Firebolt vs MotherDuck
Firebolt
firebolt.ioMotherDuck
motherduck.comSide by side
| Figure | Firebolt | MotherDuck |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $250/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Cloud Analytics Solutions | 8.2 (#7) | 7.9 (#13) |
| Spec score · Analytics Databases | 8.0 (#13) | 7.9 (#17) |
| Spec score · Columnar Databases | 7.9 (#13) | 7.8 (#18) |
| Spec score · Analytics Data | 8.0 (#15) | 7.9 (#19) |
| Spec score · Analytical Data Store Software | 7.9 (#14) | 7.8 (#16) |
| Founded | 2019 | 2022 |
| Integrations | It integrates with Looker, Tableau, Power BI, Postgres-compatible tools, Go, JDBC, .NET, Node.js, Python, Rust, SQLAlchemy, and REST API clients. | The maker lists integrations with tools including dbt, Airflow, Fivetran, Hex, Tableau, and Omni. |
| Product | Firebolt is a high-performance, open-source analytical database for engineers with Postgres-compatible SQL. | MotherDuck is a serverless cloud data warehouse built on DuckDB for data teams, app developers, and AI agents. |
| Security | Firebolt lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27018, HIPAA support, GDPR alignment, MFA, RBAC, and encryption in transit and at rest. | MotherDuck states that it has completed SOC 2 Type II attestation and is GDPR verified by GDPR Local. |
| Support | The pricing page lists audit logs, metrics, and support as managed-service capabilities. | Lite includes community support, while Business includes support from MotherDuck experts. |
Plans
In their own words
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.
MotherDuck
MotherDuck is a serverless cloud data warehouse built on DuckDB for data teams, app developers, and AI agents. Hypertenancy gives each user, customer, or agent an isolated DuckDB instance, called a Duckling. Teams can share databases through read-only objects that let recipients query data without exporting files or making another copy. The MotherDuck MCP Server enables AI agents to inspect catalogs, run SQL, read Guides, create Dives, and manage Flights. Flights are scheduled Python pipelines that run inside MotherDuck; Dives are interactive visualizations that users can filter, drill into, share, or embed in an app. Listed integrations include dbt, Airflow, Fivetran, Hex, Tableau, and Omni. Access is through web and API, with SQL notebooks, team query sharing, and AI query assistance. The Lite plan is free and includes up to 3 internal active users, 2 service accounts, 10 GB of storage, and 10 hours of Pulse compute per month. Business costs $250 a month per organization plus usage, with a 7-day free trial. Lite includes community support; Business includes expert support.