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Amazon QuickSight vs ClickHouse

Amazon QuickSight logo

Amazon QuickSight

Software

Scalable, serverless BI by AWS

From
$3/month per user
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: Amazon QuickSight reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month; ClickHouse limited multi-row atomic transactions and expensive UPDATE/DELETE operations unsuitable for transactional systems
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, ClickHouse covers Column-oriented Storage.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon QuickSight and ClickHouse actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon QuickSight and ClickHouse differ
AttributeAmazon QuickSightClickHouse
Starting price$3/month per userFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsAWSLinux, 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 Amazon QuickSight

  • SPICE In-memory Engine
  • ML Insights
  • Natural Language Queries
  • Embedded Analytics
  • Pay-per-session
  • Redshift
  • Athena
  • Aurora

Only in ClickHouse

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

Both cover

  • S3
  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon QuickSight

  • Business intelligence dashboards and analyticsnot ClickHouse
  • Scalable embedded analytics for applicationsnot ClickHouse

ClickHouse

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

Where each one falls short

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

Amazon QuickSight

  • Reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month
  • Author and Author Pro roles charged at $24 and $40/month
  • $250/month infrastructure fee required if Pro users or Q&A enabled
  • SPICE storage charged at $0.38/GB monthly (10 GB included)
  • Pixel-perfect reports start at $500/month for 500 monthly units
  • Alerts charged at $0.05-$0.50 per 1,000 metrics evaluated

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

Amazon QuickSight

$3/month per user

No published plan breakdown. See the Amazon QuickSight review.

ClickHouse

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the ClickHouse review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon QuickSight if

  • You need spice in-memory engine.
  • You work on AWS.
  • You also want ml insights.
Amazon QuickSight 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 Amazon QuickSight or ClickHouse better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month per user and ClickHouse at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon QuickSight or ClickHouse?
ClickHouse has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3/month per user for Amazon QuickSight and Free for ClickHouse.
Does Amazon QuickSight or ClickHouse run on more platforms?
Amazon QuickSight runs on AWS. 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. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month per user.
What is Amazon QuickSight best used for?
Amazon QuickSight is most often used for business intelligence dashboards and analytics, scalable embedded analytics for applications. Of those, business intelligence dashboards and analytics and scalable embedded analytics for applications are not what ClickHouse is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon QuickSight do that ClickHouse cannot?
Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, ML Insights, Natural Language Queries, Embedded Analytics. ClickHouse covers Column-oriented Storage, Real-time Analytics, SQL Support, Linear Scalability. Both handle S3, 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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