DuckHouse vs ClickHouse Cloud.
Small sizes, or big ones.
ClickHouse Cloud bills compute in units of 8 GiB of memory and 2 vCPUs, by the minute, from $0.2181 a unit-hour on its Basic plan, and scales to zero when idle. DuckHouse bills by the second and sells smaller sizes, from 512 MB.
ClickHouse Cloud’s list prices for AWS us-east-1 (N. Virginia), checked on November 1, 2026. Sources
Price list
Side by side.
Each service’s unit prices, in its own units. DuckHouse’s come from the code that bills it.
| Topic | DuckHouse | ClickHouse Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of compute | One size, by the hour | 8 GiB of memory and 2 vCPUs |
| Price of compute | $0.0117 (512 MB) to $1.02 (16 GB) an hour | $0.2181 Basic, $0.2985 Scale, $0.3903 Enterprise, per unit-hour |
| Billing increment | By the second while running | By the minute |
| Storage | $0.02 per GB-month in object storage (DuckLake), $0.225 for a DuckDB disk | $25.30 per TB-month, with backups at the same rate |
| Egress | $0.03 per GB of query results | From $0.1152 per GB to the public internet |
Worked examples
What a month costs.
The same workload on both sides, line by line, so you can check the arithmetic.
Same vCPUs and memory, four hours a working day
100 GB of data on 2 vCPUs and 8 GB of memory, queried 4 hours each working day: 88 hours a month.
DuckHouse, performance-2x
- performance-2x (2 dedicated vCPUs, 8 GB), 88 hours × $0.2959
- $26.04
- 100 GB in object storage × $0.02
- $2.00
ClickHouse Cloud Basic, 1 compute unit
- 1 unit (8 GiB, 2 vCPUs), 88 hours × $0.2181
- $19.19
- 0.1 TB storage × $25.30
- $2.53
ClickHouse is cheaper here. With the same vCPUs and memory, its Basic plan is $0.2181 an hour against DuckHouse’s $0.2959.
Same vCPUs and memory, always on
The same 100 GB on 2 vCPUs and 8 GB of memory, running all month: 730 hours.
DuckHouse, performance-2x
- performance-2x (2 dedicated vCPUs, 8 GB), on all month
- $216.00
- 100 GB in object storage × $0.02
- $2.00
ClickHouse Cloud Basic, 1 compute unit
- 1 unit (8 GiB, 2 vCPUs), 730 hours × $0.2181
- $159.21
- 0.1 TB storage × $25.30
- $2.53
ClickHouse is cheaper here too, for the same reason.
Data that needs less memory
100 GB of data on 2 vCPUs whose queries fit in 2 GB of memory, 4 hours each working day.
DuckHouse, shared-cpu-2x
- shared-cpu-2x (2 shared vCPUs, 2 GB), 88 hours × $0.0528
- $4.65
- 100 GB in object storage × $0.02
- $2.00
ClickHouse Cloud Basic, 1 compute unit
- 1 unit (8 GiB, 2 vCPUs), 88 hours × $0.2181
- $19.19
- 0.1 TB storage × $25.30
- $2.53
ClickHouse’s smallest service has 8 GiB. On DuckHouse the same 2 vCPUs can run with less memory, shared rather than dedicated, so data that doesn’t need 8 GiB costs less.
Beyond price
Other differences.
| Topic | DuckHouse | ClickHouse Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Smallest size | 512 MB, 1 shared vCPU, $0.0117 an hour | 8 GiB, 2 vCPUs, $0.2181 an hour on Basic |
| When idle | Stops when nothing is connected, if you turn on stop when idle | Scales to zero after a period of inactivity |
| Storage limit | None for a DuckLake database | Up to 1 TB on Basic |
| SQL | DuckDB SQL; attach from any DuckDB client | ClickHouse SQL, through ClickHouse’s clients |
| Connectors | 15 sources synced on a schedule, at no extra charge | Not compared here |
Which to choose
Which one fits.
When ClickHouse Cloud fits better
- You need 8 GiB of memory or more and want the lowest hourly price. With the same vCPUs and memory, ClickHouse Basic costs less than DuckHouse.
- You need high availability. The Scale plan runs across two or more availability zones.
- You want to try it before paying. New organizations get $300 of credits for 30 days.
When DuckHouse fits better
- Your data doesn’t need 8 GiB of memory. DuckHouse sizes start at 512 MB, $0.0117 an hour.
- You keep a lot of data. Object storage is $0.02 per GB-month on DuckHouse, against $25.30 per TB-month, and query results leave at $0.03 per GB rather than from $0.1152.
- You want DuckDB: its SQL, its file formats, and any DuckDB client attached over Quack.
- You want your sources synced for you. DuckHouse keeps 15 of them in step, including Postgres, MySQL, Stripe, Shopify, Square, QuickBooks, Google Analytics, Meta Ads, at no extra charge.
FAQ
About this comparison.
Where do these prices come from?
Does DuckHouse have a free tier?
Why compare at the same vCPUs and memory?
Sources
Where the numbers come from.
ClickHouse Cloud’s prices are its published list prices for AWS us-east-1 (N. Virginia), checked on November 1, 2026, and may have changed since. ClickHouse Cloud is a trademark of its owner. DuckHouse isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by ClickHouse Cloud.
Try it on your own data.
No contracts and no minimums. Pick a size, connect your sources, and stop the database whenever you like.