vioscaleAI
Comparison

Apache Iceberg vs DuckDB

No clear leader: Apache Iceberg (59.5) and DuckDB (59.1) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Apache Iceberg full profile →DuckDB full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Apache Iceberg60
DuckDB59
Score
vioscaleAI score
Apache Iceberg60 / 100medium · 56%
DuckDB59 / 100medium · 51%
Pricing
Free tier
Apache Iceberg–
DuckDB✓
Model
Apache Icebergopen_source
DuckDBopen_source
Price level
Apache Icebergfree
DuckDBfree
Transparent
Apache Iceberg–
DuckDB✓
Integrations
Count
Apache Iceberg20
DuckDB27
Security
Disclosure policy
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB–
Scorecard
Apache Iceberg7.9
DuckDB–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Apache Iceberg1
DuckDB1
Github stars
Apache Iceberg9,326
DuckDB42,154
Package downloads weekly
Apache Iceberg6,665,583
DuckDB15,285,415
Activity
Commits last 30d
Apache Iceberg100
DuckDB100
Release
Cadence days
Apache Iceberg50
DuckDB33
History
Apache Iceberg20 items
DuckDB20 items
License
Spdx
Apache IcebergApache-2.0
DuckDBMIT
Language
Primary
Apache IcebergJava
DuckDBC++
Market
Availability
Apache Iceberg–
DuckDBAvailable worldwide · HQ NL
Content
Faq
Apache Iceberg5 items
DuckDB7 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for data warehouse software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Deployment
Deployment
Apache IcebergEmbedded
DuckDBEmbedded
Architecture
Architecture
Apache Iceberg-
DuckDB-
Compute model
Apache Iceberg-
DuckDB-
Query
SQL dialect
Apache Iceberg-
DuckDBVendor-specific
Federation / lakehouse query-in-place
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB✓
Interoperability
Table-format support
Apache IcebergIceberg (Parquet, ORC, Avro, Puffin data files)
DuckDBParquet, CSV, JSON, Iceberg, Delta Lake, Vortex, DuckLake, Lance, Arrow, Avro, E
Scale
Concurrency scaling
Apache IcebergAutomatic
DuckDB-
Ingestion
Streaming ingest
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB-
Data model
Semi-structured (JSON/VARIANT)
Apache IcebergFirst-class
DuckDBFunctional
Analytics
ML / in-DB functions
Apache Iceberg-
DuckDB✓
Sharing
Data sharing / marketplace
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB-
Licensing
Licence class
Apache IcebergPermissive OSS
DuckDBPermissive OSS

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Apache Iceberg

A table format that brings SQL capabilities to large-scale analytical datasets and enables multiple computing engines to safely and concurrently query and modify the same tables.

Independently observed

DuckDB

A portable analytical database that runs locally or embedded in applications, with PostgreSQL-like SQL and APIs for major programming languages, supporting popular data formats including CSV, JSON, Parquet, and Apache Iceberg.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Apache Iceberg

Open source

Open source, no licensing cost

as of verify ↗

DuckDB

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open source under MIT license

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
macOS
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB✓
Windows
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB✓
Linux
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB✓
CLI
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB✓
Deployment
Self-hosted
Apache Iceberg✓
DuckDB✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (4)
  • Pandas
  • S3
  • Avro
  • Parquet

Apache Iceberg

23 total - 19 not shared
  • Spark
  • Trino
  • Presto
  • Flink
  • Hive
  • Impala
  • PyArrow
  • DuckDB
  • Polars
  • Ray
  • Datafusion
  • BigQuery
  • SQLAlchemy
  • GCS
  • Azure Data Lake Storage
  • Hadoop
  • Kerberos
  • Thrift
  • ORC
Independently observed

DuckDB

30 total - 26 not shared
  • Postgres
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Hugging Face
  • SQLite
  • MySQL
  • Iceberg
  • Delta Lake
  • JSON
  • Arrow
  • dplyr
  • Jupyter
  • Marimo
  • Claude
  • Cloudflare
  • ODBC
  • HTTP
  • Excel
  • Vortex
  • DuckLake
  • Lance
  • Geospatial formats
  • PostgreSQL
  • +2 more
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Apache Iceberg or DuckDB: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.