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ClickHouse VS Apache Kylin

Compare ClickHouse VS Apache Kylin and see what are their differences

ClickHouse logo ClickHouse

ClickHouse is an open-source column-oriented database management system that allows generating analytical data reports in real time.

Apache Kylin logo Apache Kylin

OLAP Engine for Big Data
  • ClickHouse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-06-18
  • Apache Kylin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-29

ClickHouse features and specs

  • High Performance
    ClickHouse is designed for fast processing of analytical queries, often performing significantly faster than traditional databases due to its columnar storage format and optimized query execution.
  • Scalability
    The system is built to handle extensive datasets by scaling horizontally through distributed cluster configurations, making it suitable for big data applications.
  • Real-time Data Ingestion
    ClickHouse supports real-time data ingestion and can immediately reflect changes in query results, which is valuable for use cases requiring instant data processing and analysis.
  • Cost Efficiency
    The open-source nature of ClickHouse makes it a cost-effective option, especially when compared to other commercial data warehouses.
  • SQL Compatibility
    ClickHouse features strong SQL support, which makes it easier for individuals with SQL expertise to transition and use the platform effectively.
  • Compression
    ClickHouse employs advanced compression algorithms that reduce storage requirements and improve query performance.

Possible disadvantages of ClickHouse

  • Complexity in Setup
    Setting up and managing ClickHouse, particularly in a distributed cluster environment, can be complex and require a higher level of expertise compared to some other database systems.
  • Limited Transaction Support
    ClickHouse is optimized for read-heavy operations and analytics but does not support full ACID transactions, which limits its use for certain transactional use cases.
  • Ecosystem and Tooling
    While the ecosystem is growing, ClickHouse still has fewer tools and third-party integrations compared to more mature databases, which can limit its utility in some environments.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running ClickHouse, especially for large datasets, can be resource-intensive, requiring significant memory and CPU resources.
  • Limited User Management
    The platform has relatively basic user management and security features, which may not meet the needs of enterprises with strict compliance and governance requirements.

Apache Kylin features and specs

  • High Query Performance
    Apache Kylin is designed for high-performance, low-latency analytics on large datasets. Its OLAP engine pre-computes and stores aggregated queries, which speeds up query responses significantly.
  • Scalability
    Kylin can handle massive volumes of data, making it suitable for large scale data warehousing needs. It is designed to scale out by distributing the workload across a cluster of servers.
  • Integration with Hadoop Ecosystem
    Kylin integrates seamlessly with the Hadoop ecosystem, leveraging tools like Hive, HBase, and Spark to facilitate data processing and storage, thereby enhancing its functionality and compatibility.
  • Support for Multi-dimensional Analysis
    It provides strong multidimensional analysis capabilities, allowing for complex queries using well-known BI tools like Tableau and Power BI.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Kylin

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up and configuring Apache Kylin can be complex and time-consuming, requiring a deep understanding of the Hadoop ecosystem and its components.
  • Resource Intensity
    The pre-computation of data cubes and their storage can be resource-intensive, consuming significant memory and storage capacity.
  • Limited Flexibility in Querying
    Pre-aggregated cube-based analysis may not cover all ad-hoc queries. Kylin's strength lies in pre-aggregated queries but may fall short in handling highly dynamic, on-the-fly queries.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    Maintaining Kylinโ€™s precomputed cubes can become cumbersome, particularly as data evolves or changes frequently, requiring updates or recalculations of cubes.

Analysis of ClickHouse

Overall verdict

  • ClickHouse is a powerful and capable columnar DBMS that offers excellent performance for analytical workloads. Its open-source nature allows for flexibility and community-driven improvements, making it a strong option for organizations needing a scalable analytics platform.

Why this product is good

  • ClickHouse is considered a good choice for many use cases due to its high performance in processing large volumes of data and its efficiency in executing complex analytical queries. It is designed to work well with large datasets and provides real-time query capabilities, making it ideal for applications like business intelligence, web analytics, and IoT.

Recommended for

  • Large-scale data analysis
  • Real-time analytics dashboards
  • Businesses needing high-speed query performance
  • Web analytics platforms
  • IoT data processing
  • Financial industry for quick data aggregation

ClickHouse videos

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Apache Kylin videos

Extreme OLAP Analytics with Apache Kylin - Big Data Application Meetup

More videos:

  • Review - Apache Kylin: OLAP Cubes for NoSQL Data stores
  • Review - Installing Apache Kylin in Cloudera Quickstart VM Sandbox

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ClickHouse and Apache Kylin)
Databases
90 90%
10% 10
Relational Databases
92 92%
8% 8
Data Warehousing
86 86%
14% 14
Big Data
78 78%
22% 22

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ClickHouse and Apache Kylin

ClickHouse Reviews

Rockset, ClickHouse, Apache Druid, or Apache Pinot? Which is the best database for customer-facing analytics?
โ€ClickHouse is an open-source, column-oriented, distributed, and OLAP database thatโ€™s very easy to set up and maintain. โ€œBecause itโ€™s columnar, itโ€™s the best architectural approach for aggregations and for โ€˜sort byโ€™ on more than one column. It also means that group byโ€™s are very fast. Itโ€™s distributed, replication is asynchronous, and itโ€™s OLAPโ€”which means itโ€™s meant for...
Source: embeddable.com
ClickHouse vs TimescaleDB
Recently, TimescaleDB published a blog comparing ClickHouse & TimescaleDB using timescale/tsbs, a timeseries benchmarking framework. I have some experience with PostgreSQL and ClickHouse but never got the chance to play with TimescaleDB. Some of the claims about TimescaleDB made in their post are very bold, that made me even more curious. I thought itโ€™d be a great...
20+ MongoDB Alternatives You Should Know About
ClickHouse may be a great contender for moving analytical workloads from MongoDB. Much faster, and with JSON support and Nested Data Structures, it can be great choice for storing and analyzing document data.
Source: www.percona.com

Apache Kylin Reviews

We have no reviews of Apache Kylin yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ClickHouse seems to be a lot more popular than Apache Kylin. While we know about 60 links to ClickHouse, we've tracked only 1 mention of Apache Kylin. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ClickHouse mentions (60)

  • Setting up ClickHouse on macOS and Testing with Node.js
    ClickHouse is an open-source columnar database built for high-performance analytical queries. This guide shows how I installed ClickHouse on macOS, ran it in the background using a lightweight nohup setup that stores logs and PID in hidden user folders, and tested it with a minimal Node.js + TypeScript example using @clickhouse/client. - Source: dev.to / 15 days ago
  • From Go to Rust: Supercharging Our ClickHouse UDFs with Alloy
    At Agnostic, we build open-source infrastructure for collaborative blockchain data platforms. One of our flagship tools is clickhouse-evm, a suite of high-performance User Defined Functions (UDFs) that brings native Ethereum decoding and querying capabilities directly into ClickHouse. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • ๐Ÿง  From Hive and Elastic to ClickHouse: What Surprised Me
    Over the past few weeks, Iโ€™ve been diving into ClickHouse โ€” and itโ€™s been full of surprises. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Cross-Compiling Haskell under NixOS with Docker
    I attended the AWS Summit 2025 in Singapore. I enjoyed the event. There were booths from various companies which I found interesting, such as GitLab and ClickHouse. More importantly, I got to meet very interesting people. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • How to Build a Streaming Deduplication Pipeline with Kafka, GlassFlow, and ClickHouse
    ClickHouse: A fast columnar database. It will be our final destination for clean data. And, for simplicity in this tutorial, we'll cleverly use it as our "memory" or state store to remember which events we've already seen recently. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
View more

Apache Kylin mentions (1)

  • Apache Kafka Use Cases: When To Use It & When Not To
    A Kafka-based data integration platform will be a good fit here. The services can add events to different topics in a broker whenever there is a data update. Kafka consumers corresponding to each of the services can monitor these topics and make updates to the data in real-time. It is also possible to create a unified data store through the same integration platform. Developers can implement a unified store either... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ClickHouse and Apache Kylin, you can also consider the following products

MySQL - The world's most popular open source database

Google BigQuery - A fully managed data warehouse for large-scale data analytics.

Apache Doris - Apache Doris is an open-source real-time data warehouse for big data analytics.

Spring Batch - Level up your Java code and explore what Spring can do for you.

PostgreSQL - PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system.

StarRocks - StarRocks offers the next generation of real-time SQL engines for enterprise-scale analytics. Learn how we make it easy to deliver real-time analytics.