TiCDC
TiCDC is a free, open-source, self-hosted tool for sending incremental data changes from TiDB to other systems.
What TiCDC is
TiCDC is a free, open-source, self-hosted tool for sending incremental data changes from TiDB to other systems. It captures TiKV change logs, orders the changes, and exports row-based data. Destinations include TiDB, MySQL-compatible databases, Kafka, Amazon S3, GCS, Azure Blob Storage, and NFS. For Kafka, recommended formats include Canal-JSON, Avro, and Debezium. Filters can limit replication by database, table, DML, or DDL, and the Open API can check task status, change configurations, and create or remove tasks. TiCDC can replicate between TiDB clusters for disaster recovery, with second-level RPO and minute-level RTO, and supports bidirectional replication for multi-active setups. It can run alongside a new cluster or be added to an existing one; production guidance recommends at least two instances. The system supports dynamic node changes and has no single point of failure. Delivery is at least once, so repeated statements or Kafka messages can occur after failures.
Good
- Free and open source.
- Supports multiple database and storage destinations.
- Can filter databases, tables, DMLs, and DDLs.
- Supports bidirectional cluster replication.
- Nodes can be added or removed dynamically.
Watch out
- Delivery is at least once, so repeats can occur.
- Generally requires a valid table index.
- Extremely large transactions can pose out-of-memory risk.
Who it suits
TiCDC suits teams operating TiDB that need change-data feeds, cluster replication, or downstream data for monitoring, caching, indexing, and analysis. It is self-hosted and supports API and Linux environments.
Verdict
TiCDC offers TiDB change replication to a range of downstream systems, with filtering and cluster-level replication options. Teams should account for at-least-once delivery and the listed unsupported or partially supported cases.
Plans and prices
From TiCDC's own pricing page, checked 2 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| TiCDC (open-source) | Free | No paid plans or usage caps stated on the TiCDC pages opened |
The facts
Each one read from TiCDC's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- API limitation
- TiCDC OpenAPI v1 is deprecated, and its task-creation parameters are less complete than the CLI parameters; the documentation recommends OpenAPI v2.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Availability
- TiCDC has no single point of failure and supports dynamically adding and deleting TiCDC nodes.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Bidirectional replication
- TiCDC can replicate changes in both directions between TiDB clusters for multi-active deployments.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Build requirements
- The repository documents compiling TiCDC on Linux or macOS with Go 1.25.12 using make cdc.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Compatibility requirement
- The new architecture requires TiDB 7.5.0 or later.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Delivery semantics
- TiCDC outputs each DDL or DML at least once, so failures can cause repeated statements or Kafka messages.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- TiCDC can be deployed with a new TiDB cluster or added to an existing cluster using TiUP.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Deployment and scale
- TiCDC can be deployed with a new TiDB cluster or added to an existing cluster, and the deployment documentation recommends at least two instances in production.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Disaster recovery
- TiCDC supports primary-secondary TiDB replication with second-level recovery-point objectives and minute-level recovery-time objectives.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- The TiCDC documentation includes deployment, changefeeds, monitoring, alerting, troubleshooting, performance tuning, integration scenarios, APIs, compatibility, FAQs, and a glossary.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Download targets
- Published binaries cover Linux amd64 and arm64 plus macOS amd64 and arm64.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Downstream sinks
- TiCDC can replicate to TiDB, MySQL-compatible databases, Kafka, Amazon S3, GCS, Azure Blob Storage, and NFS.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Filtering
- Replication rules can filter databases, tables, DML events, and DDL events.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Filtering and management
- TiCDC can filter databases, tables, DMLs, and DDLs, and its Open API can query task status, modify task configuration, and create or delete tasks.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Funding news
- PingCAP announced a $270 million Series D round on November 17, 2020, led jointly by GGV Capital, Access Technology Ventures, Anatole Investment, Jeneration Capital, and 5Y Capital.checked 21 Oct 2026
- High availability
- TiCDC has no single point of failure and supports dynamically adding or deleting TiCDC nodes.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Index requirement
- TiCDC generally replicates only tables with at least one valid index, though the force-replicate option can replicate tables without one.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- Documented use cases include disaster recovery, real-time data feeds for monitoring, caching, indexing and analysis, and replication between heterogeneous databases.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Kafka formats
- Recommended Kafka data formats include Canal-JSON, Avro, and Debezium.checked 2 Oct 2026
- Kafka integration
- TiCDC publishes changes to Kafka using Canal-JSON, Avro, Debezium, Open Protocol, or Simple formats.checked 21 Oct 2026
The company
- Company founding
- LinkedIn states that the TiDB organization was founded in 2015 by three software engineers.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Company size
- LinkedIn lists TiDB powered by PingCAP as having 501–1,000 employees and headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.checked 21 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2015checked 28 Sep 2026
- Headquarters
- Sunnyvale, California, USAchecked 28 Sep 2026
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