head to head · open source
duckdb vs trino
duckdb has 41,440 GitHub stars, 3,798 forks, 858 open issues and last shipped yesterday. trino has 13,246 stars, 3,777 forks, 2,764 open issues and last shipped yesterday. duckdb leads on adoption by 213% (41,440 vs 13,246 stars). duckdb is written in C++ under MIT; trino is written in Java under Apache-2.0. duckdb has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, trino 29%. trino 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.
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Side by side
| duckdb | trino | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 13K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 3.8K |
| 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 trino if
- You want the trino 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 trino 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 trino
Trino is a distributed SQL query engine for big data analytics, published as the official Apache 2.0 licensed Java repository of the project formerly known as PrestoSQL, and it is aimed at teams that need to query data spread across Hadoop, Hive, Iceberg, Delta Lake and other large scale sources through a single SQL interface.
read the full trino overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is duckdb or trino more popular?
duckdb has 41,440 GitHub stars and trino has 13,246. duckdb has the larger community by that measure.
Are duckdb and trino free?
Both are open source. duckdb is licensed under MIT and trino under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between duckdb and trino?
duckdb is written in C++ and trino 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 trino?
Choose duckdb if you want the larger community (41,440 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose trino if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.