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PgDoorman
What it is
PgDoorman is a free, open-source, self-hosted connection pooler for PostgreSQL 10 and newer. Written in Rust, it is described as a drop-in replacement for PgBouncer and Odyssey and runs on Linux or macOS. The software pools connections, balances load, and can fail over automatically, but it does not provide query routing. It caches anonymous Parse messages so pooled clients can reuse prepared backend state without application changes. A coordinator enforces per-database connection caps and can close idle connections from pools with spare capacity. With Patroni assistance, new connections can move to another live cluster member during a switchover. Monitoring includes a Prometheus endpoint and an optional local diagnostic console covering pool, latency, error, query, log, CPU, and memory information. Authentication options include MD5 or SCRAM passthrough, auth_query, PAM, JWT, Talos JWT, and pg_hba.conf rules. TLS supports client and backend connections. Installation is available from source, packages, or prebuilt binaries; Docker is intended for development, CI, and demos.
For and against
For
- Free and open source
- Supports PostgreSQL 10 and newer
- Automatic failover with Patroni assistance
- Prometheus metrics endpoint
- Caches prepared Parse messages
Against
- Query routing is not supported
- Several authentication methods are unsupported
- Docker is not intended for production
- Source builds require Rust 1.87 or newer
The verdict
PgDoorman offers a focused PostgreSQL pooler with coordination, monitoring, and failover functions. Its self-hosted deployment and unsupported security methods should be reviewed against your environment.
Who it suits
PgDoorman fits teams managing PostgreSQL themselves on Linux or macOS, especially where pooling, load balancing, and failover are needed. PostgreSQL 10+ and the listed authentication limits shape compatibility.
Plans and prices
PgDoorman
No paid plans or usage limits stated
Read 8 Oct 2026 · ozontech.github.io
On the record
- Authentication
- Documented authentication methods include MD5 or SCRAM passthrough, auth_query, PAM, JWT, Talos JWT, and pg_hba.conf access rules.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Credential handling
- In passthrough mode, the client’s MD5 hash or SCRAM ClientKey is reused for PostgreSQL authentication, so plaintext passwords are not needed in the configuration.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- PgDoorman can be built from source, installed from distribution packages, or downloaded as a prebuilt binary; Docker is intended for development, CI, and demos rather than production.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- High availability
- Patroni-assisted fallback can direct new backend connections to another live cluster member when the local PostgreSQL server disappears during a switchover.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Monitoring
- PgDoorman includes a Prometheus metrics endpoint and an optional local web diagnostic console for pool, latency, error, query, log, CPU, and memory information.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Pool coordination
- Its pool coordinator enforces a per-database connection cap and can redistribute capacity by closing idle connections from pools with spare capacity.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Prepared statements
- PgDoorman caches anonymous Parse messages so clients in a pool can reuse prepared backend state without application changes.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Production use
- The project says it has been in production at Ozon for three years with Go, .NET, Python, and Node.js workloads.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Requirements
- The installation guide requires PostgreSQL 10 or newer and Rust 1.87 or newer when building from source.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- Security limits
- LDAP, Kerberos GSSAPI, certificate-based authentication, and SCRAM channel binding are listed as unsupported.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- TLS
- TLS can be configured for client and backend connections, while seamless migration of TLS sessions during binary upgrades requires a Linux build with the tls-migration feature.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
- What it does
- PgDoorman is a multithreaded PostgreSQL connection pooler written in Rust and described as a drop-in replacement for PgBouncer and Odyssey.ozontech.github.io · read 8 Oct 2026
