Apache Kudu vs Apache Pinot
Apache Kudu
kudu.apache.org
Apache Pinot
pinot.apache.orgSide by side
| Figure | Apache Kudu | Apache Pinot |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Columnar Databases | 8.1 (#11) | 8.2 (#10) |
| Deployment | Kudu stores data on the Linux filesystem and recommends ext4 or XFS for storage directories. | The official quick install supports Docker and Kubernetes with Helm. |
| Founded | 2015 | 2013 |
| Purpose | Apache Kudu is an open source distributed data storage engine for fast analytics on rapidly changing data. | Apache Pinot is a real-time distributed OLAP datastore for low-latency, high-throughput analytics and user-facing workloads. |
| Support | The project points users to documentation, mailing lists, and its chat room for help; training may be offered by third-party vendors. | The project provides Slack, mailing lists, GitHub Issues, and community meetups for questions and discussion. |
Plans
In their own words
Apache Kudu
Apache Kudu is an open-source distributed storage engine for analytics on rapidly changing data. It combines fast inserts and updates with efficient columnar scans in one storage layer. Tables use strongly typed columns and primary keys, allowing reads, updates, and deletes by key, with millisecond-scale access to individual rows. Java, C++, and Python APIs are provided, and frequently used integrations include Apache Impala, Apache NiFi, Apache Spark SQL, and Presto. Kudu runs on Linux, stores data in the Linux filesystem, and recommends ext4 or XFS for storage directories. Raft replicates tablet operations, while clients can use strict snapshot consistency. Security options include Kerberos authentication, TLS for authenticated internal connections, and fine-grained Apache Ranger authorization. It is self-hosted, supports Parquet, and is free under the Apache 2.0 license. Kudu is not designed as an OLTP system and does not currently support automatic record deletion through a time-to-live property. The listed latest release is 1.18.1, released January 9, 2026.
Apache Pinot
Apache Pinot is a free, open-source distributed OLAP datastore for real-time analytics and user-facing workloads. It ingests streaming data from Apache Kafka, Apache Pulsar, and AWS Kinesis, plus batch data from Hadoop, Spark, Amazon S3, Azure ADLS, and Google Cloud Storage. Streaming and batch sources can be combined into one queryable table. Pinot provides SQL through a query editor and REST API, with JDBC, Java, Python, and Golang clients for applications. Project materials advertise P90 query latency in the tens of milliseconds on petabyte-scale data and capacity for hundreds of thousands of concurrent queries per second. Logical namespaces provide multitenancy. Security features include HTTP Basic Authentication, ACLs, TLS, mutual TLS, and row-level security filters in version 1.4.0 and later. Superset, Tableau, and Power BI can connect as BI tools. Official installation guidance covers Docker and Kubernetes with Helm. The self-hosted plan is listed at free.