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ClickHouse vs SingleStore

ClickHouse: Open-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows. SingleStore: Distributed SQL mixing in-memory rowstore and columnstore for real-time analytics, search and vectors.

key differences

  • ClickHouse is primarily a columnar / OLAP database; SingleStore is relational.
  • Licensing: ClickHouse is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); SingleStore is proprietary (Proprietary (free developer/standard licenses with limits)).
  • ClickHouse is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than SingleStore (≤ 1 PB).
  • Transactions: ClickHouse offers limited ACID; SingleStore offers full.
  • Only ClickHouse has materialized views, ttl / expiry.
  • Only SingleStore has transactions, change data capture, stored procedures, in-memory.
  • ClickHouse has a serverless option; SingleStore 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 singlestore for

  • +Real-time customer-facing analytics
  • +Fraud detection and risk scoring on streaming data
  • +Ad-tech and IoT ingestion with immediate querying
  • +Hybrid vector plus keyword search for RAG

best at · HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search

ClickHouseOpen-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows.
SingleStoreDistributed SQL mixing in-memory rowstore and columnstore for real-time analytics, search and vectors.
overview
Primary model
Columnar / OLAP
Relational
Also supports
Relational, Document, Vector, Time-Series
Columnar / OLAP, Document, Vector, Search Engine, Spatial
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
ClickHouse, Inc.
SingleStore, Inc.
First release
2016
2013
Latest version
26.10.2.103 (Oct 24, 2026)
9.0.44 (Sep 24, 2026)
License
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
ProprietaryProprietary (free developer/standard licenses with limits)
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
69.8
29.0
Rank
#10
#92
GitHub stars
50.6K
–
Stack Overflow questions
2.2K
403
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
Read replicas
ACID
Limited
Full
Consistency
Eventual
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage, Single node, Client server
Distributed, In memory, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
✓
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Aiven
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
SQL (ClickHouse dialect), PRQL, KQL (experimental)
SQL, MPSQL (stored procedures)
Client languages
Python, Go, Java, JavaScript, Rust, C++, C#
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C#, PHP, Rust
Best for
Real-time analytics, OLAP, Observability, Warehouse
HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search, Search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

ClickHouse vs SingleStore: FAQ

What is the difference between ClickHouse and SingleStore?

ClickHouse: Open-source columnar OLAP database known for very fast aggregations over billions of rows. SingleStore: Distributed SQL mixing in-memory rowstore and columnstore for real-time analytics, search and vectors. ClickHouse is primarily a columnar / OLAP database; SingleStore is relational. Licensing: ClickHouse is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0); SingleStore is proprietary (Proprietary (free developer/standard licenses with limits)). ClickHouse is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than SingleStore (≤ 1 PB).

When should I choose ClickHouse over SingleStore?

Choose ClickHouse for product and web analytics; log and observability backends; and real-time dashboards over event streams. Choose SingleStore for real-time customer-facing analytics; fraud detection and risk scoring on streaming data; and ad-tech and IoT ingestion with immediate querying.

Is ClickHouse or SingleStore more popular?

ClickHouse ranks #10 on the WhichDB Score (69.8/100) and SingleStore ranks #92 (29.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are ClickHouse and SingleStore open source?

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