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SingleStore vs StarRocks

SingleStore: Distributed SQL mixing in-memory rowstore and columnstore for real-time analytics, search and vectors. StarRocks: MPP OLAP database with a fast vectorized engine, real-time upserts and native lakehouse queries.

key differences

  • SingleStore is primarily a relational database; StarRocks is columnar / OLAP.
  • Licensing: SingleStore is proprietary (Proprietary (free developer/standard licenses with limits)); StarRocks is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • Transactions: SingleStore offers full ACID; StarRocks offers limited.
  • Only SingleStore has transactions, geospatial, change data capture, stored procedures, in-memory.
  • Only StarRocks has materialized views, ttl / expiry.

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

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

SingleStoreDistributed SQL mixing in-memory rowstore and columnstore for real-time analytics, search and vectors.
StarRocksMPP OLAP database with a fast vectorized engine, real-time upserts and native lakehouse queries.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Columnar / OLAP
Also supports
Columnar / OLAP, Document, Vector, Search Engine, Spatial
Relational, Document, Vector
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
SingleStore, Inc.
StarRocks (Linux Foundation; CelerData)
First release
2013
2020
Latest version
9.0.44 (Sep 24, 2026)
4.1.3 (Sep 17, 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary (free developer/standard licenses with limits)
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
29.0
15.6
Rank
#92
#210
GitHub stars
–
12.2K
Stack Overflow questions
403
11
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
Read replicas
None
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Distributed, In memory, Client server
Distributed, Shared storage
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
SQL, MPSQL (stored procedures)
SQL (MySQL dialect)
Client languages
Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, C#, PHP, Rust
Java, Python, Go, JavaScript, C++
Best for
HTAP, Real-time analytics, Vector search, Search
Real-time analytics, OLAP, Lakehouse, Warehouse
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

SingleStore vs StarRocks: FAQ

What is the difference between SingleStore and StarRocks?

SingleStore: Distributed SQL mixing in-memory rowstore and columnstore for real-time analytics, search and vectors. StarRocks: MPP OLAP database with a fast vectorized engine, real-time upserts and native lakehouse queries. SingleStore is primarily a relational database; StarRocks is columnar / OLAP. Licensing: SingleStore is proprietary (Proprietary (free developer/standard licenses with limits)); StarRocks is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). Transactions: SingleStore offers full ACID; StarRocks offers limited.

When should I choose SingleStore over StarRocks?

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. Choose StarRocks for real-time dashboards with joins, lakehouse query acceleration over Iceberg and customer-facing analytics.

Is SingleStore or StarRocks more popular?

SingleStore ranks #92 on the WhichDB Score (29.0/100) and StarRocks ranks #210 (15.6/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are SingleStore and StarRocks open source?

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