Comparison of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server vs Hibernate with H2 embedded

Each of the following tables focuses on a specific database operation, where the last table presents average results comparison.

Speed comparison of JPA database persistence operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	5.2	18.1	4.8	9.0	5.0	13.5
Element Collection Test	2.8	13.0	2.2	6.8	2.5	9.9
Inheritance Test	4.6	21.0	3.2	9.4	3.9	15.2
Indexing Test	7.4	29.9	6.9	18.4	7.1	24.1
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.98	17.2	0.81	20.1	0.89	18.7
Multithreading Test	23.4	36.9	9.1	11.5	16.2	24.2
All Tests	7.4	22.6	4.5	12.5	5.9	17.6

The results above show that in general Hibernate with H2 embedded is more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in persisting JPA entity objects to the database. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (5.9) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (17.6) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 3.0 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with large transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.81) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (20.1) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 24.8 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

Speed comparison of JPA database retrieval operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	5.8	16.6	16.1	13.3	10.9	15.0
Element Collection Test	0.013	4.3	8.7	4.0	4.4	4.1
Inheritance Test	5.2	10.4	17.6	17.5	11.4	13.9
Indexing Test	4.8	10.8	18.7	15.2	11.8	13.0
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.27	2.5	0.35	4.0	0.31	3.3
Multithreading Test	11.9	16.2	23.3	15.7	17.6	15.9
All Tests	4.7	10.1	14.1	11.6	9.4	10.9

The results above show that in general Hibernate with H2 embedded is slightly more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in retrieving JPA entity objects from the database.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.013) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (4.3) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 331 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

On the other hand, Hibernate with H2 embedded is slower, for instance, when using JPA element collections with large retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (4.0) to the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (8.7) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 2.2 times slower than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

Speed comparison of JPA database query operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Retrieval Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	failed	4.5	failed	1.2	failed	2.8
Element Collection Test	failed	4.4	failed	1.4	failed	2.9
Inheritance Test	failed	3.1	failed	1.5	failed	2.3
Indexing Test	failed	6.6	failed	10.5	failed	8.6
Multithreading Test	failed	1.2	failed	0.59	failed	0.89
All Tests	failed	4.0	failed	3.0	failed	3.5

OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server has failed in 10 tests (see exceptions).

Speed comparison of JPA database update operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	4.9	12.1	3.9	6.5	4.4	9.3
Element Collection Test	0.033	7.4	4.6	5.3	2.3	6.3
Inheritance Test	4.8	10.8	4.9	8.5	4.9	9.6
Indexing Test	5.1	10.0	6.0	7.5	5.6	8.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.57	4.4	0.31	2.3	0.44	3.4
Multithreading Test	22.2	16.2	7.4	4.0	14.8	10.1
All Tests	6.3	10.1	4.5	5.7	5.4	7.9

The results above show that in general Hibernate with H2 embedded is more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in updating JPA entity objects in the database.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.033) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (7.4) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 224 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

Speed comparison of JPA database removal operations (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction Size =>	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	4.6	19.7	5.3	11.4	5.0	15.5
Element Collection Test	0.032	6.9	2.8	4.5	1.4	5.7
Inheritance Test	4.3	15.6	4.6	12.9	4.4	14.2
Indexing Test	8.0	23.2	7.1	12.4	7.5	17.8
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.53	4.0	0.55	4.2	0.54	4.1
Multithreading Test	17.4	27.4	9.1	22.7	13.3	25.0
All Tests	5.8	16.1	4.9	11.4	5.4	13.7

The results above show that in general Hibernate with H2 embedded is more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in deleting JPA entity objects from the database. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (5.4) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (13.7) reveals that in these tests, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 2.5 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using JPA element collections with small transaction size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.032) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (6.9) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 216 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

Comparison of JPA/Database speed - the averages (normalized score, higher is better)

Transaction/Retrieval Size	Few Entities		Many Entities		Average Score
	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded	OpenJPA PostgreSQL server	Hibernate H2 embedded
Basic Person Test	5.1	14.2	7.5	8.3	6.3	11.2
Element Collection Test	0.72	7.2	4.6	4.4	2.6	5.8
Inheritance Test	4.7	12.2	7.6	9.9	6.2	11.0
Indexing Test	6.3	16.1	9.7	12.8	8.0	14.5
Graph (Binary Tree) Test	0.59	7.0	0.50	7.7	0.55	7.3
Multithreading Test	18.7	19.6	12.2	10.9	15.5	15.2
All Tests	6.0	12.9	7.0	9.0	6.5	11.0

The results above show that in general Hibernate with H2 embedded is more efficient than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server in performing JPA database operations.

A huge performance gap has been detected when using graphs of objects with large transaction/retrieval size. Comparing the normalized speed of OpenJPA with PostgreSQL database server (0.50) to the normalized speed of Hibernate with H2 embedded database (7.7) reveals that in that case, Hibernate with H2 embedded is 15.4 times faster than OpenJPA with PostgreSQL server.

JPA Performance Benchmark (JPAB)