Apache Kylin vs Firebolt
Apache Kylin
kylin.apache.org
Firebolt
firebolt.ioSide by side
| Figure | Apache Kylin | Firebolt |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Query Engine Software | 8.5 (#4) | 7.9 (#12) |
| Spec score · OLAP Software | 8.6 (#6) | 7.9 (#18) |
| Spec score · Analytics Databases | 8.5 (#6) | 8.0 (#13) |
| Spec score · OLAP Databases | 8.5 (#6) | 7.9 (#14) |
| Spec score · Analytical Data Store Software | 8.5 (#6) | 7.9 (#14) |
| Spec score · Big Data Analytics Software | 8.5 (#8) | 7.8 (#19) |
| Deployment | Kylin provides a web UI and can be deployed with query, job, or all server modes. | It runs as a single binary on a laptop or as a cluster of hundreds of nodes in your own cloud. |
| Founded | 2014 | 2019 |
| Product | Apache Kylin is an open source OLAP engine for big data analytics, designed for sub-second queries on trillions of records. | Firebolt is a high-performance, open-source analytical database for engineers with Postgres-compatible SQL. |
| Storage | Kylin supports HDFS or S3-compatible file systems for data storage, and MySQL or PostgreSQL for metadata. | The platform supports Apache Iceberg and DuckLake and uses open storage standards. |
| Support | The project directs users to its user mailing list and Apache Kylin JIRA for questions and issues. | The pricing page lists audit logs, metrics, and support as managed-service capabilities. |
Plans
In their own words
Apache Kylin
Apache Kylin is an open-source OLAP engine for data analytics, designed for large-scale workloads with many concurrent users. Its pre-calculation approach is intended to support sub-second SQL queries. Kylin 5 can build models from SQL text, suggest index changes using query history, and use Apache Gluten as a native compute engine; the product overview describes a 2–4× improvement compared with vanilla Spark. For mixed data workloads, it supports Kafka streaming sources and fusion models for batch and streaming analysis, as well as internal tables for flexible queries and lakehouse scenarios. Teams can connect Tableau, Power BI, or Excel. A web UI supports table management, model design, job execution, and configuration. Deployment offers query, job, or all server modes. Kylin runs on Linux and uses Spark with Yarn or Standalone mode. Data storage can use HDFS or S3-compatible systems, while MySQL or PostgreSQL can hold metadata. The project is free under Apache License v2, with source and binary packages available. APIs use Basic Authentication; HTTPS is supported in Kylin 5 but disabled by default.
Firebolt
Firebolt is an open-source analytical database for engineers, with Postgres-compatible SQL and options for self-managed or managed deployment. It can run as a single binary on a laptop or scale to a cluster of hundreds of nodes in a customer’s cloud. Firebolt is designed for sub-second query latency and high-concurrency analytics, and supports Apache Iceberg and DuckLake using open storage standards. Deployment choices include a single binary, Helm chart, Kubernetes Operator, and managed service. Firebolt Core is free forever for self-hosted use, with no usage limits; it cannot be used to build a hosted SaaS that competes with Firebolt’s managed service. Managed compute is billed per second, with scale-to-zero, automatic start and stop, and autoscaling. Object storage is pass-through at $0.0264 / GB·mo, and the managed service includes $200 free credits. AI capabilities include query and embedding functions, vector search, an MCP Server, and a preview agent. Self-managed availability includes AWS and GCP, with Azure in preview; the managed service is currently AWS-only.