18.4
CrateDB is a database for real-time analytics on live operational data.
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinux
Best Columnar Databases in 2026
Columnar databases organize data for column-oriented workloads, while their deployment and service models can vary. Compared on deployment model, managed service, object storage support and streaming ingestion, the entries also specify supported data formats and included storage. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add useful cost context. Exasol, StarRocks and Databend are among the options, alongside…
28.2
Databend is an open-source, Rust-powered data warehouse for analytics, search, and AI workloads, with cloud and self-hosted deployment options.
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinux
38.0
Exasol is a database for organizations running analytics and high-concurrency AI workloads.
Free planWebAPILinux
- 4
Amazon Timestream
Amazon Timestream is a managed time-series database service for workloads from low-latency queries to large-scale data ingestion.
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS7.9Free plan - 5
ClickHouse Cloud
ClickHouse Cloud is a managed service for real-time analytics, observability, and AI-powered data applications.
Open sourceWebAPILinuxmacOS7.9From $25.30 a month - 6
IBM Db2
Free planWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted7.4From $630 a month - 7
InfluxDB
InfluxDB is a time series database and platform for high-frequency data recorded with timestamps.
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS7.4$0.01 usage-based - 8
Apache Druid
Apache Druid is an open-source database for real-time analysis of streaming and batch data.
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS7.2Free plan - 9
SAP Customer Data Platform
SAP Customer Data Platform unifies customer profiles and related account or individual relationships for B2B and B2C use cases.
WebAPI7.0From $1.15 a month - 10
MotherDuck
MotherDuck is a serverless cloud data warehouse built on DuckDB for data teams, app developers, and AI agents.
Free planWebAPI6.9From $250 a month - 11
QuestDB
QuestDB is a time-series database for environments where low latency matters.
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS6.9Free plan - 12
Yellowbrick Data Warehouse
Yellowbrick Data Warehouse is a SQL data platform for data warehousing and application analytics.
WebAPILinuxmacOS6.9From $0.28 a month - 13
DuckDB UI
DuckDB UI is a browser-based interface for working with a local DuckDB instance, added through the ui extension.
Free planWebExtensionLinuxmacOS6.7Free plan - 14
GreptimeDB
GreptimeDB is an open-source observability database for storing and querying metrics, logs and traces through a columnar engine and shared SQL layer.
AndroidWebAPILinux6.7From $290 a month - 15
Amazon Redshift
Amazon Redshift is a cloud data warehouse for SQL analytics across data warehouses and data lakes.
WebAPI6.6From $0.54 a month - 16
Apache Pinot
Apache Pinot is an open-source distributed OLAP datastore for real-time analytics and user-facing workloads.
Free planWebAPISelf-hosted6.4Free plan - 17
Firebolt
Firebolt is an open-source analytical database for engineers that uses Postgres-compatible SQL.
Free planWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted6.4Free plan - 18
MonetDB
MonetDB is a free, self-hosted relational database designed mainly for analytics, data warehouses, and bulk processing such as business intelligence…
Free planAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted6.4Free plan - 19
Couchbase Capella
Free planWeb6.3From $0.15 a month - 20
StarRocks
StarRocks is a free, self-hosted analytical database for workloads such as multidimensional OLAP, ad hoc queries, and real-time, high-concurrency analytics.
Free planLinuxSelf-hosted6.1Free plan - 21
Apache Kudu
Apache Kudu is a free, open-source data storage engine for analytics on data that changes frequently.
Free planAPILinuxmacOSSelf-hosted5.9Free plan - 22
Apache Doris
Apache Doris is an open-source, real-time analytical database for analytics and AI, available under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
APILinuxSelf-hosted5.8 - 235.4
- 24
Azure Synapse Analytics
Azure Synapse Analytics is a cloud service for combining data warehousing and big-data processing.
Web5.2 - 25
MariaDB Enterprise Analytics
MariaDB Enterprise Analytics is a columnar database offering for interactive analysis of current data and analytic workloads that have outgrown traditional databases.
LinuxSelf-hosted5.2