head to head · open source
ClickHouse vs dlt
ClickHouse has 50,719 GitHub stars, 9,204 forks, 7,547 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dlt has 6,051 stars, 649 forks, 434 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. ClickHouse leads on adoption by 738% (50,719 vs 6,051 stars). ClickHouse is written in C++ under Apache-2.0; dlt is written in Python under Apache-2.0. ClickHouse has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, dlt 11%. ClickHouse was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| ClickHouse | dlt | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 51K | ★ 6.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.2K | ⑂ 649 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ClickHouse if
- You weight community size — 51K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dlt if
- You want the dlt feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and dlt fits your workflow better
About ClickHouse
ClickHouse® is an open source column oriented database management system that allows generating analytical data reports in real time. How To Install (Linux, macOS, FreeBSD) Useful Links Official website has a quick high level overview of ClickHouse on the main page. ClickHouse Cloud ClickHouse as a service, built by the creators and maintainers. Tutorial shows how to set up and query a small ClickHouse cluster. Documentation provides more in depth information. YouTube channel has a lot of content about ClickHouse in video format. ClickHouse Theater contains presentations and videos about ClickHouse. Slack and…
read the full ClickHouse overview →
About dlt
data load tool (dlt) — the open source Python library that automates all your tedious data loading tasks Be it a Google Colab notebook, AWS Lambda function, an Airflow DAG, your local laptop, or an AI coding agent— dlt can be dropped in anywhere. 🚀 Join our thriving community of likeminded developers and build the future together! Installation dlt supports Python 3.10 through Python 3.14. Note that some optional extras are not yet available for Python 3.14, so support for this version is considered experimental. Add the extras you need for your sources and destinations, for example: Prefer uv? uv add…
More in Data & Analytics
Related comparisons
More Data Warehousing & Processing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Data Warehousing & Processing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is ClickHouse or dlt more popular?
ClickHouse has 50,719 GitHub stars and dlt has 6,051. ClickHouse has the larger community by that measure.
Are ClickHouse and dlt free?
Both are open source. ClickHouse is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dlt under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ClickHouse and dlt?
ClickHouse is written in C++ and dlt in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ClickHouse or dlt?
Choose ClickHouse if you want the larger community (50,719 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dlt if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.