ClickHouse
Column-store analytics at scale
ClickHouse answers analytical queries over billions of rows in seconds. Run it with the Altinity operator, scheduled backups, optional replicas with ClickHouse Keeper and both the HTTP and native protocols.
Good for
- Product analytics
- Log and event analytics
- Real-time dashboards
Sample query
:) SELECT toStartOfHour(ts) AS hour,
uniq(user_id) AS users,
count() AS events
FROM events
WHERE ts >= now() - INTERVAL 3 HOUR
GROUP BY hour ORDER BY hour; | hour | users | events |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-04 07:00:00 | 182,044 | 9,120,331 |
| 2026-10-04 08:00:00 | 201,377 | 10,482,210 |
| 2026-10-04 09:00:00 | 214,902 | 11,037,448 |
Features
ClickHouse on Databasezy
-
Fast aggregations
Columnar storage and vectorised execution scan only the columns a query touches.
-
HTTP and native protocols
HTTPS for most client libraries and BI tools, native protocol over TLS for clickhouse-client.
-
Scheduled backups
clickhouse-backup takes a full backup of your tables on your plan's schedule and restores it into a new instance.
-
I/O-tuned nodes
Instances are scheduled onto storage-optimised nodes for heavy scans.
Quick start
Connect to ClickHouse
Hosts, ports and the CA bundle come from the portal or the CLI after you create an instance. Credentials are shown once and never stored by our control plane.
From the CLI
zb instances create --engine clickhouse --name clickhouse-7f3k --waitzb ca > databasezy-ca.pemzb connect clickhouse-7f3k --printAt a glance
- Category
- Analytics
- Versions
- 26.8, 26.3, 25.3
- Wire protocol
- http · port 8443
- Extra ports
- native 9440
- Runtime
- Operator: altinity-clickhouse
- Backup
- clickhouse-backup (full + incremental parts)
- Pause
- Not supported
- Free tier
- No
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
Connection strings and drivers
https://ch-7f3k.us-east.databasezy.com:8443 (TLS; user app + password)curl -u app:<password> "https://ch-7f3k.us-east.databasezy.com:8443/?query=SELECT+1"clickhouse-client --host ch-7f3k.us-east.databasezy.com --port 9440 --secure --user app --ask-passwordDeployment
Choose where it runs
Placement is chosen per database, so a regulated workload and a side project can live in the same organisation.
-
Standard hosting
Shared cells with namespace isolation, default-deny network policy and an IP allow-list. Available on every paid plan.
- Usage-based compute, billed per running hour
- Spend cap to stop surprises
-
Secure hosting (HIPAA)
This database runs on dedicated nodes in a separate HIPAA cell, under a signed Business Associate Agreement. Available on Team and Enterprise.
- $0.10 per instance-hour on top of compute
- How secure hosting works
-
From the CLI or API
Script instances in CI with the zb CLI or the REST API. Pick the placement per instance.
secure placementzb instances create --engine clickhouse --placement secure --wait
Plans
ClickHouse on each plan
Usage-based pricing with a spend cap: you pay a plan fee plus what your instances use.
Free tier
ClickHouse is not on the free plan. It starts on Solo, where a monthly compute credit covers one s0 instance.
Sizes
From s0 (0.25 vCPU, 1 GiB) at $10/mo up to xl32 (32 vCPU, 128 GiB). Resize without changing the connection string.
All sizes and pricesBackups
clickhouse-backup (full + incremental parts). Snapshots only: point-in-time recovery is not available for this engine.
Migrate
Migrate to ClickHouse from
Copy a database in with a connection string, a file upload or the CLI. Preflight checks the source first and verification compares the copy.
Documentation
ClickHouse docs
- ClickHouse guide Versions, configuration, limits and engine-specific behaviour.
- Connect to ClickHouse Drivers and connection strings for each language, with TLS verification.
- Backups, restore and PITR Schedules, retention, manual snapshots and restoring into a new instance.
- Pause and resume Scale to zero, wake on connect and pause schedules.
- Secure hosting and the BAA Dedicated nodes, customer-managed keys and HIPAA eligibility.
- Limits Connections, storage and request limits by size and plan.
- CLI reference Every zb command used on this page, with flags.
ClickHouse questions
Which ClickHouse versions can I run?
26.8, 26.3, 25.3. New instances default to 26.8; pick another with --engine-version or in the portal. Minor and patch updates are applied in your maintenance window after a pre-change backup.
Which extensions, modules or plugins are available?
We run ClickHouse through the Altinity operator. Table functions and engines that reach outside services, such as s3 or url, need outbound network access, which is restricted by default.
How are backups handled?
Backups use clickhouse-backup (full + incremental parts). Paid plans run scheduled backups (Solo: daily, 7-day retention; Team: daily, 14-day retention). ClickHouse does not support point-in-time recovery; you restore from the most recent snapshot into a new instance.
Is the connection encrypted?
Always. The gateway terminates TLS (1.3 where your client supports it, 1.2 at minimum) and re-encrypts traffic to the database. Plain-text connections are refused. Verify the server with our CA bundle from the portal or zb ca, and restrict access further with the IP allow-list included on every plan.
Can I pause it when I'm not using it?
No. ClickHouse runs continuously and is billed for every running hour. Delete an instance you no longer need; its backups are kept for your plan's retention period.
What are the limits?
ClickHouse is not on the free plan. Paid sizes run from s0 (0.25 vCPU, 1 GiB, 60 connections, $10/mo) to xl32 (32 vCPU, 128 GiB, 5,000 connections), with up to 16 TB of disk.
Why can't ClickHouse pause?
ClickHouse keeps background merges and caches warm, so stopping it between queries hurts more than it saves. Instances run continuously and bill per running hour.
What you get on each plan
Plan features as they apply to ClickHouse.
| Feature | Free | Solo | Team | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClickHouse on this plan | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plan fee | — | $25/mo | $599/mo | Custom |
| Largest size | — | xl32 | xl32 | xl32 |
| Included per instance | — | 8 GB | 8 GB | Negotiated |
| Max disk per instance | — | 1 TB | 16 TB | 16 TB |
| Scheduled backups | — | Daily, 7-day retention | Daily, 14-day retention | Hourly, 35-day retention · cross-region copy · immutable |
| Point-in-time recovery | — | Not available for this engine | Not available for this engine | Not available for this engine |
| Read replicas | — | 2 | 5 | Unlimited |
| Pause | — | Runs continuously | Runs continuously | Runs continuously |
| Secure hosting (HIPAA) | — | — | Available with a BAA | Available with a BAA |
| Support | — | Priority | 24x7 dedicated | |
| Uptime SLA | — | — | 99.9% | 99.95% |
Start with ClickHouse today
Pick a size, set a spend cap and connect in minutes.