vs

Apache Hive vs Presto

Apache Hive: The original SQL-on-Hadoop warehouse, now mostly valued for its Metastore and Iceberg support. Presto: Distributed SQL query engine from Meta for interactive queries over data lakes and many sources.

key differences

  • Only Apache Hive has transactions, materialized views, columnar storage, durable persistence, compression.
  • Only Presto has geospatial.

choose apache-hive for

  • +Existing Hadoop data warehouses
  • +Shared Metastore catalog for lakehouse engines
  • +Large overnight batch SQL

best at · Warehouse, OLAP, Lakehouse

choose presto for

  • +Interactive SQL on data lakes
  • +Federated queries across sources
  • +Lakehouse analytics on Iceberg/Hudi

best at · OLAP, Lakehouse, Warehouse

overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
Columnar / OLAP
Columnar / OLAP
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Apache Software Foundation
Presto Foundation (Linux Foundation)
First release
2010
2013
Latest version
4.2.1 (Aug 24, 2026)
0.299 (Aug 28, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
30.1
37.7
Rank
#87
#53
GitHub stars
6K
16.8K
Stack Overflow questions
21.7K
3.2K
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
Limited
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Client server
Distributed, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
–
capabilities
Transactions
✓
—
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
—
—
Full-text search
—
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
✓
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
—
—
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
—
—
Materialized views
✓
—
TTL / expiry
—
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
✓
—
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
—
Compression
✓
—
Encryption at rest
—
—
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
✓
✓
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
—
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
HiveQL
SQL (ANSI)
Client languages
Java, Python, Go, JavaScript
Java, Python, Go, JavaScript, C++
Best for
Warehouse, OLAP, Lakehouse, Metadata
OLAP, Lakehouse, Warehouse

Apache Hive vs Presto: FAQ

What is the difference between Apache Hive and Presto?

Apache Hive: The original SQL-on-Hadoop warehouse, now mostly valued for its Metastore and Iceberg support. Presto: Distributed SQL query engine from Meta for interactive queries over data lakes and many sources. Only Apache Hive has transactions, materialized views, columnar storage, durable persistence, compression. Only Presto has geospatial.

When should I choose Apache Hive over Presto?

Choose Apache Hive for existing Hadoop data warehouses, shared Metastore catalog for lakehouse engines and large overnight batch SQL. Choose Presto for interactive SQL on data lakes, federated queries across sources and lakehouse analytics on Iceberg/Hudi.

Is Apache Hive or Presto more popular?

Presto ranks #53 on the WhichDB Score (37.7/100) and Apache Hive ranks #87 (30.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Apache Hive and Presto open source?

Yes. Apache Hive is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. Yes. Presto is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.