--- title: "databend vs lantern" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/databendlabs-databend-vs-lanterndata-lantern" tools: ["databendlabs-databend", "lanterndata-lantern"] --- # databend vs lantern *GraphCanon updated Aug 22, 2026* ## Verdict Pick databend if data Agent Ready Warehouse built in Rust for analytics, search, AI, and more within a unified architecture on top of your S3 storage; pick lantern if lantern is an extension for PostgreSQL written in Rust, providing capabilities for approximate nearest neighbor search tailored for AI applications. [databend](https://docs.databend.com) reports 9.4k GitHub stars, 891 forks, and 557 open issues, last pushed Aug 21, 2026. [lantern](https://lantern.dev) has 889 stars, 67 forks, and 42 open issues, last pushed Dec 12, 2024. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [databend's repository](https://github.com/databendlabs/databend) and [lantern's repository](https://github.com/lanterndata/lantern). | | [databend](/tools/databendlabs-databend.md) | [lantern](/tools/lanterndata-lantern.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | All-in-One Data Warehouse: Analytics, Search, AI, and Python Sandboxing Reimagined From Scratch. | PostgreSQL vector database extension for building AI applications | | Stars | 9,420 | 889 | | Forks | 891 | 67 | | Open issues | 557 | 42 | | Language | Rust | Rust | | Adopt for | Data Agent Ready Warehouse built in Rust for analytics, search, AI, and more within a unified architecture on top of your S3 storage. | Lantern is an extension for PostgreSQL written in Rust, providing capabilities for approximate nearest neighbor search tailored for AI applications. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Other | AGPL-3.0, allowing free use and modification but requiring derivative works to be open-sourced as well. | | Categories | Data & Retrieval, Vector Databases | Vector Databases | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [databend](/tools/databendlabs-databend.md) | [lantern](/tools/lanterndata-lantern.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Dormant (18%) | | Days since push | 0d | 618d | | Open issues (now) | 557 | 42 | | Stars delta | +31 (30d) | 0 (30d) | | Open issues delta | +23 (30d) | 0 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/databendlabs-databend/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: databend - **Adopt for:** Data Agent Ready Warehouse built in Rust for analytics, search, AI, and more within a unified architecture on top of your S3 storage. ## Decision facts: lantern - **Adopt for:** Lantern is an extension for PostgreSQL written in Rust, providing capabilities for approximate nearest neighbor search tailored for AI applications. - **License detail:** AGPL-3.0, allowing free use and modification but requiring derivative works to be open-sourced as well. ## Choose when ### Choose databend if… - License: databend is Other, lantern is AGPL-3.0. - Tags unique to databend: bigdata, cloud-native, database, elasticsearch. - Also covers Data & Retrieval. - - When you need a unified data platform that can handle analytics, search, and AI all from one interface, with support for vector database functions. ### Choose lantern if… - License: lantern is AGPL-3.0, databend is Other. - Tags unique to lantern: ann, approximate-nearest-neighbor-search, data-science, embeddings. - When you need to perform vector database operations integrated with a PostgreSQL environment ## When NOT to use databend - - When specific integration requirements are outside of S3 support, as Databend focuses on this particular ecosystem. - - For organizations that cannot or prefer not to use technologies built in Rust due to team expertise or existing tech stack conflicts. - - If your primary need is for a solution that heavily integrates with Elasticsearch given the competitive landscape and features it offers. ## When NOT to use lantern - Avoid when an open-source license like AGPL-3.0 might interfere with proprietary or closed-source projects - Not suitable if you require direct support for non-vector indexing operations outside ANN capabilities ## Common questions ### What is the difference between databend and lantern? databend: All-in-One Data Warehouse: Analytics, Search, AI, and Python Sandboxing Reimagined From Scratch.. lantern: PostgreSQL vector database extension for building AI applications. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose databend over lantern? Choose databend over lantern when License: databend is Other, lantern is AGPL-3.0; Tags unique to databend: bigdata, cloud-native, database, elasticsearch; Also covers Data & Retrieval; - When you need a unified data platform that can handle analytics, search, and AI all from one interface, with support for vector database functions. ### When should I choose lantern over databend? Choose lantern over databend when License: lantern is AGPL-3.0, databend is Other; Tags unique to lantern: ann, approximate-nearest-neighbor-search, data-science, embeddings; When you need to perform vector database operations integrated with a PostgreSQL environment. ### When should I avoid databend? - When specific integration requirements are outside of S3 support, as Databend focuses on this particular ecosystem. - For organizations that cannot or prefer not to use technologies built in Rust due to team expertise or existing tech stack conflicts. - If your primary need is for a solution that heavily integrates with Elasticsearch given the competitive landscape and features it offers. ### When should I avoid lantern? Avoid when an open-source license like AGPL-3.0 might interfere with proprietary or closed-source projects Not suitable if you require direct support for non-vector indexing operations outside ANN capabilities ### Is databend or lantern more popular on GitHub? databend has more GitHub stars (9,420 vs 889). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are databend and lantern open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (databend: Other, lantern: AGPL-3.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to databend or lantern? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [databend alternatives](/tools/databendlabs-databend/alternatives) and [lantern alternatives](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/alternatives) ([databend markdown twin](/tools/databendlabs-databend/alternatives.md), [lantern markdown twin](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/databendlabs-databend-vs-lanterndata-lantern.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, databend or lantern? databend: Very active. lantern: Dormant. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for databend and lantern? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [databend trust report](/tools/databendlabs-databend/trust); [lantern trust report](/tools/lanterndata-lantern/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=databendlabs-databend`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=databendlabs-databend) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_