vioscaleAI
Comparison

ClickHouse vs QuestDB

On the evidence we track, ClickHouse leads this comparison with a composite score of 66/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

ClickHouse full profile →QuestDB full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
★ClickHouse66
QuestDB50
Score
vioscaleAI score
ClickHouse66 / 100medium · 60%
QuestDB50 / 100medium · 70%
Pricing
Free tier
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
Model
ClickHousefreemium
QuestDBfreemium
Price level
ClickHousemid
QuestDBlow
Starting price
ClickHouse$53
QuestDB–
Transparent
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✗
Integrations
Count
ClickHouse100
QuestDB7
Security
Certifications
Disclosure policy
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB–
Gdpr
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
Hipaa
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB–
Iso27001
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB–
Pci
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB–
Scorecard
ClickHouse4.8
QuestDB4.4
Soc2
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Sla pct
ClickHouse–
QuestDB99.9
Status page
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB–
Adoption
Dependent repos
ClickHouse1
QuestDB106
Github stars
ClickHouse50,255
QuestDB17,444
Activity
Commits last 30d
ClickHouse100
QuestDB38
Release
Cadence days
ClickHouse–
QuestDB16
History
ClickHouse20 items
QuestDB20 items
License
Spdx
ClickHouseApache-2.0
QuestDBApache-2.0
Language
Primary
ClickHouseC++
QuestDBJava
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
ClickHouse7 items
QuestDB8 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for time-series databases. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Query
Query language (SQL / PromQL / InfluxQL-Flux / Graphite)
ClickHouseSQL
QuestDBSQL with time-series extensions (SAMPLE BY, ASOF, HORIZON JOIN, N-dimensional ar
SQL compatibility
ClickHouseFull SQL
QuestDBFull SQL
Ingest
Ingest model
ClickHouseBoth
QuestDBPush
Model
Data model
ClickHouseBoth
QuestDBWide events
Lifecycle
Downsampling / rollups
ClickHouse-
QuestDBContinuous aggregates
Retention / TTL
ClickHouse-
QuestDBAutomatic
Storage
Compression (columnar / delta / Gorilla)
ClickHousecolumnar
QuestDBcolumnar with frame compression
Performance
High-cardinality handling
ClickHouseStrong
QuestDBStrong
Scale
Clustering / horizontal scale
ClickHouseDistributed / sharded
QuestDBDistributed / sharded
Replication / HA
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
Deployment
Deployment
ClickHouseSelf-hosted
QuestDBSelf-hosted
Interop
Prometheus remote-write compatible
ClickHouse-
QuestDB-
Licensing
Licence class
ClickHousePermissive OSS
QuestDBPermissive OSS

What each one is

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

ClickHouse

Leader

A column-oriented database that processes analytical queries efficiently on large datasets using compression and vectorized execution. It supports fast aggregations and search over logs, metrics, and traces, with vector search capabilities for AI workloads.

Independently observed

QuestDB

A specialized database engineered to ingest high-volume time-series data at speed, execute queries with minimal latency, and maintain queryable history across tiered storage layers—combining standard SQL with open file formats for portability.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

ClickHouse

Leader
from $53/moUsage-basedFree tier30-day trial

From $53/month plus usage-based compute and storage. Free tier with $300 credits for 30 days.

  • Basic$53/mo + $0.22 per TB
    • Up to 1 TB storage
    • 1 availability zone
    • Export backups to own cloud account
    • Expert support with 1 business day response time
    • SSO with Google or Microsoft
    • +1 more
  • Scale$437/mo + $0.30 per TB
    • Unlimited storage
    • 2+ availability zones
    • 24x7 expert support with 1 hour response for Severity 1 issues
    • S3 role-based access
    • Automatic vertical scaling
    • +1 more
  • Enterprise$571/mo + $0.39 per TB
    • SAML SSO
    • Private regions
    • Enterprise support with 30 minute response time
    • Named Lead Support Engineer
    • Transparent data encryption and CMEK
    • +1 more
as of verify ↗

QuestDB

HybridFree tier

Open-source Apache 2.0 free tier; QuestDB Cloud and Enterprise plans available via contact/quote

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
macOS
ClickHouse✗
QuestDB✓
Windows
ClickHouse✗
QuestDB✓
Linux
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
CLI
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
Self-hosted
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓
Hybrid
ClickHouse✓
QuestDB✓

Integrations

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

In common (6)
  • Kafka
  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • Cassandra
  • AWS
  • Azure

ClickHouse

Leader
22 total - 16 not shared
  • Amazon S3
  • Airbyte
  • Vector
  • Microsoft Azure Data Factory
  • dbt
  • Calyptia
  • Dataddo
  • GrowthBook
  • OpenTelemetry
  • HyperDX
  • Langfuse
  • Google
  • Microsoft
  • Google Cloud
  • GitHub
  • Slack
Independently observed

QuestDB

19 total - 13 not shared
  • Parquet
  • Arrow
  • Polars
  • Pandas
  • Debezium
  • Iceberg
  • MongoDB
  • Apache Parquet
  • Apache Arrow
  • Claude Code
  • REST API
  • Apache Iceberg
  • Databricks
Independently observed
Still deciding?

ClickHouse or QuestDB: 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.