whichdb
vs

ClickHouse vs DuckDB

ClickHouse: Open-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows. DuckDB: In-process columnar SQL database: the SQLite of analytics, running inside your app or notebook.

key differences

  • ClickHouse is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than DuckDB (≤ 10 TB).
  • Horizontal scaling is native in ClickHouse and none in DuckDB.
  • Transactions: ClickHouse offers limited ACID; DuckDB offers full.
  • Only ClickHouse has materialized views, ttl / expiry, role-based access, online schema changes, streaming ingest.
  • Only DuckDB has transactions, in-memory, runs in webassembly.
  • ClickHouse has a serverless option; DuckDB does not.
  • DuckDB can run embedded in your application process.

choose clickhouse for

  • +Product and web analytics
  • +Log and observability backends
  • +Real-time dashboards over event streams
  • +Time-series and IoT metrics at scale

best at · Real-time analytics, OLAP, Observability

choose duckdb for

  • +Local data analysis in notebooks
  • +ETL and data-engineering pipelines on files
  • +Embedded analytics inside applications
  • +Querying data lakes on S3 without a cluster

best at · OLAP, Embedded, Lakehouse

ClickHouseOpen-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows.
DuckDBIn-process columnar SQL database: the SQLite of analytics, running inside your app or notebook.
overview
Primary model
Columnar / OLAP
Columnar / OLAP
Also supports
Relational, Document, Vector, Time-Series
Relational, Document, Spatial, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
ClickHouse, Inc.
DuckDB Foundation / DuckDB Labs
First release
2016
2019
Latest version
26.10.2.103 (Oct 24, 2026)
2.0.0 (Oct 21, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Open source (permissive)MIT License
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
69.8
63.7
Rank
#10
#13
GitHub stars
50.6K
42.6K
Stack Overflow questions
2.2K
501
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
None
Multi-region
Read replicas
None
ACID
Limited
Full
Consistency
Eventual
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage, Single node, Client server
Embedded, Single node, In memory
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
✓
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Aiven
–
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
SQL (ClickHouse dialect), PRQL, KQL (experimental)
SQL (PostgreSQL-like dialect)
Client languages
Python, Go, Java, JavaScript, Rust, C++, C#
Python, R, Java, JavaScript, Go, Rust, C, Swift
Best for
Real-time analytics, OLAP, Observability, Warehouse
OLAP, Embedded, Lakehouse, Warehouse
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

ClickHouse vs DuckDB: FAQ

What is the difference between ClickHouse and DuckDB?

ClickHouse: Open-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows. DuckDB: In-process columnar SQL database: the SQLite of analytics, running inside your app or notebook. ClickHouse is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than DuckDB (≤ 10 TB). Horizontal scaling is native in ClickHouse and none in DuckDB. Transactions: ClickHouse offers limited ACID; DuckDB offers full.

When should I choose ClickHouse over DuckDB?

Choose ClickHouse for product and web analytics; log and observability backends; and real-time dashboards over event streams. Choose DuckDB for local data analysis in notebooks; ETL and data-engineering pipelines on files; and embedded analytics inside applications.

Is ClickHouse or DuckDB more popular?

ClickHouse ranks #10 on the WhichDB Score (69.8/100) and DuckDB ranks #13 (63.7/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are ClickHouse and DuckDB open source?

Yes. ClickHouse is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. Yes. DuckDB is open source. License: MIT License.