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Alibaba Cloud vs ClickHouse

Alibaba Cloud logo

Alibaba Cloud

Software

Asia's leading cloud computing provider

From
Free
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

  • Each has a real cost: Alibaba Cloud technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included; ClickHouse limited multi-row atomic transactions and expensive UPDATE/DELETE operations unsuitable for transactional systems
  • They diverge on capability: Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, ClickHouse covers Column-oriented Storage.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Alibaba Cloud and ClickHouse actually diverge.

Attributes where Alibaba Cloud and ClickHouse differ
AttributeAlibaba CloudClickHouse
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Api, CliLinux, macOS, Windows (via Docker)
Founded20092021

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Alibaba Cloud

  • Elastic Compute Service
  • Object Storage Service
  • RDS Database
  • MaxCompute
  • Function Compute
  • CDN
  • Load Balancer
  • API Gateway

Only in ClickHouse

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

Both cover

  • Linux support

What people use each for

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

Alibaba Cloud

  • Cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in China and Asia Pacificnot ClickHouse
  • Pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitmentnot ClickHouse
  • Committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloadsnot ClickHouse
  • CDN and data transfer packages for content deliverynot ClickHouse

ClickHouse

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

Where each one falls short

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

Alibaba Cloud

  • Technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
  • Service prices are not shown as a rate card and route through a calculator or sales
  • Committed discounts require savings plans, reserved instances or capacity packages rather than being automatic

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

Alibaba Cloud

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Free tier credits
    • ECS instances
    • Cloud storage
  • Pay-as-You-GoFree
    • Flexible billing
    • No commitments
    • Global reach

ClickHouse

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ClickHouse review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Alibaba Cloud if

  • You need elastic compute service.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
  • You also want object storage service.
Alibaba Cloud 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 Alibaba Cloud or ClickHouse better?
Neither clearly leads. Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and ClickHouse at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Alibaba Cloud or ClickHouse?
Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and ClickHouse at Free.
Does Alibaba Cloud or ClickHouse run on more platforms?
Alibaba Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli. ClickHouse runs on Linux, macOS, Windows (via Docker).
Can I use Alibaba Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Alibaba Cloud best used for?
Alibaba Cloud is most often used for cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific, pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment, committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloads, cdn and data transfer packages for content delivery. Of those, cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific and pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment are not what ClickHouse is typically brought in for.
What can Alibaba Cloud do that ClickHouse cannot?
Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Object Storage Service, RDS Database, MaxCompute. ClickHouse covers Column-oriented Storage, Real-time Analytics, SQL Support, Linear Scalability. Both handle Linux 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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