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ClickHouse vs InMemory.Net

ClickHouse: Open-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows. InMemory.Net: Commercial in-memory columnar SQL engine for .NET that speeds up reporting over hundreds of millions of rows.

key differences

  • Licensing: ClickHouse is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); InMemory.Net is proprietary (Proprietary (per-server, SaaS and OEM licenses)).
  • ClickHouse is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than InMemory.Net (≤ 100 GB).
  • Horizontal scaling is native in ClickHouse and none in InMemory.Net.
  • Transactions: ClickHouse offers limited ACID; InMemory.Net offers none.
  • Only ClickHouse has secondary indexes, full-text search, vector search, geospatial, json.
  • Only InMemory.Net has in-memory.
  • ClickHouse has a serverless option; InMemory.Net does not.

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 inmemory-net for

  • +Accelerating slow SQL Server or ODBC-backed reports
  • +Embedded analytics inside .NET line-of-business applications
  • +Interactive dashboards over tens of millions of rows on a desktop

best at · OLAP, Real-time analytics

ClickHouseOpen-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows.
InMemory.NetCommercial in-memory columnar SQL engine for .NET that speeds up reporting over hundreds of millions of rows.
overview
Primary model
Columnar / OLAP
Columnar / OLAP
Also supports
Relational, Document, Vector, Time-Series
Relational
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
ClickHouse, Inc.
InMemory.Net (Cork, Ireland)
First release
2016
2014
Latest version
26.10.2.103 (Oct 24, 2026)
–
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
ProprietaryProprietary (per-server, SaaS and OEM licenses)
Free tier
✓
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
69.8
0.2
Rank
#10
#668
GitHub stars
50.6K
–
Stack Overflow questions
2.2K
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
None
Multi-region
Read replicas
None
ACID
Limited
None
Consistency
Eventual
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage, Single node, Client server
In memory, Client server, Single node
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, LINQ
Client languages
Python, Go, Java, JavaScript, Rust, C++, C#
C#
Best for
Real-time analytics, OLAP, Observability, Warehouse
OLAP, Real-time analytics
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

ClickHouse vs InMemory.Net: FAQ

What is the difference between ClickHouse and InMemory.Net?

ClickHouse: Open-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows. InMemory.Net: Commercial in-memory columnar SQL engine for .NET that speeds up reporting over hundreds of millions of rows. Licensing: ClickHouse is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); InMemory.Net is proprietary (Proprietary (per-server, SaaS and OEM licenses)). ClickHouse is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than InMemory.Net (≤ 100 GB). Horizontal scaling is native in ClickHouse and none in InMemory.Net.

When should I choose ClickHouse over InMemory.Net?

Choose ClickHouse for product and web analytics; log and observability backends; and real-time dashboards over event streams. Choose InMemory.Net for accelerating slow SQL Server or ODBC-backed reports, embedded analytics inside .NET line-of-business applications and interactive dashboards over tens of millions of rows on a desktop.

Is ClickHouse or InMemory.Net more popular?

ClickHouse ranks #10 on the WhichDB Score (69.8/100) and InMemory.Net ranks #668 (0.2/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are ClickHouse and InMemory.Net open source?

Yes. ClickHouse is open source. License: Apache License 2.0. No. InMemory.Net is proprietary, closed-source software.