DuckDB
More info
- Creator
- Mark Raasveldt, Hannes Mühleisen (CWI)
- Released
- Type
- In-process OLAP database
- License
- MIT
- Website
- duckdb.org
- Source
- github.com/duckdb/duckdb
- Wikipedia
- en.wikipedia.org
"SQLite for analytics" — a columnar in-process OLAP database that runs as a library, not a server.
Built at CWI Amsterdam (2019). Reads Parquet, CSV, JSON and Arrow directly — no import step. Vectorised query engine, ACID via MVCC, full SQL including window functions and CTEs. Shines at "single-node OLAP" up to hundreds of GB; has already replaced Spark jobs in cases where the data fits on a laptop.
Heavy use in data science workflows (Python, R), edge analytics, and as the embedded engine inside tools like Mode, Hex and Rill. The duckdb file.db CLI is surprisingly pleasant.