1<!doctype html> 2<html lang="en"> 3 <head> 4 <title>PostgreSQL: About</title> 5 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no"> 6 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/xhtml; charset=utf-8" /> 7 8 <meta name="theme-color" content="#336791"/> 9 <meta name="copyright" content="The PostgreSQL Global Development Group" /> 10 <link href="/media/css/fontawesome.css?9b854858" rel="stylesheet"> 11 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/media/css/bootstrap-4.4.1.min.css"> 12 <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" /> 13 14 <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/dyncss/base.css?9b854858"> 15 16
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16 17 18 19 </head> 20 <body> 21 <div class="container-fluid"> 22 <div class="row justify-content-md-center"> 23 <div class="col"> 24 <!-- Header --> 25 <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-lg navbar-light bg-light"> 26 <a class="navbar-brand p-0" href="/"> 27 <img class="logo" src="/media/img/about/press/elephant.png" alt="PostgreSQL Elephant Logo"> 28 </a> 29 <input type="checkbox" id="navbar-toggler" aria-controls="pgNavbar" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation"> 30 <label for="navbar-toggler" id="navbar-toggler-label" class="navbar-toggler" tabindex="0"><span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span></label> 31 <div class="navbar-collapse" id="pgNavbar"> 32 <ul class="navbar-nav mr-auto"> 33 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/" title="Home">Home</a></li> 34 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/about/" title="About">About</a></li> 35 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/download/" title="Download">Download</a></li> 36 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/docs/" title="Documentation">Documentation</a></li> 37 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/community/" title="Community">Community</a></li> 38 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/developer/" title="Developers">Developers</a></li> 39 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/support/" title="Support">Support</a></li> 40 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/about/donate/" title="Donate">Donate</a></li> 41 <li class="nav-item p-2"><a href="/account/" title="Your account">Your account</a></li> 42 </ul> 43 <form role="search" method="get" action="/search/"> 44 <div class="input-group"> 45 <input id="q" name="q" type="text" size="20" maxlength="255" accesskey="s" class="form-control" placeholder="Search for..."> 46 <span class="input-group-btn"> 47 <button class="btn btn-default" type="submit"><i class="fas fa-search"></i></button> 48 </span> 49 </div><!-- /input-group --> 50 </form> 51 <form id="form-theme" class="form-inline d-none"> 52 <button id="btn-theme" class="btn btn-default ml-1" type="button"></button> 53 </form> 54 </div> 55 </nav> 56 </div> 57 </div> 58 <div class="row justify-content-center pg-shout-box"> 59 <div class="col text-white text-center">August 13, 2026: <a href="/about/news/postgresql-186-1711-1615-1519-1424-and-19-beta-3-released-3365/">PostgreSQL 18.6, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, 14.24 and 19 Beta 3 Released!</a> 60 61</div> 62 </div> 63 </div> 64 65<div class="container-fluid margin"> 66 <div class="row"> 67 <div class="col-lg-2"> 68 <div id="pgSideWrap"> 69 70 <div id="pgSideNav"> 71 <h2>Quick Links</h2> 72 73 <ul> 74 75 76 <li><a href="/about/">About</a> 77 78 79 80 </li> 81 <li><a href="/about/governance/">Governance</a> 82 83 84 85 </li> 86 <li><a href="/about/policies/">Policies</a> 87 88 89 90 </li> 91 <li><a href="/about/featurematrix/">Feature Matrix</a> 92 93 94 95 </li> 96 <li><a href="/about/donate/">Donate</a> 97 98 99 100 </li> 101 <li><a href="/docs/current/history.html">History</a> 102 103 104 105 </li> 106 <li><a href="/about/sponsors/">Sponsors</a> 107 108 <ul> 109 110 <li><a href="/about/contributing/">Contributing</a></li> 111 112 <li><a href="/about/financial/">Financial</a></li> 113 114 <li class="last-child"><a href="/about/servers/">Servers</a></li> 115 116 </ul> 117 118 119 120 </li> 121 <li><a href="/about/newsarchive/">Latest News</a> 122 123 124 125 </li> 126 <li><a href="/about/events/">Upcoming Events</a> 127 128 <ul> 129 130 <li class="last-child"><a href="/about/eventarchive/">Past events</a></li> 131 132 </ul> 133 134 135 136 </li> 137 <li><a href="/about/press/">Press</a> 138 139 140 141 </li> 142 <li class="last-child"><a href="/about/licence/">Licence</a> 143 144 145 </li> 146 147 148 </ul> 149 150 </div> 151 152 </div> <!-- pgSideWrap --> 153 </div> 154 <div class="col-lg-10"> 155 <div id="pgContentWrap"> 156 157 158<h1>About <img class="logo" src="/media/img/about/press/elephant.png" alt="PostgreSQL Elephant Logo" /></h1> 159 160<h2>What is PostgreSQL?</h2> 161<p>PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system that uses and extends the SQL language combined with many features that safely store and scale the most complicated data workloads. The origins of PostgreSQL date back to 1986 as part of the <a href="/docs/current/history.html">POSTGRES</a> project at the University of California at Berkeley and has nearly 40 years of active development on the core platform.</p> 162<p>PostgreSQL has earned a strong reputation for its proven architecture, reliability, data integrity, robust feature set, extensibility, and the dedication of the open source community behind the softw
162are to consistently deliver performant and innovative solutions. PostgreSQL runs on <a href="/download/">all major operating systems</a>, has been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACID" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ACID</a>-compliant since 2001, and has powerful add-ons such as the popular <a href="https://postgis.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PostGIS</a> geospatial database extender. It is no surprise that PostgreSQL has become the open source relational database of choice for many people and organisations.</p> 163<p><a href="/docs/current/tutorial.html">Getting started</a> with using PostgreSQL has never been easier - pick a project you want to build, and let PostgreSQL safely and robustly store your data.</p> 164 165<h2>Why use PostgreSQL?</h2> 166<p> 167 PostgreSQL comes with <a href="/about/featurematrix/">many features</a> aimed to help developers build applications, administrators to protect data integrity and build fault-tolerant environments, and help you manage your data no matter how big or small the dataset. In addition to being <a href="/about/license/">free and open source</a>, PostgreSQL is highly extensible. For example, you can define your own data types, build out custom functions, even write code from <a href="/docs/current/xplang.html">different programming languages</a> without recompiling your database! 168</p> 169<p>PostgreSQL tries to conform with the <a href="/docs/current/features.html">SQL standard</a> where such conformance does not contradict traditional features or could lead to poor architectural decisions. Many of the features required by the SQL standard are supported, though sometimes with slightly differing syntax or function. Further moves towards conformance can be expected over time. As of the version 18 release in September 2025, PostgreSQL conforms to at least 170 of the 177 mandatory features for SQL:2023 Core conformance. As of this writing, no relational database meets full conformance with this standard. 170</p> 171<p>Below is an inexhaustive list of various features found in PostgreSQL, with more being added in every <a href="/developer/roadmap/">major release</a>: 172</p> 173<ul> 174 <li> 175 <strong>Data Types</strong> 176 <ul> 177 <li>Primitives: Integer, Numeric, String, Boolean</li> 178 <li>Structured: Date/Time, Array, Range / Multirange, UUID</li> 179 <li>Document: JSON/JSONB, XML, Key-value (Hstore)</li> 180 <li>Geometry: Point, Line, Circle, Polygon</li> 181 <li>Customizations: Composite, Custom Types</li> 182 </ul> 183 </li> 184 <li> 185 <strong>Data Integrity</strong> 186 <ul> 187 <li>UNIQUE, NOT NULL</li> 188 <li>Primary Keys</li> 189 <li>Foreign Keys</li> 190 <li>Exclusion Constraints</li> 191 <li>Explicit Locks, Advisory Locks</li> 192 </ul> 193 </li> 194 <li> 195 <strong>Concurrency, Performance</strong> 196 <ul> 197 <li>Indexing: B-tree, Multicolumn, Expressions, Partial</li> 198 <li>Advanced Indexing: GiST, SP-Gist, KNN Gist, GIN, BRIN, Covering indexes, Bloom filters</li> 199 <li>Sophisticated query planner / optimizer, index-only scans, multicolumn statistics</li> 200 <li>Transactions, Nested Transactions (via savepoints)</li> 201 <li>Multi-Version concurrency Control (MVCC)</li> 202 <li>Parallelization of read queries and building B-tree indexes</li> 203 <li>Table partitioning</li> 204 <li>All transaction isolation levels defined in the SQL standard, including Serializable</li> 205 <li>Just-in-time (JIT) compilation of expressions</li> 206 <li>Asynchronous I/O (AIO)</li> 207 </ul> 208 </li> 209 <li> 210 <strong>Reliability, Disaster Recovery</strong> 211 <ul> 212 <li>Write-ahead Logging (WAL)</li> 213 <li>Replication: Asynchronous, Synchronous, Logical</li> 214 <li>Point-in-time-recovery (PITR), active standbys</li> 215 <li>Tablespaces</li> 216 </ul> 217 </li> 218 <li> 219 <strong>Security</strong> 220 <ul> 221 <li>Authentication: GSSAPI, SSPI, LDAP, SCRAM-SHA-256, Certificate, OAuth 2.0, and more</li> 222 <li>Robust access-control system</li> 223 <li>Column and row-level security</li> 224 <li>Multi-factor authentication with certificates and an additional method</li> 225 </ul> 226 </li> 227 <li> 228 <strong>Extensibility</strong> 229 <ul> 230 <li>Stored functions and procedures</li> 231 <li>Procedural Languages: PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python, and Tcl. There are other languages available through extensions, e.g. Java, JavaScript (V8), R, Lua, and Rust</li> 232 <li>SQL/JSON constructors, query functions, path expressions, and JSON_TABLE</li> 233 <li>Foreign data wrappers: connect to other databases or streams with a standard SQL interface</li> 234 <li>Customizable storage interface for tables</li> 235 <li>Many extensions that provide additional functionality, including PostGIS</li> 236 </ul> 237 </li> 238 <li> 239 <strong>Internationalisation, Text Search</strong> 240 <ul> 241 <li>Support for international character sets, e.g. through ICU collations</li> 242 <li>Case-insensitive and accent-insensitive collations</li> 243 <li>Full-text search</li> 244 </ul> 245 </li> 246</ul> 247<p>There are many more features that you can discover in the PostgreSQL <a href="/docs/">documentation</a>. Additionally, PostgreSQL is highly extensible: many features, such as indexes, have defined APIs so that you can build out with PostgreSQL to solve your challenges.</p> 248<p>PostgreSQL has been proven to be highly scalable both in the sheer quantity of data it can manage and in the number of concurrent users it can accommodate. There are active PostgreSQL clusters in production environments that manage many terabytes of data, and specialized systems that manage petabytes.</p> 249 250<h2>Any questions?</h2> 251<p> 252 The first place to go to for any questions on PostgreSQL is its <a href="/docs/">world-renowned documentation</a>, which discusses how to use PostgreSQL in-depth. 253</p> 254<p> 255 We also have many <strong><a href="/list/">mailing lists</a></strong> where you can connect and participate in the <a href="/community/">community</a>. There are also many <a href="/about/events/">events</a> and <a href="/community/user-groups/">local user groups</a> where you can connect with other PostgreSQL users. 256</p> 257 258<h2>Our users <i class="fa fa-heart"></i> us</h2> 259 260<div class="row">
261 <div class="col-md-8 col-center m-auto"> 262 <div id="myCarousel" class="carousel slide" data-ride="carousel"> 263 <!-- Carousel indicators --> 264 <ol class="carousel-indicators"> 265 <li data-target="#myCarousel" data-slide-to="0" class="active"></li> 266 <li data-target="#myCarousel" data-slide-to="1"></li> 267 <li data-target="#myCarousel" data-slide-to="2"></li> 268 </ol> 269 <!-- Wrapper for carousel items --> 270 <div class="carousel-inner"> 271 272 <div class="item carousel-item active"> 273 <p class="testimonial">Here in CAIXA bank we use Postgresql in mission-critical financial environments because - beyond being strategic for our business and Brazil - it has the quality to support our operations.</p> 274 <p class="overview">Clarice Coppetti, <a href="" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IT Vice President, CAIXA Bank, Brazil</a></p> 275 </div> 276 277 <div class="item carousel-item "> 278 <p class="testimonial">"Open source and free PostgreSQL has the speed, compatibility, SQL, and features as sophisticated as the number one commercial database."</p> 279 <p class="overview">Ferry Irawan, <a href="" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NewJavaSoft, Indonesia</a></p> 280 </div> 281 282 <div class="item carousel-item "> 283 <p class="testimonial">We handle 75-80% of the U.S. homeless management information systems requirements...and PostgreSQL has been a real asset to us.</p> 284 <p class="overview">Jonathon Sisson, <a href="" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Database Administrator, Bowman Systems LLC</a></p> 285 </div> 286 287 <div class="item carousel-item "> 288 <p class="testimonial">Centroy has been using PostgreSQL from the start. We wanted the scalability that would hold up to an intense peak workload, along with built in features such as clustering to introduce greater levels of protection across multiple geographic sites.</p> 289 <p class="overview">Andrew Homer, Founder, <a href="http://www.centroy.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centroy</a></p> 290 </div> 291 292 <div class="item carousel-item "> 293 <p class="testimonial">We have been heavily using PostgreSQL since 9.3 and are very excited about version 10 since it brings basis for long-awaited partitioning and built-in logical replication. It will allow us to use PostgreSQL in even more services,</p> 294 <p class="overview">Vladimir Borodin, <a href="https://www.yandex.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yandex</a></p> 295 </div> 296 297 </div> 298 <!-- Carousel controls --> 299 <a class="carousel-control left carousel-control-prev" href="#myCarousel" data-slide="prev"> 300 <i class="fa fa-angle-left"></i> 301 </a> 302 <a class="carousel-control right carousel-control-next" href="#myCarousel" data-slide="next"> 303 <i class="fa fa-angle-right"></i> 304 </a> 305 </div> 306 </div> 307</div> 308 309<h2>What's a database project without statistics?</h2> 310<div class="container-fluid"> 311 <div class="row"> 312 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 313 <h3>35+ Years Development</h3> 314 </div> 315 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 316 <h3>725+ Contributors</h3> 317 </div> 318 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 319 <h3>61,000+ Commits</h3> 320 </div> 321 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 322 <h3>70+ Local User Groups</h3> 323 </div> 324 </div> 325 <div class="row"> 326 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 327 <h3>1,780,000+ Lines of C</h3> 328 </div> 329 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 330 <h3>720+ Events</h3> 331 </div> 332 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 333 <h3>Millions of Happy Users</h3> 334 </div> 335 <div class="col-sm-3 feature-grid"> 336 <h3>∞ Data Stored</h3> 337 </div> 338 </div> 339</div> 340 341 </div> <!-- pgContentWrap --> 342 </div> 343 </div> 344</div> 345 346 <!-- Footer --> 347 <footer id="footer"> 348 <!-- Copyright --> 349 <div class="container"> 350 <a href="/about/policies/">Policies</a> | 351 <a href="/about/policies/coc/">Code of Conduct</a> | 352 <a href="/about/">About PostgreSQL</a> | 353 <a href="/about/contact/">Contact</a><br/> 354 <p>
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