ClickHouse vs DuckDB
ClickHouse
Column-oriented OLAP database for real-time analytics
DuckDB
In-process analytical database (SQLite for analytics)
| Feature | ClickHouse | DuckDB |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Databases | Databases |
| Sub-category | Analytics DB | Analytics DB |
| Maturity | mature | stable |
| Complexity | advanced | beginner |
| Performance tier | medium | medium |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| License type | permissive | permissive |
| Pricing | fully free | fully free |
| GitHub stars | 40.0K | 28.0K |
| Contributors | 1.0K | 300 |
| Commit frequency | weekly | weekly |
| Plugin ecosystem | none | none |
| Docs quality | good | good |
| Backing org | ClickHouse Inc | DuckDB Foundation |
| Funding model | vc_backed | foundation |
| Min RAM | 4 GB | 256 MB |
| Min CPU cores | 4 | 1 |
| Scaling pattern | distributed | single_node |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| K8s native | No | No |
| Offline capable | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor lock-in | none | none |
| Languages | C++ | C++ |
| API type | REST | REST |
| Protocols | HTTP | HTTP |
| Deployment | docker, apt, binary | docker, apt, binary |
| SDK languages | — | — |
| Team size fit | solo, small, medium, enterprise | solo, small, medium, enterprise |
| First release | 2020 | 2020 |
| Latest version | — | — |
When to use ClickHouse
- ✓ Primary use: real-time-dashboards
- ✓ Primary use: log-analytics
- ✓ Primary use: time-series-analytics
When to use DuckDB
- ✓ Primary use: local-analytics
- ✓ Primary use: data-science
- ✓ Primary use: etl