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Free Firebolt alternatives: 3 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Nov 8, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

3 of the 5 Firebolt alternatives we track can be used for free (free, open source, or with a free plan). ClickHouse, Google BigQuery and DuckDB rank highest, with facts last verified Nov 8, 2026.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingVerified priceOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1ClickHouse logoClickHouseOpen source30 days with $300 creditsNoWeb, Linux, macOS +15 of 583.8
2Google BigQuery logoGoogle BigQueryFree plan + paid$6.25 per TiB scanned (on-demand)NoWeb4 of 474.4
3DuckDB logoDuckDBOpen source—YesWindows, macOS, Linux +15 of 557.5
  1. ClickHouse logo

    1. ClickHouseTop pick

    Best for: Engineering teams building real-time dashboards, observability or analytics over billions of rows

    Open sourceWeb, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted

    83.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from Firebolt

    Widely used open-source columnar database for real-time analytics, with a managed cloud and a big community.

    Pros

    • Very fast aggregations over large tables, suited to live dashboards
    • Apache 2.0 open source, so it can be self-hosted at no licence cost
    • Strong compression keeps storage costs down
    • Managed cloud option on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure

    Cons

    • Schema and table-engine choices need care to get good performance
    • Updates, deletes and large joins are weaker than in general-purpose warehouses
    • Self-hosting a cluster takes real operational work
    Visit ClickHouse Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.3100
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is ClickHouse a good Firebolt alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    License
    Apache-2.0
    Checked Oct 29, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Open source
    Yes
    Checked Nov 8, 2026clickhouse.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    30 days with $300 credits
    Checked Nov 8, 2026clickhouse.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Pricing model
    Compute and storage metered separately
    Checked Nov 8, 2026clickhouse.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Cloud providers
    AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
    Checked Nov 8, 2026clickhouse.com(opens source in a new tab)
  2. Google BigQuery logo

    2. Google BigQuery

    Best for: Teams on Google Cloud or GA4 who want a warehouse with no servers to manage

    Free plan + paidWeb

    74.4

    score / 100

    Why switch from Firebolt

    Serverless warehouse with no clusters to size, a good fit for teams already on Google Cloud.

    Pros

    • Fully serverless, with nothing to size or keep running
    • Monthly free query and storage allowance for small projects
    • Native exports from Google Analytics 4 and other Google products
    • Machine learning models can be trained in plain SQL

    Cons

    • Tied to Google Cloud; there is no self-hosted version
    • On-demand billing by data scanned can surprise teams that query wide tables
    • Less control over performance tuning than with your own cluster
    Visit Google BigQuery Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.369
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Google BigQuery a good Firebolt alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Serverless
    Yes
    Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free query allowance
    First 1 TiB per month
    Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Starting price
    $6.25 per TiB scanned (on-demand)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free storage
    First 10 GiB per month
    Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
  3. DuckDB logo

    3. DuckDB

    Best for: Analysts and data engineers who want fast SQL over local or cloud files without running a database server

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWindows, macOS, Linux, Web

    57.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from Firebolt

    In-process analytical database for single-machine work, free and MIT licensed.

    Pros

    • Runs in-process with no server to install or manage
    • Queries CSV, JSON, Parquet and Iceberg files directly
    • Clients for Python, R, Java, Node.js, Go, Rust and more
    • MIT licence, governed by an independent foundation

    Cons

    • Not built for many concurrent writers or high-volume transactional apps
    • Single-machine engine; scaling beyond one host needs other tools or a hosted service
    • No built-in GUI; you need a client tool or notebook for visual work
    Visit DuckDB Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.363
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is DuckDB a good Firebolt alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    License
    MIT
    Checked Nov 1, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Governance
    DuckDB Foundation
    Checked Nov 1, 2026duckdb.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Deployment
    In-process
    Checked Nov 8, 2026duckdb.org(opens source in a new tab)
    File formats
    CSV, JSON, Parquet, Iceberg
    Checked Nov 1, 2026duckdb.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Latest version
    2.0.0 LTS
    Checked Nov 1, 2026duckdb.org(opens source in a new tab)