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Firebolt vs StarRocks

Firebolt: Low-latency analytical database with a Postgres-compliant dialect, as cloud service or self-hosted Core. StarRocks: MPP OLAP database with a fast vectorized engine, real-time upserts and native lakehouse queries.

key differences

  • Licensing: Firebolt is source-available (Elastic License 2.0 (Firebolt Core); open-source release in preview); StarRocks is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • Transactions: Firebolt offers full ACID; StarRocks offers limited.
  • Only Firebolt has encryption at rest.
  • Only StarRocks has secondary indexes, full-text search, vector search, ttl / expiry, online schema changes.

choose firebolt for

  • +Customer-facing analytics in SaaS products
  • +High-concurrency dashboards
  • +Serving data to AI agents
  • +Self-hosted analytics on Kubernetes

best at · OLAP, Real-time analytics, Warehouse

choose starrocks for

  • +Real-time dashboards with joins
  • +Lakehouse query acceleration over Iceberg
  • +Customer-facing analytics
  • +Replacing pre-aggregated cubes

best at · Real-time analytics, OLAP, Lakehouse

FireboltLow-latency analytical database with a Postgres-compliant dialect, as cloud service or self-hosted Core.
StarRocksMPP OLAP database with a fast vectorized engine, real-time upserts and native lakehouse queries.
overview
Primary model
Columnar / OLAP
Columnar / OLAP
Also supports
Relational, Document
Relational, Document, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Firebolt Analytics
StarRocks (Linux Foundation; CelerData)
First release
2020
2020
Latest version
–
4.1.3 (Sep 17, 2026)
License
Source-availableElastic License 2.0 (Firebolt Core); open-source release in preview
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
7.8
15.6
Rank
#334
#210
GitHub stars
256
12.2K
Stack Overflow questions
–
11
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, Shared storage, Single node
Distributed, Shared storage
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS
–
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 (PostgreSQL-compliant dialect)
SQL (MySQL dialect)
Client languages
Python, JavaScript, Java, Go, .NET
Java, Python, Go, JavaScript, C++
Best for
OLAP, Real-time analytics, Warehouse, Lakehouse
Real-time analytics, OLAP, Lakehouse, Warehouse
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Firebolt vs StarRocks: FAQ

What is the difference between Firebolt and StarRocks?

Firebolt: Low-latency analytical database with a Postgres-compliant dialect, as cloud service or self-hosted Core. StarRocks: MPP OLAP database with a fast vectorized engine, real-time upserts and native lakehouse queries. Licensing: Firebolt is source-available (Elastic License 2.0 (Firebolt Core); open-source release in preview); StarRocks is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). Transactions: Firebolt offers full ACID; StarRocks offers limited. Only Firebolt has encryption at rest.

When should I choose Firebolt over StarRocks?

Choose Firebolt for customer-facing analytics in SaaS products, high-concurrency dashboards and serving data to AI agents. Choose StarRocks for real-time dashboards with joins, lakehouse query acceleration over Iceberg and customer-facing analytics.

Is Firebolt or StarRocks more popular?

StarRocks ranks #210 on the WhichDB Score (15.6/100) and Firebolt ranks #334 (7.8/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Firebolt and StarRocks open source?

Not in the OSI sense. Firebolt is source-available: you can read the code, but the license restricts some uses, typically offering it as a competing managed service. License: Elastic License 2.0 (Firebolt Core); open-source release in preview. Yes. StarRocks is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.