ClickHouse vs SQLite comparison

ClickHouse and SQLite are both solutions in the Open Source Databases category. ClickHouse is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.9, while SQLite is ranked #9 with an average rating of 6.8. ClickHouse holds a 2.3% mindshare in OSD, compared to SQLite’s 3.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of ClickHouse users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of SQLite users who would recommend it.

ClickHouse

Read 10 ClickHouse reviews

546 Views
433 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

SQLite

Read 8 SQLite reviews

1,615 Views
1,626 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

ClickHouse

SQLite

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

SQLite and ClickHouse serve different purposes, with SQLite optimized for local applications and ClickHouse designed for high-performance analytics. ClickHouse holds the upper hand in advanced analytical capabilities.

Features: SQLite's capabilities include a lightweight architecture, support for SQL, and transactional integrity, making it suitable for embedded applications and straightforward development environments. ClickHouse offers columnar storage, which allows for fast query processing, high data compression, and scalability, catering to real-time analytics and large-scale data processing.

Room for Improvement: SQLite could improve by enhancing its support for distributed environments and increasing scalability options for larger datasets. Additionally, advanced analytics features could make SQLite more competitive in big data scenarios. ClickHouse, meanwhile, might address its deployment complexities and bolster support for standard SQL features to improve accessibility and ease of use. Better compatibility for hybrid cloud systems could also enhance its versatility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SQLite provides a simple deployment model that easily integrates into mobile apps with minimal support needs, thanks to its straightforward design. On the other hand, ClickHouse requires more setup due to its distributed architecture but offers extensive resources and community support for heavy data analytics, providing robust options for users.

Pricing and ROI: SQLite is open-source, offering high ROI for small projects due to its no-cost licensing and minimal infrastructure requirements. It is particularly cost-effective for applications that require basic database solutions. ClickHouse, also open-source, may incur higher costs due to infrastructure and specialized support needs but yields excellent ROI for businesses utilizing its advanced data processing capabilities.

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

Buyer's Guide

ClickHouse vs. SQLite

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)

SQLite

Ranking in Open Source Databases

9th

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Embedded Database (2nd)

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 SQLite is 3.8%, down from 4.2% 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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Neeraj Tiwari

Student at Queens University Belfast

Pretty easy to execute my SQL queries but issues while uploading and importing my dataset

It was a bit easy to use compared to other tools. It's simple. I found it pretty easy to execute my SQL queries. Since I was a beginner, it was comfortable for me to learn SQL using SQLite. However, when I used it for my professional work and for my assignments, I found some complications. Maybe I'm not proficient with it, that's why. The main benefit for me was learning. Since I was new to SQL, SQLite helped me understand how to work with structured data.

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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

"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."

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

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

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

"ClickHouse is open source with no vendor lock-in, providing excellent freedom to choose any vendor without restrictions."

"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."

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

"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."

More ClickHouse pros

"SQLite’s most valuable feature is the ability to store granular-level backups of databases."

"I haven't encountered any problems in my use cases. So, it has been a stable product for me."

"It was a bit easy to use compared to other tools. It's simple. I found it pretty easy to execute my SQL queries."

"Sometimes, you want data to persist within the app even when there's no internet connectivity. To avoid showing blank screens, we can use SQLite to store data locally and then sync it with the cloud database when connectivity is restored."

"The product is lightweight and highly scalable."

"I use Flutter Technology with the JSF plugin."

Cons

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

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

More ClickHouse cons

"The performance could be better."

"There are some difficulties on the server side. When syncing data with databases like SQL Server or Oracle, SQLite requires a kind of double effort."

"A potential drawback is that the database file stored within the application's local storage could be accessible to users."

"Compared to other tools, the performance was less effective than that of Microsoft Access."

"I primarily use SQLite for small-scale applications due to its limitations in storing large amounts of data. For larger-scale projects, I typically opt for MySQL or other alternatives. Storing a large number of dates in SQLite can significantly impact its performance."

"It could have a user-friendly GUI and better intelligence features."

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."

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

"The tool is free."

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

"The tool is open-source."

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

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

"I rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten."

"The tool is open-source."

"It's not expensive."

"It's a good value."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

25%

Educational Organization

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

17%

Comms Service Provider

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

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...

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What do you like most about SQLite?

It was a bit easy to use compared to other tools. It's simple. I found it pretty easy to execute my SQL queries.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQLite?

It is not expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SQLite?

There were some complications. For example, you have to upload the dataset into SQLite, and once it's uploaded, you might find difficulties working with it.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 18% of the time

InfluxDB vs ClickHouse

Compared 17% of the time

SingleStore vs ClickHouse

Compared 12% of the time

Milvus vs ClickHouse

Compared 11% of the time

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Firebird SQL vs SQLite

Compared 52% of the time

DuckDB vs SQLite

Compared 9% of the time

Oracle Berkeley DB vs SQLite

Compared 7% of the time

LanceDB vs SQLite

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ClickHouse

February 2025

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Buyer's Guide

SQLite

January 2025

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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

SQLite is an open-source, serverless, reliable, and flexible, SQL database engine. It is particularly favored in the realm of embedded database solutions and small to medium-sized projects. Unlike traditional database systems that operate on a client-server model, SQLite is a serverless database engine, meaning it runs directly within the application it powers. This unique architecture makes SQLite an ideal choice for applications where simplicity, efficiency, and minimal configuration are paramount.

SQLite is an embedded database engine, which means it operates directly within the application that uses it, without requiring a separate server process. It is designed to be cross-platform, supporting multiple operating systems, and is is compatible with a wide range of programming languages, such as C, C++, Python, Java, and more. This makes it highly portable and suitable for a wide range of applications, from mobile devices to desktop software and web applications.

The key advantages of SQLite is its reliability, the lightweight nature and efficient performance. It has a small footprint, typically requiring only a few megabytes of disk space, and can operate entirely in memory if needed. It is designed to be reliable and robust, with built-in features such as atomic commit and rollback, which ensure data integrity even in the event of system crashes or power failures. Finally, the SQLite solution requires no configuration or setup, making it easy to use and deploy. It can be embedded directly into applications without the need for complex installation or configuration procedures.

SQLite Functionality

SQL Compliance: SQLite supports a substantial portion of the SQL standard, including features like transactions, triggers, views, and indexes.
File-based Storage: SQLite stores its entire database as a single cross-platform file on the host machine's file system.
ACID Compliance: SQLite fully supports ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) transactions, ensuring data consistency and integrity in concurrent access scenarios.

SQLite is an open-source project distributed under a public domain license, which means it can be used, modified, and distributed freely, without any licensing costs or restrictions.

To summarize, SQLite is widely used in various applications, including web browsers (e.g., Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome), mobile applications (e.g., Android, iOS), embedded systems, and desktop software. Its simplicity, portability, and efficiency make it a popular choice for developers who require a lightweight and reliable database solution, especially in resource-constrained environments or applications with modest data storage needs.

SQLite

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Oracle, Bloomberg, Bentley, Mozilla

Buyer's Guide

ClickHouse vs. SQLite

January 2025

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