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Software · head to head

Adyen vs ClickHouse

Adyen logo

Adyen

Software

The payments platform built for growth

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ClickHouse logo

ClickHouse

Software

Fast open-source column-oriented database for real-time analytics

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ClickHouse has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Adyen there is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic; ClickHouse limited multi-row atomic transactions and expensive UPDATE/DELETE operations unsuitable for transactional systems
  • They diverge on capability: Adyen covers Payment processing, ClickHouse covers Column-oriented Storage.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Adyen and ClickHouse actually diverge.

Attributes where Adyen and ClickHouse differ
AttributeAdyenClickHouse
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Api, PosLinux, macOS, Windows (via Docker)
Founded20062021

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Adyen

  • Payment processing
  • Risk management
  • Unified commerce
  • Issuing
  • Platform payments
  • SAP
  • Salesforce
  • Oracle

Only in ClickHouse

  • Column-oriented Storage
  • Real-time Analytics
  • SQL Support
  • Linear Scalability
  • Data Compression
  • Vectorized Query Execution
  • Approximate Calculations
  • Kafka

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Adyen

  • Card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchantsnot ClickHouse
  • Accepting local payment methods across multiple countriesnot ClickHouse
  • Settling in several currencies through linked bank accountsnot ClickHouse
  • Unified online and in-person paymentsnot ClickHouse

ClickHouse

  • Business intelligencenot Adyen
  • Data warehousingnot Adyen
  • Real-time analyticsnot Adyen
  • Reportingnot Adyen
  • Machine learningnot Adyen

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Adyen

  • There is a minimum monthly invoice, set by industry and business model and only disclosed through the sales team, so small volumes are not economic
  • Published fees are indicative rather than a rate card, with real pricing negotiated
  • Interchange++ means the card cost varies per transaction rather than being a single predictable percentage
  • Alternative payment methods carry their own rates on top, such as 3.3 percent plus $0.10 for American Express in North America

ClickHouse

  • Limited multi-row atomic transactions and expensive UPDATE/DELETE operations unsuitable for transactional systems
  • Requires upfront schema design discipline with MergeTree engine choices and sort/partition keys
  • Experimental vector search support, not production-ready for vector operations
  • Different query syntax from standard SQL requiring migration planning
  • Limited JOIN capabilities compared to traditional relational databases
  • Migration complexity with 2-4 weeks estimated for data type mapping and query translation

Pricing, plan by plan

Adyen

$29/month
  • CustomFree
    • Payment processing
    • Risk management
    • Unified commerce

ClickHouse

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ClickHouse review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Adyen if

  • You need payment processing.
  • You work on Web, Api, Pos.
  • You also want risk management.
Adyen review

Choose ClickHouse if

  • You need column-oriented storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows (via Docker).
  • You also want real-time analytics.
ClickHouse review

Questions people ask

Is Adyen or ClickHouse better?
Neither clearly leads. Adyen starts at $29/month and ClickHouse at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Adyen or ClickHouse?
ClickHouse has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Adyen and Free for ClickHouse.
Does Adyen or ClickHouse run on more platforms?
Adyen runs on Web, Api, Pos. ClickHouse runs on Linux, macOS, Windows (via Docker).
Can I use ClickHouse for free?
Yes. ClickHouse has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Adyen starts at $29/month.
What is Adyen best used for?
Adyen is most often used for card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants, accepting local payment methods across multiple countries, settling in several currencies through linked bank accounts, unified online and in-person payments. Of those, card acquiring with interchange plus pricing for larger merchants and accepting local payment methods across multiple countries are not what ClickHouse is typically brought in for.
What can Adyen do that ClickHouse cannot?
Adyen covers Payment processing, Risk management, Unified commerce, Issuing. ClickHouse covers Column-oriented Storage, Real-time Analytics, SQL Support, Linear Scalability. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ClickHouse: What is ClickHouse best used for?

ClickHouse is optimized for analytical workloads on large datasets. It excels at fast aggregations and queries, being 10-100x faster than PostgreSQL on large aggregations.

Source
ClickHouse: Does ClickHouse support transactions?

ClickHouse has limited transaction support and expensive UPDATE/DELETE operations. It is not suitable for transactional workloads requiring strict ACID guarantees.

Source
ClickHouse: How does ClickHouse compare to PostgreSQL?

ClickHouse is 10-100x faster for analytics but PostgreSQL is better for transactional workloads. Many teams use both: PostgreSQL for writes via MaterializedPostgreSQL replication to ClickHouse for analytics.

Source
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