ClickHouse is a columnar OLAP database optimized for sub-second queries on massive datasets with lower operational costs, while Redshift is AWS's managed data warehouse solution offering seamless AWS integration and enterprise support at higher pricing. ClickHouse excels in analytical performance per dollar; Redshift wins for organizations already invested in AWS infrastructure.
ClickHouse vs Amazon Redshift — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
High-performance open-source columnar OLAP database optimized for analytical queries on massive datasets
AWS's fully managed data warehouse service with native cloud integration and enterprise-grade reliability
Query Performance on 1B+ Row Datasets. Cost per TB/Month (On-Demand). Deployment Model. AWS Ecosystem Integration. Setup Time for Production Cluster. Compression Ratio Typical. Enterprise SLA & Support
Choose ClickHouse if you need maximum analytical query performance, operate at scale (100B+ rows), require cost-efficiency, and can manage infrastructure or use a specialized managed provider. Choose Redshift if you're already in the AWS ecosystem, need enterprise-grade SLAs, prefer turnkey deployment, and can justify the premium pricing for operational simplicity.
ClickHouse: 1.2 seconds | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 240 minutes | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 1,000,000 events/sec | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: Not native | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 8:1-12:1 | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: Open-source (free) + optional support | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 7/10 (moderate-hard) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 500-2000ms | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 10:1 to 40:1 | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 500-2000MB | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 1-5 million rows/sec | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 30-120 minutes | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 70% ANSI SQL | Amazon Redshift: 95% (PostgreSQL-compatible)
ClickHouse: 50-200ms (historical) | Amazon Redshift: 8000ms
ClickHouse: 1000-10000ms | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 50-200MB | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 1000+ | Amazon Redshift: Petabyte scale
ClickHouse: Standard SQL with extensions | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: Limited/requires custom logic | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: $800-1500 | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 10-60 seconds | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 50-500ms | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 15:1 | Amazon Redshift: 7.5:1
ClickHouse: 1000+ nodes tested | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: Limited (Kafka via TableEngine) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: No ACID (eventual consistency) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 34,000+ | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: ~1,000,000+ GB (1+ PB) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 500-2000 MB | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 12+ formats (TSV, Native, Avro, Protobuf, etc.) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
Query Latency (100M rows, simple aggregation)
ClickHouse: 500-1500ms | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: $20-40 | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 100TB+ efficiently | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 95% (PostgreSQL-compatible) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: Standard SQL; requires manual time bucketing | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 100,000-500,000 events/sec | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: $50-150 | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 8-32GB | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 3-5 nodes | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 1000TB+ (unlimited with tiering) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
Query Latency (1B row scan, 10 column aggregate)
ClickHouse: 50-100ms | Amazon Redshift: 500-2000ms
ClickHouse: $15-25 | Amazon Redshift: Included in node cost
ClickHouse: 10-40x | Amazon Redshift: 4-8x
ClickHouse: 1 (can run standalone) | Amazon Redshift: 2 (minimum production)
ClickHouse: Unlimited (resource-based) | Amazon Redshift: 32 (base, expandable via Concurrency Scaling)
ClickHouse: Microseconds to milliseconds | Amazon Redshift: Batch (minutes to hours typical)
ClickHouse: 5-10 (via third-party) | Amazon Redshift: 20+ (native connectors)
ClickHouse: 25000+ | Amazon Redshift: Not open-source (proprietary)
Query Latency (1 billion rows, simple SELECT)
ClickHouse: 150ms | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: $0.015 | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 1,000,000 | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 40-80 hours | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: $500 (ClickHouse Cloud starter) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 4+ (AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: 60-300 (manual cluster resize required) | Amazon Redshift: N/A
ClickHouse: MySQL-compatible with ClickHouse extensions | Amazon Redshift: N/A
Average Query Latency (1 Billion Row Scan)
ClickHouse: 75ms | Amazon Redshift: 350ms
ClickHouse: $0.09 | Amazon Redshift: $2.25
ClickHouse: 1440 (self-managed) / 60 (managed) | Amazon Redshift: 20
ClickHouse: 100,000+ | Amazon Redshift: 10,000+
ClickHouse: 99.0% (self-managed) / 99.95% (managed) | Amazon Redshift: 99.99%
ClickHouse: 3 (S3, Kinesis via 3rd party, basic) | Amazon Redshift: 12+ (S3, Glue, Lambda, Athena, QuickSight, IAM, EventBridge, etc.)
ClickHouse: 1-5 | Amazon Redshift: 0.5-2
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: $1.50-$5.00
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: Unlimited historical storage
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 160-256
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 1-10 seconds
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: Minutes to hours typical
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 2,000+
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: AWS Proprietary Managed Service
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: AWS only
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: Limited via Kinesis/S3 batch
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: $2,160-8,640 (dc2.large, 2-4 nodes)
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: $0.50 (DC2.large)
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: ~16 seconds
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 10-15 (requires cluster resize + restart)
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 1 (AWS only)
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: Up to 30%
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 40-80 (distribution keys, sort keys, vacuum)
Annual TCO (100TB storage, average usage)
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: $200,000
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 40-60 hours
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: 50 (standard)
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: Coupled (scale together)
ClickHouse: N/A | Amazon Redshift: ~200 (limited)
How to choose between ClickHouse and Amazon Redshift
ClickHouse vs Amazon Redshift — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for ClickHouse vs Amazon Redshift. Contains 90 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
ClickHouse vs Amazon Redshift — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for ClickHouse vs Amazon Redshift.
Which is cheaper: ClickHouse or Redshift?
ClickHouse is dramatically cheaper—approximately 15-25x lower cost per TB stored ($0.06-$0.12/TB/month vs $1.50-$3.00). However, Redshift has no infrastructure management costs, while self-managed ClickHouse requires DevOps expertise. For a 100TB warehouse, Redshift costs ~$15,000/month vs ClickHouse at ~$900/month (self-managed) or ~$3,000/month with a managed provider.
Yes, ClickHouse is 4-10x faster on analytical queries. On billion-row datasets, ClickHouse delivers results in 50-100ms while Redshift takes 200-500ms. ClickHouse's columnar architecture and superior compression enable sub-second latency on scans that would take seconds in Redshift. However, Redshift's query optimizer performs better on complex joins across multiple large tables.
Can I migrate from Redshift to ClickHouse?
Yes, but it requires effort. Both support SQL, but Redshift-specific functions (LAG, WINDOW, certain date functions) need rewriting. Data migration tools exist (AWS DMS, custom ETL), but expect 2-6 weeks for a 100TB+ warehouse. Query rewrites typically take 2-4 weeks. Reverse migration (ClickHouse to Redshift) is harder due to ClickHouse's more advanced features.
Redshift requires virtually zero DevOps—AWS handles patching, backups, scaling, and security. ClickHouse self-managed requires significant DevOps work (infrastructure provisioning, monitoring, failover, optimization). Managed ClickHouse services (Yandex Cloud, Altinity) reduce this to ~20% of self-managed effort, closing the gap considerably.
Redshift is optimized for AWS with native integration to Glue, S3, Lambda, Athena, and QuickSight. ClickHouse requires additional connectors and middleware. If you're heavily invested in AWS and have no budget constraints, Redshift is faster to deploy. If cost is critical or you need maximum analytical performance, ClickHouse with managed service provider (e.g., Altinity on AWS) is viable.
How to Choose Between ClickHouse and Amazon Redshift
Consider: Query Performance on 1B+ Row Datasets
Query Performance on 1B+ Row Datasets: ClickHouse has 50-100ms (typical), while Amazon Redshift has 200-500ms (typical).
Cost per TB/Month (On-Demand): ClickHouse has $0.06-$0.12, while Amazon Redshift has $1.50-$3.00.
Deployment Model: ClickHouse has Self-managed or managed service, while Amazon Redshift has Fully managed (AWS only).
AWS Ecosystem Integration: ClickHouse has Limited (third-party tools required), while Amazon Redshift has Native (Glue, S3, Lambda, QuickSight).
Consider: Setup Time for Production Cluster
Setup Time for Production Cluster: ClickHouse has 2-4 weeks (self-managed) or 1 day (managed), while Amazon Redshift has 15-30 minutes.
Compression Ratio Typical: ClickHouse has 10:1 to 20:1, while Amazon Redshift has 5:1 to 10:1.
Enterprise SLA & Support: ClickHouse has Community-driven or 3rd-party vendors, while Amazon Redshift has 24/7 AWS support with SLA guarantee.