5 key areas where ClickHouse outshines Snowflake

IntroductionIntroduction

The landscape of data analytics has been evolving constantly in the last ten years alongside the trend of treating big data as a commodity, and organizations are continually seeking the best solutions to meet their needs. One of the most prominent players in this industry is Snowflake, which provides cloud-based data storage and analytics service, and helped establish the term “data-as-a-service.” It’s been around since 2012 and consists of an ecosystem of mostly proprietary solutions providing separation of storage and compute, scaling on demand, data sharing, and so on. Naturally, there are a lot of companies that build their data platform on top of Snowflake tools, but with the rise in quality of open-source solutions, there are other possible options that should be considered. One such solution is ClickHouse, a columnar database optimized for real-time analytics that can enhance a data platform if appropriately used, potentially cutting the infrastructure costs. ClickHouse stands out in several key areas, making it a compelling choice for businesses looking to optimize their data analytics processes. Here are five main points where ClickHouse shines in comparison to Snowflake.

1. Superior query performance1. Superior query performance

ClickHouse is engineered for speed, prioritizing performance to enable lightning-fast query execution on massive datasets. Its columnar storage format allows for efficient data retrieval, reading only the necessary data for each request and significantly reducing the time required for complex analytical queries by minimizing I/O operations. While Snowflake provides solid performance across various workloads, ClickHouse excels in real-time data processing scenarios. Its architecture is optimized for the rapid ingestion of large volumes of incoming data, resulting in lower latency for analytical queries, which helps businesses stay competitive if they depend on timely data for operational efficiency.

However, it’s important to recognize that while ClickHouse delivers sub-second analytics for mature data products, there may be better choices for exploratory data analysis or ad-hoc queries, where Snowflake’s flexibility can be beneficial. As data products mature and the demand for high-speed analytics increases, ClickHouse becomes an increasingly attractive option. At DoubleCloud, we understand that efficient data ingestion is crucial for maximizing ClickHouse’s potential, but it shouldn’t burden your team. That’s why we offer the Data Transfer tool, designed to simplify the ingestion process, ensuring you can focus on deriving insights rather than managing data flows—more on that later.

2. Cost efficiency and cost predictability2. Cost efficiency and cost predictability

One of ClickHouse’s most significant advantages is its cost-effectiveness. As an open-source solution, ClickHouse eliminates licensing fees, allowing organizations to deploy it without the financial burden of proprietary software like Snowflake. This reduces upfront costs and makes it easier for businesses to allocate their budgets effectively.

In addition, ClickHouse offers cost predictability, which is often lacking in purely cloud-based solutions. With ClickHouse, organizations can anticipate their expenses, as they are primarily based on infrastructure and operational needs rather than fluctuating due to usage-based pricing models. This predictability is especially beneficial for the SMB segment and budget-conscious businesses, enabling them to confidently plan their expenditure and simultaneously leverage powerful analytics capabilities. Read how our clients save with DoubleCloud.

3. Scalability and flexibility3. Scalability and flexibility

ClickHouse excels in horizontal scalability, allowing organizations to add more nodes to accommodate growing data volumes. This inherent flexibility allows data-driven companies to scale their analytics capabilities without significant downtime or complex reconfiguration. As data needs evolve, ClickHouse ensures that organizations can maintain performance and responsiveness, making it an excellent choice for those anticipating rapid growth or fluctuating workloads.

While Snowflake does offer scalability, ClickHouse’s architecture is specifically designed to provide a more seamless scaling experience. Scaling out by simply adding nodes means a straightforward increase in capacity—both in terms of resources available and costs spent—avoiding the potential pitfalls of over-provisioning or under-utilization.

4. Real-time data processing4. Real-time data processing

For businesses that require real-time insights, ClickHouse is a clear winner. Its architecture is optimized for handling streaming data and real-time analytics, making it particularly well-suited for applications such as log analysis, monitoring, and event-driven analytics. ClickHouse’s origins are closely tied to the need for real-time analytics, which has shaped its internal design and functionality. Due to this, ClickHouse allows organizations to process and analyze data as it arrives, often with sub-second latency, and enables timely decision-making and immediate responses to emerging trends or issues. The speed and efficiency of ClickHouse in these use-cases help provide a significant competitive edge for businesses that rely on up-to-the-minute information. Sometimes, it’s not about whether you can afford the real-time data processing, but whether you can afford not to have it.

Snowflake, while capable of handling real-time data, often requires additional configurations and may not match the performance of ClickHouse in this domain. The need for extra setup can introduce complexity and potential delays, which can be painful to deal with. In contrast, ClickHouse’s approach ensures that you can harness the full power of your data without unnecessary hurdles. At DoubleCloud, we also offer an ingestion tool called Data Transfer that further enhances ClickHouse’s capabilities for real-time data ingestion and helps your data team focus on delivering insights rather than managing data flows.

5. Strong community support5. Strong community support

As an open-source platform, ClickHouse benefits from an active community of developers and users contributing to its continuous improvement. This community-driven approach results in a metric tonne of resources, documentation, and support options that can be invaluable for organizations looking to implement and optimize their ClickHouse deployments. Users can access a variety of communities, tutorials, and user-contributed content that not only help troubleshoot but also provide examples of best practices and potential use cases. This environment encourages knowledge sharing and accelerates the learning process for new users, making it easier for organizations to unlock the full potential of ClickHouse for their data needs.

In contrast, Snowflake’s support is primarily vendor-driven, which can limit the breadth of community resources available. While Snowflake does offer professional support and documentation, the reliance on a single vendor can restrict the possibilities compared to what a broader community can provide. Organizations that use Snowflake may depend on vendor timelines for updates and enhancements, which can slow down the adoption of new features. At DoubleCloud, we not only embrace the strength of the ClickHouse community, but are also proud to be active contributors to its development. Furthermore, our dedicated support team and solution engineers are committed to helping you unlock the true power of your real-time data with ClickHouse.

While both ClickHouse and Snowflake offer valuable features for data analytics, ClickHouse shines in several key areas, including query performance, cost efficiency, scalability, real-time processing, and community support. For organizations seeking a powerful and flexible solution for their data analytics needs, ClickHouse is undoubtedly worth considering. At DoubleCloud, we invite you to explore the benefits of ClickHouse for your organization with a free trial, allowing you to test its capabilities on your own.