ShardingSphere-Proxy

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Score6.9

Rank#4 of 30

PriceFree

Free planYes

Runs onLinux, macOS, Self-hosted, Windows

Summary

ShardingSphere-Proxy is a free, self-hosted database proxy that presents a database server over a binary protocol, so clients built with different programming languages can connect. It distributes storage and computing across underlying databases through sharding, supporting horizontal scaling. The project also provides distributed transactions through a hybrid XA and BASE engine, plus read/write splitting that balances reads using SQL semantics and database topology. Other capabilities include data migration with sharding, federated queries, transparent encryption and data masking. Its quick start describes theoretical client protocol support for MySQL, PostgreSQL, openGauss and Firebird. It can be deployed as a binary distribution, Docker image or Helm deployment. The binary needs Java JRE 8 or higher; Docker needs no additional dependency. For a MySQL backend, users must add mysql-connector-j-8.4.0.jar to the Proxy ext-lib directory. Support for system databases and tables such as information_schema and pg_catalog is limited, and some graphical database clients may show errors. The free plan costs 0.00 USD per free.

Who it is for

ShardingSphere-Proxy suits teams seeking a self-hosted proxy for database sharding, transaction handling or read/write splitting. It is also relevant to users needing migration, federation or encryption capabilities across supported database protocols.

What is good

Free plan costs 0.00 USD per free.
Supports binary, Docker and Helm deployment.
Includes sharding and distributed transaction capabilities.
Read balancing uses SQL semantics and database topology.
Supports migration and federated queries.

What to know first

Binary distribution requires Java JRE 8 or higher.
MySQL backends require adding a connector JAR.
System database and table support is limited.
Some graphical clients may show errors.

Verdict

ShardingSphere-Proxy combines database proxying with sharding, transaction, routing and migration features in a free self-hosted package. Check its runtime requirements and limited support for system databases before choosing a deployment.

ShardingSphere-Proxy plans and pricing

All plans

Apache ShardingSphere-Proxy Free Open-source binary distribution · Docker and Helm deployment shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026

Compared on database proxy software

Free plan: Yesshardingsphere.apache.org
Deployment model: self-hostedshardingsphere.apache.org
Connection pooling: Yesshardingsphere.apache.org
Query routing: Yesshardingsphere.apache.org
Load balancing: Yesshardingsphere.apache.org
Automatic failover: Yesshardingsphere.apache.org
Supported databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, openGauss, Firebirdshardingsphere.apache.org

Facts

Purpose: ShardingSphere-Proxy is a transparent database proxy that provides a database server using a binary protocol for heterogeneous programming languages.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Sharding: Data sharding distributes storage and computing across underlying databases to scale horizontally.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Distributed transactions: The project provides distributed transaction capabilities using a hybrid engine based on XA and BASE transactions.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Read/write splitting: Read/write splitting supports load balancing for reads based on SQL semantics and awareness of the underlying database topology.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Migration and federation: Features include data migration with sharding and federated queries across data sources.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Data protection: The encryption module is designed to provide transparent data encryption, and ShardingSphere also lists data masking as a feature area.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Supported protocols: The Proxy quick start says it theoretically supports client operations using MySQL, PostgreSQL, openGauss and Firebird protocols.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Deployment: ShardingSphere-Proxy is available as a binary distribution, Docker image and Helm deployment.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Runtime requirement: The binary distribution requires Java JRE 8 or higher, while running it with Docker requires no additional dependency.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
MySQL dependency: For a MySQL backend, the quick start instructs users to add mysql-connector-j-8.4.0.jar to the Proxy ext-lib directory.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Known limitation: Support for system databases and tables such as information_schema and pg_catalog is limited, and some graphical database clients may show errors.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026
Release integrity: The downloads page recommends verifying release files with GPG or SHA-512 signatures.shardingsphere.apache.org · 30 Sept 2026