, or any system where the connections between items matter as much as the items themselves. Unlike many graph databases that require a separate server process, Grafeo can run embedded directly inside your application with zero external dependencies, no separate server and no container required. You can also run it as a standalone server. It supports in-memory storage for speed and persistent storage saved to disk, with full ACID transactions, the standard guarantee that operations either complete fully or not at all. Grafeo supports two graph data models: Labeled Property Graph, used by databases like Neo4j, and Resource Description Framework, a web standard format for linked data. It supports six query languages, GQL, Cypher, Gremlin, GraphQL, SPARQL, and SQL/PGQ, covering most existing graph query knowledge. It includes vector search, meaning you can store AI embedding vectors alongside graph data and search by similarity, useful for semantic search or recommendations. It also offers encryption at rest, role based access control, backup and point in time recovery, and bulk import and export in formats like CSV, JSONL, and GraphML. Bindings are available for Python, JavaScript and TypeScript, Go, C, C sharp, Dart, and WebAssembly. Benchmarks in the README show it outperforming several established graph databases in both speed and memory usage. The full README is longer than what was shown.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Help me embed Grafeo in a Python app and run a basic Cypher query.
Prompt 2
How do I set up Grafeo as a standalone server with persistent storage?
Prompt 3
Explain how to combine vector search with a graph query in Grafeo.
Prompt 4
Show me how to import a CSV dataset into Grafeo and query it with GQL.

Frequently asked questions

What is grafeo?

Grafeo is a fast, low-memory graph database written in Rust that runs embedded in your app or as a standalone server, supporting six query languages and vector search.

What language is grafeo written in?

Mainly Rust. The stack also includes Rust, Python, JavaScript.

What license does grafeo use?

Apache 2.0: use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright and license notices.

How hard is grafeo to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is grafeo for?

Mainly developer.

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