ClickHouse: Pricing, Features & Alternatives
ClickHouse stores data by column and runs aggregations over huge tables in well under a second. The open-source server is Apache 2.0 and free. ClickHouse Cloud comes in Basic (up to 1 TB storage), Scale (unlimited storage, compute separation, multiple zones) and Enterprise tiers; Enterprise lists $0.39030 per compute unit-hour (8 GiB RAM, 2 vCPU) and $25.30 per TB-month in AWS us-east-1. New accounts get $300 of credits over 30 days.
Who it’s for: Engineering teams that need sub-second aggregations over very large event tables, self-hosted or managed.
Category
Real-Time Analytics Databases
Pricing
Free tier available
Free tier
Yes
Best for
Real-Time Analytics Databases: OLAP, open source, event analytics
ClickHouse at a Glance
- What it is
- Column-oriented analytics database
- Licence
- Apache 2.0
- How you pay
- Free self-hosted; cloud per compute unit-hour and TB-month
- Managed option
- ClickHouse Cloud
- Ingestion
- Batch and streaming inserts
Checked November 2026 against ClickHouse pricing, ClickHouse on GitHub.
ClickHouse Pricing Plans (2026)
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Open source | $0 (Apache 2.0) |
| ClickHouse CloudPopular | Usage-based, see calculator |
Pricing summary: Free · then usage-based. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.
Key ClickHouse Features
- Open-source server under Apache 2.0, free to run
- ClickHouse Cloud tiers: Basic (up to 1 TB storage), Scale (unlimited storage, compute separation) and Enterprise
- Enterprise in AWS us-east-1: $0.39030 per compute unit-hour (8 GiB, 2 vCPU) and $25.30 per TB-month
- Basic and Scale prices come from the calculator
- $300 of credits over 30 days, no card
Pros
- +Very fast aggregations on large tables
- +Free Apache 2.0 server
- +Managed cloud on AWS, Azure and GCP
- +Large ecosystem
Cons
- −Updates and deletes are awkward
- −Joins need care
- −Basic and Scale rates only in the calculator
Best ClickHouse Alternatives
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ClickHouse FAQ
What is ClickHouse used for?⌄
ClickHouse is a real-time analytics databases tool. Column-oriented analytics database for fast queries on billions of rows. Apache 2.0, plus ClickHouse Cloud with $300 of trial credits.
Is ClickHouse free?⌄
Yes. ClickHouse has a free tier you can start with, and paid plans for more usage and features.
How much does ClickHouse cost?⌄
ClickHouse is free to use, with usage-based pricing on some features.
What are the best ClickHouse alternatives?⌄
Popular ClickHouse alternatives include Tinybird, Apache Druid, Apache Pinot. Compare pricing and features on our ClickHouse alternatives page.
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