head to head · open source
duckdb vs starrocks
duckdb has 41,440 GitHub stars, 3,798 forks, 858 open issues and last shipped yesterday. starrocks has 12,115 stars, 2,590 forks, 1,443 open issues and last shipped yesterday. duckdb leads on adoption by 242% (41,440 vs 12,115 stars). duckdb is written in C++ under MIT; starrocks is written in Java under Apache-2.0. duckdb has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, starrocks 21%. duckdb was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (analytics, database), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| duckdb | starrocks | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 12K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick duckdb if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick starrocks if
- You want the starrocks feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and starrocks fits your workflow better
About duckdb
DuckDB is an analytical, in process SQL database management system written in C++ and released under the MIT license. It runs inside the application process rather than as a separate server, and it is distributed as a standalone command line application as well as through clients for Python, R, Java, and WebAssembly. The project lives in the analytical SQL ecosystem, where the topics listed for it are analytics, database, embedded database, OLAP, and SQL. It has been developed for about eight years, with the last push recorded on 15 September 2026.
read the full duckdb overview →
About starrocks
StarRocks is an Apache 2.0, Linux Foundation open query engine written in Java that delivers sub second ad hoc and multi dimensional analytics both on and off the data lakehouse, built for data platform teams, analytics engineers, and BI users who need fast SQL over large distributed datasets without moving data or rewriting SQL.
read the full starrocks overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Marketing & Customer Engagement projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Marketing & Customer Engagement field.
Frequently asked questions
Is duckdb or starrocks more popular?
duckdb has 41,440 GitHub stars and starrocks has 12,115. duckdb has the larger community by that measure.
Are duckdb and starrocks free?
Both are open source. duckdb is licensed under MIT and starrocks under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between duckdb and starrocks?
duckdb is written in C++ and starrocks in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, duckdb or starrocks?
Choose duckdb if you want the larger community (41,440 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose starrocks if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.