Best HSQLDB Alternatives in 2026

Updated October 2026

20 platforms from database software ranked against HSQLDB on the same published basis.

1
MySQL Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin 9.5
HSQLDB vs MySQL
2
Azure SQL Database Free plan AndroidapiiOSLinuxMac Free9.2
HSQLDB vs Azure SQL Database
3
Amazon DynamoDB Free plan AndroidapiiOSLinuxMac Free9.1
HSQLDB vs Amazon DynamoDB
4
Firestore Free plan AndroidapiiOSWeb Free8.9
HSQLDB vs Firestore
5
Amazon RDS Free plan apiWeb Free8.7
HSQLDB vs Amazon RDS
6
SQLite Free plan AndroidapiiOSLinuxMac $12.50/mo8.7
HSQLDB vs SQLite
7
MarkLogic Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWebWin Free8.7
HSQLDB vs MarkLogic
8
InfluxDB Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb 8.7
HSQLDB vs InfluxDB
9
CockroachDB Cloud Free plan apiLinuxWeb $0.06/mo8.6
HSQLDB vs CockroachDB Cloud
10
Neo4j Free plan self-hosted $65/mo8.5
HSQLDB vs Neo4j
11
TiDB Cloud Free plan apiWeb 8.5
HSQLDB vs TiDB Cloud
12
Teradata VantageCloud Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb Free8.5
HSQLDB vs Teradata VantageCloud
13
InterSystems IRIS Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free8.4
HSQLDB vs InterSystems IRIS
14
Exasol Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb $3.30/mo8.4
HSQLDB vs Exasol
15
Google Cloud Bigtable Free trial apiWeb $0.03/mo8.3
HSQLDB vs Google Cloud Bigtable
16
PostgreSQL Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWin Free8.2
HSQLDB vs PostgreSQL
17
MariaDB Server Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWin Free8.2
HSQLDB vs MariaDB Server
18
Google Cloud SQL Free trial apiLinuxMacWebWin $0.04/mo8.1
HSQLDB vs Google Cloud SQL
19
Apache Cassandra Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWebWin Free8.1
HSQLDB vs Apache Cassandra
20
Google Cloud Spanner Free trial apiLinuxself-hostedWeb 8.0
HSQLDB vs Google Cloud Spanner

HSQLDB alternatives compared

#	Platform	Score	Free plan	From	Runs on
1	MySQL	9.5	Free plan	—	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
2	Azure SQL Database	9.2	Free plan	Free	Android, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
3	Amazon DynamoDB	9.1	Free plan	Free	Android, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
4	Firestore	8.9	Free plan	Free	Android, API, iOS, Web
5	Amazon RDS	8.7	Free plan	Free	API, Web
6	SQLite	8.7	Free plan	$12.50/mo	Android, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
7	MarkLogic	8.7	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, self-hosted, Web, Windows
8	InfluxDB	8.7	Free plan	—	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
9	CockroachDB Cloud	8.6	Free plan	$0.06/mo	API, Linux, Web
10	Neo4j	8.5	Free plan	$65/mo	self-hosted
11	TiDB Cloud	8.5	Free plan	—	API, Web
12	Teradata VantageCloud	8.5	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, self-hosted, Web
13	InterSystems IRIS	8.4	Free plan	Free	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
14	Exasol	8.4	Free plan	$3.30/mo	API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web
15	Google Cloud Bigtable	8.3	No	$0.03/mo	API, Web
16	PostgreSQL	8.2	Free plan	Free	Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
17	MariaDB Server	8.2	Free plan	Free	Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
18	Google Cloud SQL	8.1	No	$0.04/mo	API, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
19	Apache Cassandra	8.1	Free plan	Free	Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
20	Google Cloud Spanner	8.0	No	—	API, Linux, self-hosted, Web

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Questions about HSQLDB alternatives

What is the best alternative to HSQLDB?

MySQL, number 1 in database software with a score of 9.5 out of 10. The others here: Azure SQL Database, Amazon DynamoDB, Firestore and 16 more.

What is the best free alternative to HSQLDB?

MySQL is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 17 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

How are these alternatives ranked?

Ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going: documentation depth, a free tier or trial, and the platforms it runs on.