Software · head to head
Apache Pinot vs RavenDB
Apache Pinot
Software
Real-time distributed OLAP datastore for analytics
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Apache Pinot self-hosted and distributed, so running it means operating a cluster rather than consuming a service; RavenDB the free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal
- They diverge on capability: Apache Pinot covers Real-time Analytics, RavenDB covers ACID Transactions.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Apache Pinot and RavenDB actually diverge.
| Attribute | Apache Pinot | RavenDB |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | freemium |
| Platforms | Linux, Docker, Kubernetes | Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web |
| Founded | 1999 | 2010 |
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 Apache Pinot
- Real-time Analytics
- Column-oriented
- Distributed Processing
- SQL Support
- Pluggable Indexing
- Star-tree Index
- Upsert Support
- Kafka
Only in RavenDB
- ACID Transactions
- Auto-indexing
- Full-text Search
- Graph Queries
- Distributed Counters
- Time Series
- Document Compression
- .NET
Both cover
- Linux support
- Docker support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Apache Pinot
- Sub-second analytics queries on freshly ingested datanot RavenDB
- User-facing dashboards inside a productnot RavenDB
- Real-time metrics at high ingest ratesnot RavenDB
- Petabyte-scale analytics as run at LinkedIn and Ubernot RavenDB
RavenDB
- Running a distributed document database with ACID transactionsnot Apache Pinot
- Self hosting a multi node database cluster on your own hardwarenot Apache Pinot
- Replicating operational data out to analytics systems through ETLnot Apache Pinot
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Apache Pinot
- Self-hosted and distributed, so running it means operating a cluster rather than consuming a service
- Managed hosting comes from third parties such as StarTree rather than from the project
- Built for user-facing real-time OLAP, so it is not a general purpose database
RavenDB
- The free Developer licence bars commercial use and expires every 6 months, requiring renewal
- The free Community licence caps a customer at 60 cores and forces you to stay on the latest major version
- The Professional licence is limited to a single database, a 5 node cluster, 40 cores and 240 GB RAM
- Sharding across nodes, ETL to OLAP, Elasticsearch and Kafka, and data archival are Enterprise only
- Enterprise and AI licence pricing is contact us only with no published rate
Pricing, plan by plan
Apache Pinot
Free- Open SourceFree
- Real-time analytics
- SQL queries
- Horizontal scaling
RavenDB
Free- CommunityFree
- 3 cores
- 6GB RAM
- Community support
- Professional$499/year
- Production use
- Professional support
- Advanced features
Which should you pick?
Choose Apache Pinot if
- You need real-time analytics.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
- You also want column-oriented.
Choose RavenDB if
- You need acid transactions.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
- You also want auto-indexing.
Questions people ask
- Is Apache Pinot or RavenDB better?
- Neither clearly leads. Apache Pinot starts at Free and RavenDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Apache Pinot or RavenDB?
- Apache Pinot starts at Free and RavenDB at Free.
- Does Apache Pinot or RavenDB run on more platforms?
- Apache Pinot runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes. RavenDB runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
- Can I use Apache Pinot for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Apache Pinot best used for?
- Apache Pinot is most often used for sub-second analytics queries on freshly ingested data, user-facing dashboards inside a product, real-time metrics at high ingest rates, petabyte-scale analytics as run at linkedin and uber. Of those, sub-second analytics queries on freshly ingested data and user-facing dashboards inside a product are not what RavenDB is typically brought in for.
- What can Apache Pinot do that RavenDB cannot?
- Apache Pinot covers Real-time Analytics, Column-oriented, Distributed Processing, SQL Support. RavenDB covers ACID Transactions, Auto-indexing, Full-text Search, Graph Queries. Both handle Linux support, Docker support.