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Microsoft SQL Server VS ClickHouse

Compare Microsoft SQL Server VS ClickHouse and see what are their differences

Microsoft SQL Server logo Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft Azure is an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform. Move faster, do more, and save money with IaaS + PaaS. Try for FREE.

ClickHouse logo ClickHouse

ClickHouse is an open-source column-oriented database management system that allows generating analytical data reports in real time.
  • Microsoft SQL Server Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17
  • ClickHouse Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-06-18

Microsoft SQL Server features and specs

  • Performance
    Microsoft SQL Server offers high performance and efficient database management capabilities, optimized for both OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing).
  • Security Features
    SQL Server comes with advanced security features such as encryption, data masking, and advanced threat protection to ensure data integrity and privacy.
  • Scalability
    The server supports horizontal and vertical scaling to accommodate growing amounts of data and increasing number of users.
  • Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem
    Seamless integration with other Microsoft products such as Azure, Power BI, and Visual Studio, making it a versatile choice for businesses already using Microsoft services.
  • Ease of Use
    The server provides a user-friendly interface and helpful tools such as SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for database maintenance and management.
  • Comprehensive Support
    Microsoft offers extensive support and documentation, along with a strong community that provides additional resources and insights.

Possible disadvantages of Microsoft SQL Server

  • Cost
    Licensing and operational costs can be high, especially for larger enterprises, making it a significant investment.
  • Complexity
    Initial setup and configuration can be complex, often requiring expert knowledge to deploy and maintain effectively.
  • Resource Intensive
    The server can be resource-heavy, requiring significant hardware and computational resources to run efficiently, especially for larger databases.
  • Limited Cross-Platform Support
    Although improvements have been made, SQL Server is primarily optimized for Windows environments, which can limit its use in cross-platform scenarios.
  • Proprietary Software
    Being a proprietary software solution, it lacks the flexibility and cost benefits that come with open-source alternatives.
  • Updates and Patches
    Frequent updates and patches can sometimes disrupt service, requiring periodic maintenance that could result in downtime.

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.

Microsoft SQL Server videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Microsoft SQL Server and ClickHouse)
Databases
46 46%
54% 54
NoSQL Databases
75 75%
25% 25
Relational Databases
40 40%
60% 60
Data Warehousing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

Microsoft SQL Server Reviews

20 Best SQL Management Tools in 2020
It is a SQL management tool for analysing the differences in Microsoft SQL Server database structures. It allows comparing database objects like tables, columns, indexes, foreign keys, schemas, etc.
Source: www.guru99.com

ClickHouse Reviews

Rockset, ClickHouse, Apache Druid, or Apache Pinot? Which is the best database for customer-facing analytics?
ClickHouse is an open-source, column-oriented, distributed, and OLAP database that’s very easy to set up and maintain. “Because it’s columnar, it’s the best architectural approach for aggregations and for ‘sort by’ on more than one column. It also means that group by’s are very fast. It’s distributed, replication is asynchronous, and it’s OLAP—which means it’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 it’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

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ClickHouse seems to be a lot more popular than Microsoft SQL Server. While we know about 55 links to ClickHouse, we've tracked only 5 mentions of Microsoft SQL Server. 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.

Microsoft SQL Server mentions (5)

  • Cloud provider comparison 2024: VM Performance / Price
    Azure is the #2 overall Cloud provider and, as expected, it's the best choice for most Microsoft/Windows-based solutions. That said, it does offer many types of Linux VMs, with quite similar abilities as AWS/GCP. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Amdocs, NVIDIA and Microsoft Azure build custom LLMs for telcos
    Amdocs has partnered with NVIDIA and Microsoft Azure to build custom Large Language Models (LLMs) for the $1.7 trillion global telecoms industry. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Windows Azure: Microsoft's crown jewel
    You can utilise various tools on the platform to significantly improve your IT performance. Due to its flexibility, even official recommendations for Azure might need to be clarified and easier to comprehend. Simply put, Azure (formerly Windows Azure) is Microsoft's cloud computing operating system. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • From developer to (solutions) architect. A simple guide.
    This is not to say there aren't architects still working on premise in self managed environments, but if you're planning to join the forces, you probably want to have an idea of who are the 3 public cloud providers (AWS, Azure and GCP), and their offering and topology. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • Can You Learn AWS (And Get Certified) With No Experience? e.g. No IT background or degree
    Right now, AWS couldn’t be a better choice. AWS has been for many years—and continues to be—the market leader between all the cloud platforms. Whilst the competitors like GCP and Azure are catching up, they’ve still not toppled AWS which continues to be, by far, the biggest cloud provider. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

ClickHouse mentions (55)

  • Why You Shouldn’t Invest In Vector Databases?
    In fact, even in the absence of these commercial databases, users can effortlessly install PostgreSQL and leverage its built-in pgvector functionality for vector search. PostgreSQL stands as the benchmark in the realm of open-source databases, offering comprehensive support across various domains of database management. It excels in transaction processing (e.g., CockroachDB), online analytics (e.g., DuckDB),... - Source: dev.to / 16 days ago
  • Twitter's 600-Tweet Daily Limit Crisis: Soaring GCP Costs and the Open Source Fix Elon Musk Ignored
    ClickHouse: ClickHouse is an open-source columnar database management system designed for high-performance analytics. It excels at processing large volumes of data and offers real-time querying capabilities. It’s probably the world’s fastest real-time data analytics system: ClickHouse Benchmark. - Source: dev.to / 30 days ago
  • DeepSeek's Data Breach: A Wake-Up Call for AI Data Security
    Further investigation revealed that these ports provided direct access to a publicly exposed ClickHouse database—entirely unprotected and requiring no authentication. This discovery raised immediate security concerns, as ClickHouse is an open-source, columnar database management system designed for high-speed analytical queries on massive datasets. Originally developed by Yandex, ClickHouse is widely used for... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Should You Ditch Spark for DuckDB or Polars?
    Clickhouse also has managed service (https://clickhouse.com/). - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • ClickHouse: The Key to Faster Insights
    ClickHouse is rapidly gaining traction for its unmatched speed and efficiency in processing big data. Cloudflare, for example, uses ClickHouse to process millions of rows per second and reduce memory usage by over four times, making it a key player in large-scale analytics. With its advanced features and real-time query performance, ClickHouse is becoming a go-to choice for companies handling massive datasets. In... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Microsoft SQL Server and ClickHouse, you can also consider the following products

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

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

MySQL - The world's most popular open source database

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

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

MariaDB - An enhanced, drop-in replacement for MySQL