data.table vs jq
data.table
rdatatable.gitlab.iojq
jqlang.orgSide by side
| Figure | data.table | jq |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Data Transformation Tools | 8.5 (#11) | 8.6 (#9) |
| Data operations | It supports filtering, grouping, aggregation, joins, reshaping, and adding, updating, or deleting columns. | jq can slice, filter, map and transform JSON data. |
| License | The project repository identifies its license as MPL-2.0. | jq code is licensed under the MIT license, while its documentation is licensed under CC-BY-3.0. |
| Support | The project directs users who need help to the data.table community on Stack Overflow. | The project points users to Stack Overflow, the #jq Libera.Chat channel, and its Discord server for questions and discussion. |
Plans
In their own words
data.table
data.table is a free R package providing a high-performance version of base R’s data.frame. Its code interface supports filtering, grouping, aggregation, ordered and rolling joins, overlapping and non-equi joins, reshaping with dcast and melt, and adding, updating, or deleting columns. fread() reads delimited text, including CSV, TSV, compressed .gz and .bz2 files, and can source web URLs or shell commands. fwrite() writes delimited files with an emphasis on speed for large files. Many operations use multiple CPU threads internally. Columns can be changed by reference without copies, and the project reports no external Imports, LinkingTo, or Depends dependencies. Queries can call R functions from other packages. data.table runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and requires base R. It is self-hosted and licensed under MPL-2.0. The project’s stated scope excludes binary formats such as Parquet and data stored on disk or in remote SQL databases.
jq
jq is a free command-line processor for selecting and transforming JSON data. A jq filter takes an input and produces output; filters can be combined to access nested attributes, construct objects, gather results into arrays, or make other transformations. It reads whitespace-separated JSON values and writes serialized results separated by whitespace. Each expression runs on each input value and may produce zero or more outputs. For very large inputs, the --stream option parses incrementally. Output options include compact, raw, ASCII, sorted-key, and colored forms. Written in portable C, jq has no runtime dependencies, and a standalone binary can be copied to another machine of the same type. Standalone executables are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with packages listed for Linux distributions and package managers including Homebrew, MacPorts, winget, Scoop, and Chocolatey. A Docker image is also available. Release binaries have SHA-256 checksums, and signed release artifacts use jq release keys. The code is licensed under MIT; the documentation uses CC-BY-3.0.