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Apache Pinot
Real-time distributed OLAP datastore for analytics
As of 30 August 2026, Apache Pinot is free to use. Apache Pinot is a real-time distributed OLAP datastore built to deliver scalable real-time analytics with low latency. Softwr lists it under Databases. Apache Pinot is made by Apache Software Foundation, launched in 1999, available on Linux, Self-hosted.
Overview
What Apache Pinot does
Apache Pinot is a real-time distributed OLAP datastore built to deliver scalable real-time analytics with low latency. It can ingest data from batch data sources and streaming sources and provide low latency queries. Pinot is designed for user-facing analytics at scale.
What people use it 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
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Apache Pinot
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- Apache PinotvsPostgreSQL
PostgreSQL: The world's most advanced open source relational database
- Apache PinotvsAirtable
Airtable: Create apps that perfectly fit your team's needs
- Apache PinotvsAmazon Aurora
Amazon Aurora: MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud
Pricing
What Apache Pinot costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Open Source
Free
- Real-time analytics
- SQL queries
- Horizontal scaling
- Stream ingestion
Capabilities
Features
Real-time Analytics
Column-oriented
Distributed Processing
SQL Support
Pluggable Indexing
Star-tree Index
Upsert Support
Kafka
Integration with Kafka
Spark
Integration with Spark
Presto
Integration with Presto
Superset
Integration with Superset
Flink
Integration with Flink
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
How much does Apache Pinot cost?
Apache Pinot is free and open-source. It is provided under the Apache License, which allows free use, modification, and distribution.
SourceIs Apache Pinot free for commercial use?
Yes. Apache Pinot is licensed under the Apache License, which explicitly permits commercial use at no cost.
SourceCan I run Apache Pinot locally or with Docker?
Yes. Apache Pinot offers a Docker quickstart and free downloads of the latest version (1.5.1 at the time of the page). You are responsible for hosting and infrastructure.
SourceAre there restrictions on how I can use Apache Pinot?
The Apache License permits unrestricted use, but requires retention of license notices and statements. No usage limits or feature restrictions are enforced.
SourceBehind it
Who makes Apache Pinot
- Company
- Apache Software Foundation
- Based in
- Wakefield, Massachusetts
Keep looking
Where to go from Apache Pinot
- Apache Pinot alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Apache Pinot pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Apache Pinot badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Databases softwareThe full category
- Best Databases softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Databases software for
Compare Apache Pinot with
- ClickHouse
- Tinybird
- Airtable
- Cockroach Labs
- PostgreSQL
- Amazon Aurora
- SingleStore
- DuckDB
- Firebolt
- Estuary
- TimescaleDB
- Materialize
- DataGrip
- Google Cloud SQL
- Microsoft SQL Server
- QuestDB
- Firebolt
- Estuary
Other Databases software
Fast open-source column-oriented database for real-time analytics
Free plan12 researched notesManaged ClickHouse with a workflow that turns SQL queries into hosted HTTP APIs
Free, then $25/mo12 researched notesCreate apps that perfectly fit your team's needs
Free, then $20/month per editor11 researched notesMySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database built for the cloud
Free plan12 researched notesThe real-time distributed SQL database for data-intensive applications
Free, then $0.99/mo14 researched notesMIT-licensed analytical SQL database that runs inside your process, with no server, no dependencies and one writer at a time.
Free plan14 researched notesReal-time data integration combining streaming, CDC, and batch
Free, then $0.5/GB10 researched notesTime-series database built on PostgreSQL for real-time analytics
Free plan12 researched notesLive context layer for AI agents using real-time SQL transformations
Free, then $1.5/compute-credit10 researched notesCross-platform database IDE from JetBrains for SQL and NoSQL databases
Free, then $8.25/mo12 researched notesFully managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server
Free plan9 researched notesEnterprise-grade relational database management system
Free plan15 researched notesFast open source time-series database for high throughput ingestion
Free plan10 researched notesReal-time data integration combining streaming, CDC, and batch
Free, then $0.5/GB10 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Apache Pinot, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Apache Pinot
Apache Pinot alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Apache Pinot pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Apache Pinot
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Apache Pinot badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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