Comparison

Databricks vs DuckDB

On the evidence we track, DuckDB leads this comparison with a composite score of 59/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Databricks full profile →DuckDB full profile →

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.

Databricks53

★DuckDB59

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Databricks	DuckDBLeader
vioscaleAI score	53 / 100low · 47%	59 / 100medium · 51%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	free	open_source
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	✗	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	14	27
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	-
Trust centersecurity.trust_center	https://www.databricks.com/dataaisummit/session/genie-zeroops-data-quality-and-compliance-scale	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	-	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=conda&package_name=python-duckdb&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	-	1
Github starsadoption.github_stars	-	42,154
Package downloads weeklyadoption.package_downloads_weekly	-	15,285,415
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	-	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	-	33
Historyrelease.history	-	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	-	MIT
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	-	C++
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US	Available worldwide · HQ NL
Content
Faqcontent.faq	6 items	7 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

Databricks53 / 100low · 47%

DuckDB59 / 100medium · 51%

Pricing

Free tier

Databricks✓

DuckDB✓

Model

Databricksfree

DuckDBopen_source

Price level

Databricksfree

DuckDBfree

Transparent

Databricks✗

DuckDB✓

Integrations

Count

Databricks14

DuckDB27

Security

Disclosure policy

Databricks✓

DuckDB–

Trust center

Databrickshttps://www.databricks.com/dataaisummit/session/genie-zeroops-data-quality-and-compliance-scale

DuckDB–

Vulnerabilities

Databricks–

DuckDBCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=conda&package_name=python-duckdb&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

Databricks✓

DuckDB✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Databricks–

DuckDB1

Github stars

Databricks–

DuckDB42,154

Package downloads weekly

Databricks–

DuckDB15,285,415

Activity

Commits last 30d

Databricks–

DuckDB100

Release

Cadence days

Databricks–

DuckDB33

History

Databricks–

DuckDB20 items

License

Spdx

Databricks–

DuckDBMIT

Language

Primary

Databricks–

DuckDBC++

Market

Availability

DatabricksAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

DuckDBAvailable worldwide · HQ NL

Content

Faq

Databricks6 items

DuckDB7 items

Capabilities

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

Capability comparison for Data Warehouse Software
Capability	Databricks	DuckDB
Deployment
Deployment	Managed cloud	Embedded
Architecture
Architecture	Separated storage/compute	-
Compute model	Serverless	-
Query
SQL dialect	Vendor-specific	Vendor-specific
Federation / lakehouse query-in-place	-	✓
Interoperability
Table-format support	Delta, Iceberg	Parquet, CSV, JSON, Iceberg, Delta Lake, Vortex, DuckLake, Lance, Arrow, Avro, E
Scale
Concurrency scaling	Automatic	-
Ingestion
Streaming ingest	✓	-
Data model
Semi-structured (JSON/VARIANT)	First-class	Functional
Analytics
ML / in-DB functions	✓	✓
Sharing
Data sharing / marketplace	✓	-
Licensing
Licence class	Proprietary	Permissive OSS

Deployment

DatabricksManaged cloud

DuckDBEmbedded

Architecture

DatabricksSeparated storage/compute

DuckDB-

Compute model

DatabricksServerless

DuckDB-

Query

SQL dialect

DatabricksVendor-specific

DuckDBVendor-specific

Federation / lakehouse query-in-place

Databricks-

DuckDB✓

Interoperability

Table-format support

DatabricksDelta, Iceberg

DuckDBParquet, CSV, JSON, Iceberg, Delta Lake, Vortex, DuckLake, Lance, Arrow, Avro, E

Scale

Concurrency scaling

DatabricksAutomatic

DuckDB-

Ingestion

Streaming ingest

Databricks✓

DuckDB-

Data model

Semi-structured (JSON/VARIANT)

DatabricksFirst-class

DuckDBFunctional

Analytics

ML / in-DB functions

Databricks✓

DuckDB✓

Sharing

Data sharing / marketplace

Databricks✓

DuckDB-

Licensing

Licence class

DatabricksProprietary

DuckDBPermissive OSS

What each one is

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

Databricks

An integrated data and AI platform built on open formats that merges transactional reliability with analytics and machine learning capabilities, enabling organizations to manage data, models, and AI applications together without vendor lock-in.

Independently observed

DuckDB

Leader

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.

Databricks

from $0.07/moUsage-basedFree tier

Pay-as-you-go usage-based pricing from $0.069 / DBU or CU per second. Committed Use Contracts available for volume discounts. Free tier available.

Data EngineeringFrom $0.15 / DBU per second
- Orchestrate data processing
- Build streaming and batch pipelines
- Ingest data from multiple sources
Data WarehousingFrom $0.22 / DBU per second
- SQL analytics
- BI reporting
- Available in Classic and Serverless compute
Interactive WorkloadsFrom $0.40 / DBU per second
- Data science workloads
- Build custom applications
- Security and governance
Operational DatabaseFrom $0.069 / CU per second
- Postgres database
- Data and feature serving
Artificial IntelligenceFrom $0.07 / DBU per second
- GenAI applications
- Model Serving
- AI Functions
- Model Training
GenieFree
- Natural language Q&A
- AI Coding Assistant
- Enterprise Knowledge access

as of 2026-08-03verify ↗

DuckDB

Leader

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open source under MIT license

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Databricks	DuckDB
WebPlatforms	✓	✗
AndroidPlatforms	✓	✗
macOSPlatforms	✗	✓
WindowsPlatforms	✗	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✗	✓
CLIPlatforms	✗	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

Databricks✓

DuckDB✗

Android

Databricks✓

DuckDB✗

macOS

Databricks✗

DuckDB✓

Windows

Databricks✗

DuckDB✓

Linux

Databricks✗

DuckDB✓

CLI

Databricks✗

DuckDB✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Databricks✓

DuckDB✗

Self-hosted

Databricks✗

DuckDB✓

Integrations

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

In common (2)

Delta Lake
Apache Iceberg

Databricks

22 total - 20 not shared

Teams
Slack
Confluence
Power Platform
Copilot Studio
Zerobus
Microsoft Power Platform
Microsoft Teams
Apache Spark
MLflow
Unity Catalog
Lakeflow
Databricks SQL
Databricks Genie
Lakebase
dbt
Trino
LangChain
PyTorch
DSPy

Independently observed

DuckDB

Leader

30 total - 28 not shared

Postgres
AWS
S3
Azure
Google Cloud
Hugging Face
SQLite
MySQL
Iceberg
Parquet
JSON
Arrow
Avro
Pandas
dplyr
Jupyter
Marimo
Claude
Cloudflare
ODBC
HTTP
Excel
Vortex
DuckLake
+4 more

Independently observed

Still deciding?

Databricks 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.