ClickHouse vs MariaDB comparison

ClickHouse and MariaDB are both solutions in the Open Source Databases category. ClickHouse is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.9, while MariaDB is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0. ClickHouse holds a 2.3% mindshare in OSD, compared to MariaDB’s 6.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of ClickHouse users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of MariaDB users who would recommend it.

ClickHouse

Read 9 ClickHouse reviews

482 Views
378 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

MariaDB

Read 59 MariaDB reviews

4,866 Views
4,461 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

ClickHouse

MariaDB

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

MariaDB and ClickHouse compete in the database management sector. ClickHouse appears to have the upper hand due to its superior real-time query processing and scalability, especially for big data applications.

Features: MariaDB offers comprehensive integration options and is renowned for stability in high-availability environments. It integrates well with various systems and provides excellent replication modes, making it compatible with MySQL. ClickHouse is optimized for big data analytics with real-time query processing, superior scalability, and strong data compression capabilities, distinguishing it for efficiently handling large datasets.

Room for Improvement: MariaDB needs to enhance its integration, clustering, and replication capabilities as some users note concerns in these areas. Its scalability and setup complexity also require attention. ClickHouse should focus on improving third-party integration and addressing deployment complexities, particularly in cloud environments. Enhancements in SQL compatibility and traditional database features like triggers could broaden its appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: MariaDB is valued for its flexibility in deploying across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments, with sufficient community support available. ClickHouse offers efficient on-premises and hybrid deployment but could improve documentation and specialized support. Open-source nature leads to varied support experiences for both solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Both MariaDB and ClickHouse are largely open-source, providing cost-effective implementation. MariaDB's community version helps avoid Oracle licenses, resulting in significant savings. ClickHouse offers affordability and cost-effective scalability, particularly when self-hosted, making it suitable for substantial workloads. Both solutions provide substantial ROI by reducing licensing costs and enhancing operational efficiency.

To learn more, read our detailed ClickHouse vs. MariaDB Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ClickHouse vs. MariaDB

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

ClickHouse

Ranking in Open Source Databases

8th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (11th)

MariaDB

Ranking in Open Source Databases

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of ClickHouse is 2.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 6.7%, down from 13.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Dmitriy Yugin

Senior Data/Web Analyst at Raiffeisen Bank

Can set it up on computer and run queries without depending on the cloud

The tool is open-source, so you don't need to pay for the software itself. However, you need to consider hardware costs and maintenance. A small company can install it on a company computer. For larger companies, you might need to hire a team for maintenance and consider data safety and privacy issues. Integrating ClickHouse with other tools in our data stack was easy. It has native connections to many tools, such as Google and Amazon cloud solutions, and can easily connect with other databases. For beginners, the ease of use depends on your background. If you're familiar with relational databases, it's easy. If not, you might need to read the documentation or ask for support.

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KumarManish

Senior Technical Manager at Johnson Controls, Inc.

Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products

We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The best thing about the tool is that I can set it up on my computer and run queries without depending on the cloud. This is why I use it every day."

"The main feature of ClickHouse is the optimizer because we had too many records to deduplicate, and the optimizer took this task by itself."

"It's easier to work with big data and calculations using the product."

"ClickHouse is a user-friendly solution that tries to be compatible with SQL standards."

"ClickHouse is much faster than traditional databases like MySQL and MongoDB. Its column-row searching strategy makes it very efficient. With ClickHouse, we can manage multiple databases, automatically insert data from other databases and delete data as needed. It supports real-time query performance, allowing simultaneous data insertion and retrieval. ClickHouse has improved significantly over the past two years, adding more functions and queries, as well as top functionality."

"We faced a challenge with deploying ClickHouse onto Kubernetes. Recently, we've been using ClickHouse Cloud, and the main issue is the high cost of the cloud service. The pricing isn't very competitive, especially for startups. I would instead buy a server and self-host if I have enough disk space. Besides that, ClickHouse has done very well, with clear goals and effective execution."

"The tool's most valuable feature is a database. It supports portal APIs and offers good flexibility."

"If you have a real-time basis, you should take a look at ClickHouse because it works on a vector database, and the querying is super fast compared to traditional databases."

More ClickHouse pros

"The performance is very good."

"It is an absolutely stable solution."

"MariaDB is a fast and flexible tool."

"The solution has PL/SQL compatibility."

"MariaDB is scalable."

"It is a scalable solution. It easily scales up and scales down."

"Great monitoring and performance stability."

"The product has good documentation and you can find many examples online."

More MariaDB pros

Cons

"The aggregation capability is a valuable feature. It's highly efficient, allowing us to review entire transaction histories and user activities in the market. We've tried MongoDB, Postgres, MariaDB, and BigQuery, but ClickHouse is the most cost-efficient solution for collecting data at high speeds with minimal cost. We even used ClickHouse Cloud for a month, and it proved to be a great setup, especially for startups looking to handle big data. For example, if there is a need for 2-4 terabytes of data and around 40 billion rows with reasonable computing speed and latency, ClickHouse is ideal. Regarding the real-time query performance of ClickHouse, when using an API server to query it, I achieved query results in less than twenty milliseconds in some of my experiments with one billion rows. However, it depends on the scenario since ClickHouse has limitations in handling mutations. Additionally, one of ClickHouse's strengths is its compression capability. Our experimental server has only four terabytes, and ClickHouse effectively compresses data, allowing us to store large amounts of data at high speed. This compression efficiency is a significant advantage of using ClickHouse."

"If you join our team, it should be easy for you to use ClickHouse, especially if you are a developer. However, you need to read the documentation and understand the problems you are trying to solve."

"Initially, I faced challenges integrating ClickHouse, particularly with inserting data from ActiveMQ, which caused duplicates. However, after adjusting the ClickHouse settings, the issue was resolved and there were no more duplicates."

"ClickHouse has its own concept of database triggers and doesn't support traditional database triggers."

"One issue is that you need persistent volumes. Otherwise, if one system goes down, you lose data in that cluster."

"I would like ClickHouse to work more on integration with third-party tools."

"We had a lot of troubles while deploying a whole cluster."

"There aren't too many improvements I'd suggest for ClickHouse as it covers all my needs. There are just a few technical issues. For example, sometimes, when you want to get unique values and use certain tables, they don't work as expected. But it's not a major problem."

More ClickHouse cons

"The price could be less expensive."

"MariaDB could be improved by adding more automation."

"The maintenance and performance could be a bit better."

"Data continuity could be improved."

"The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper."

"The solution can improve by having support for more integration. However, at this time it is working well for us."

"It should work across all fields like SQLite, as it is the basis of any application, even apps for phones and the like."

"Maria DB has to improve from a management perspective."

More MariaDB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For pricing, if you use the self-hosted version, it would be free. Cloud services pricing would be an eight out of ten. I try to minimize costs but still have to monitor usage."

"We used the free, community version of ClickHouse."

"ClickHouse Cloud is not expensive compared to other databases, costing a few dollars per month while providing fast performance."

"The tool is free."

"The tool is open-source."

"ClickHouse has an open-source version, which is free to use and has almost all the features."

"If you have an in-house deployment on Kubernetes or something, it's going to be very cheap since you'll be managing everything."

"This is an open-source product, which can be used free of charge."

"The price of this solution represents a very good compromise between the cost and what it offers."

"It's an open-source solution."

"The product is not expensive."

"MariaDB is a free-to-use solution."

"MariaDB is an open-source software, meaning I don't need to pay for the product."

"MariaDB is available for free."

"We use the solution's free version."

More MariaDB pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

26%

Educational Organization

16%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ClickHouse?

The tool is open-source.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ClickHouse?

There aren't too many improvements I'd suggest for ClickHouse as it covers all my needs. There are just a few technical issues. For example, sometimes, when you want to get unique values and use ce...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ClickHouse?

I used ClickHouse to collect data, put it in the database, and then analyze it to find insights. The main advantage is that I can install it on my computer instead of using cloud-based solutions, s...

See all answers

What do you like most about MariaDB?

The integration with other products is seamless.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?

I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often prefer the Community Edition because it's free.

See all answers

What needs improvement with MariaDB?

The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper.

See all answers

Comparisons

OpenSearch vs ClickHouse

Compared 19% of the time

InfluxDB vs ClickHouse

Compared 15% of the time

SingleStore vs ClickHouse

Compared 13% of the time

Milvus vs ClickHouse

Compared 12% of the time

MongoDB vs ClickHouse

Compared 4% of the time

More ClickHouse Competitors

SQL Server vs MariaDB

Compared 26% of the time

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB

Compared 22% of the time

PostgreSQL vs MariaDB

Compared 12% of the time

Oracle Database vs MariaDB

Compared 12% of the time

SAP HANA vs MariaDB

Compared 1% of the time

More MariaDB Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ClickHouse

February 2025

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Buyer's Guide

MariaDB

January 2025

Download MariaDB product report

Overview

ClickHouse is renowned for its speed, scalability, and real-time query performance. Its compatibility with SQL standards enhances flexibility while enabling integration with popular tools.

ClickHouse leverages a column-based architecture for efficient data compression and real-time analytics. It seamlessly integrates with tools like Kafka and Tableau and is effective in handling large datasets due to its cost-efficient aggregation capabilities. With robust data deduplication and strong community backing, users can access comprehensive documentation and up-to-date functionality. However, improvements in third-party integration, cloud deployment, and handling of SQL syntax differences are noted, impacting ease-of-use and migration from other databases.

What features make ClickHouse outstanding?

Speed and Scalability: Enables rapid deployment and scalability, particularly on Kubernetes.
SQL Compatibility: Aligns with SQL standards for flexible database management.
Column-based Structure: Offers efficient data compression and quick query performance.
Integration Support: Works with Kafka, Tableau, and other popular platforms.
Data Deduplication: Manages complex data duplication efficiently.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost-Efficiency: Reduces expenses while managing large datasets effectively.
Real-Time Analytics: Provides fast data processing for real-time insights.
Flexibility: Offers multiple integration points and compatibility options.
Robust Documentation: Backed by an active development community, ensuring comprehensive support.

ClickHouse is deployed in sectors like telecommunications for passive monitoring and is beneficial for data analytics, logging Clickstream data, and as an ETL engine. Organizations harness it for machine learning applications when combined with GPT. With the ability to be installed independently, it's an attractive option for avoiding cloud service costs.

ClickHouse

MariaDB is an open source relational database created by the original founders of MySQL. It is considered one of the most popular and trusted database servers throughout the world. MariaDB is a valued component found in most cloud offerings and is the default in many Linux tools. It is also widely used by Wikipedia, WordPress, and Google, among other well-known sites. Maria DB easily melds data into concise information from a vast array of applications, such as banking, online shopping, websites, and more.

MariaDB was originally created to improve MySQL performance. It is the most widely chosen database server due to the solution being super fast, robust, user-friendly, and easily scalable. MariaDB also offers a substantial ecosystem of plugins, storage engines, and numerous other valuable tools that make it very attractive for a significant offering of use cases.

The solution’s newest functionalities include compatibility with Oracle Database and Temporal Data Tables, and advanced clustering with Galera Cluster 4, which make it easier for users to research data history from any point in the past. Additionally, the most recent versions include JSON and GIS features. MariaDB is committed to staying an open source solution.

MariaDB Features

More storage: MariaDB works with more storage engines than MySQL and most other database servers available. Some storage options include, but are not limited to ARCHIVE, MERGE, CSV, MEMORY, BLACKHOLE, MyISAM, ColumnStore, MyRocks, and Cassandra.
Super fast: MariaDB offers faster authentication checks. The FlushSSL permits SSL certificates to be reloaded without a server restart, resulting in huge time savings.
Improved testing: MariaDB offers an extending testing suite that runs faster and can test more than ever before. Bugs can be easily fixed and invalid tests removed.
Genuinely open source: Every code in MariaDB is GPL, LGPL, or BSD. Client libraries [for Windows (ODBC), Java (JDBC), or C] allow linking to closed source software. All fixed bug cases and development plans are completely public. MariaDB is a community-developed solution representing the true spirit of open source products.

Reviews from Real Users

Faustine C., Engineering Supervisor- Corporate Data Solutions and Services at TZ Telecoms Corporation, shares, “The software provides a lot of information on what is happening inside the database. For most performance parameters it is easy to know if something is not right in the configuration or optimization which helps engineers take remedial fine-tuning measures. For example, if the database is underperforming it is easy to know which performance parameter can be adjusted to handle the workload. It is difficult to troubleshoot database issues if many performance parameters can not be monitored or debugged which is the case with some database management systems. It provides great monitoring of data storage, processing, and performance stability which is really important for real-time data storage and processing. It's a user-friendly product.”

A PeerSpot user who is a Senior Engineer at a tech services company relates, “ The solution's high availability is its most valuable aspect. We have found the product to be stable and the initial setup is pretty simple. I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten. I'm very happy with it overall. I would recommend the solution to others. It's easy to find details about the product online and to learn about it.”

MariaDB

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities

Buyer's Guide

ClickHouse vs. MariaDB

January 2025

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