We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
It's a split decision.
Choose MySQL when application compatibility, transactions, embedded use, or a free GPL edition matter most. Its paid Standard Edition starts at $2,140 per server per year for 1–4 socket servers; Enterprise starts at $5,350 yearly. Choose ClickHouse for SQL analytics on large datasets and flexible self-managed or cloud deployment. ClickHouse Cloud bills by compute and storage, offers a 30-day trial, and has no free plan listed.
01Side by side
| MySQL | ClickHouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Community: free; Standard starts at $2,140/server/year | Cloud: $0.2181/compute unit-hour plus $25.30/TB-month |
| Free plan | Community Edition is free under GPL | No free plan listed; 30-day trial |
| Best for | Application databases, transactions, and embedded products | Real-time analytics on large datasets |
| Core strength | Transactions, analytics, AI, and embedded database options | Columnar storage for analytical queries at scale |
| Learning curve | Review ease-of-use score: 7/10 | Review ease-of-use score: 6/10 |
| Integrations/data | Application and embedded use; compatibility emphasized by review | SQL analytics; Local reads CSV, TSV, and Parquet |
| Team/seat costs | Licensed per server; seat limits not published | Usage-based compute and storage; seat rates not published |
| Support | Enterprise includes technical support; response times not published | Enterprise lists a 30-minute Severity 1 response |
MySQL Choose MySQL if
- Choose MySQL if application compatibility or embedded licensing is central.
- Choose MySQL if you need a free GPL Community Edition.
- Choose MySQL if your workload needs transactions and application database support.
ClickHouse Choose ClickHouse if
- Choose ClickHouse if large-scale SQL analytics is the main workload.
- Choose ClickHouse if you need self-managed or cloud deployment options.
- Choose ClickHouse if you can manage engineering needs and variable cloud bills.
02Pricing compared
MySQL has a free Community Edition under GPL; socket and seat limits are not published. Paid Standard costs $2,140 per server per year for 1–4 sockets or $4,280 for 5+ sockets. Enterprise costs $5,350 or $10,700 per server per year, respectively, and includes a 30-day trial. MySQL monthly prices are not published.
ClickHouse Cloud has a 30-day trial but no free plan listed. Usage-based compute is $0.2181 per unit-hour on Basic, $0.2985 on Scale, and $0.3903 on Enterprise; storage is $25.30 per TB-month across plans. Basic caps storage at 1 TB, while Scale and Enterprise list unlimited storage. Public internet egress starts at $0.1152 per GB; ClickPipes rates are not listed. Self-managed ClickHouse pricing is not published.
03Features and depth
MySQL and ClickHouse both support SQL, but they are built around different work. MySQL is a database platform for applications and transaction processing, with Community, Enterprise, Cluster, HeatWave and embedded offerings. HeatWave combines transactions with lakehouse-scale analytics; MySQL also describes integrated machine learning and generative AI features. Enterprise Edition includes advanced features, management tools and technical support.
ClickHouse is an open-source, column-oriented database focused on analytics over large datasets. Its columnar storage, compression and SQL queries target real-time analysis; the product describes millisecond queries as a design goal, not a guarantee for every workload. ClickHouse Local can query CSV, TSV and Parquet files without a server. Teams can choose Cloud, self-managed ClickHouse or Local. Keep MySQL where application compatibility and transaction processing anchor the stack; evaluate ClickHouse for analytics rather than treating them as interchangeable database editions.
04Ease of use and learning curve
The easier choice is usually the one that fits your existing application and operating model. If your software depends on MySQL, compatibility may outweigh ClickHouse’s analytics focus. MySQL also offers a free Community Edition, so teams can start without buying a paid edition.
ClickHouse offers Cloud, self-managed and Local options, but its best fit is analytical workloads. The comparison guidance flags engineering effort and a variable cloud bill as trade-offs. Cloud charges for compute and storage, so estimate usage before choosing a plan; rates vary by tier, and some add-on prices are not listed. Neither product’s material provides a direct migration-effort estimate.
Questions people ask
Should I choose MySQL or ClickHouse?
Choose MySQL when application compatibility, transaction processing, embedded use or a free GPL edition is the priority. Choose ClickHouse when the main job is SQL analytics on large datasets and you can manage its deployment and usage-based cloud costs. They serve different workload priorities.
Can ClickHouse replace MySQL?
Not as a like-for-like swap based on the product descriptions. MySQL is positioned for applications and transaction processing, while ClickHouse is built for analytical queries on large datasets. If your application relies on MySQL compatibility, assess that requirement before moving analytics workloads to ClickHouse.
How much does ClickHouse Cloud cost?
The listed compute rates are $0.2181 per unit-hour on Basic, $0.2985 on Scale and $0.3903 on Enterprise. Storage is $25.30 per TB-month across plans. Public internet egress starts at $0.1152 per GB, and ClickPipes rates are not listed, so total cost depends on usage.
Is there a free version of either database?
MySQL Community Edition is free under GPL; its socket and seat limits are not published. ClickHouse is open source and has self-managed and Local options, but ClickHouse Cloud’s pricing lists no free plan. The published pricing does not state the cost of running self-managed infrastructure.