SingleStoreDB

SingleStoreDB is a distributed SQL database engineered for low-latency analytics and real-time data ingestion, targeting enterprises that need sub-second query performance at scale.

Reviewed by 7wData

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Publisher review

SingleStoreDB is a distributed SQL database engineered for low-latency analytics and real-time data ingestion, targeting enterprises that need sub-second query performance at scale. It is designed for use cases such as real-time dashboards, user-facing analytics, and AI-powered applications, serving customers like Nvidia, Goldman Sachs, Adobe, and Siemens. The platform supports ANSI SQL and is wire protocol-compatible with MySQL, making it accessible to teams familiar with MySQL while offering faster performance. SingleStoreDB is a proprietary solution, majority-owned by Vector Capital, and is recognized as a leader by Gartner and Forrester Wave across multiple categories.

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How it works

  1. Hybrid rowstore and columnstore

    Supports both row-oriented and column-oriented storage engines to optimize for transactional and analytical workloads within a single platform.

  2. Fast data ingest

    Capable of ingesting data at a rate of a trillion rows per second, enabling real-time data pipelines and streaming analytics.

  3. Blazing fast aggregate queries

    Delivers sub-second query performance on aggregate queries, even at scale, as reported by users achieving 10x to 100x improvements over Microsoft SQL Server.

  4. MySQL wire protocol compatibility

    Compatible with MySQL wire protocol, allowing MySQL clients and tools to connect directly, minimizing migration effort for MySQL users.

  5. Enterprise AI capabilities

    Provides integrated AI features for powering enterprise AI workloads, including support for vector search and machine learning model inference.

  6. Scalable architecture

    Distributed architecture with separation of compute and storage, enabling elastic scaling horizontally for high concurrency and large data volumes.

  7. Sub-second query performance

    Achieves sub-second query response times at scale, as noted in user reviews and comparisons against competitors like Snowflake.

Strengths and trade-offs

Strengths

  • SingleStoreDB ingests data at a rate of a trillion rows per second, enabling real-time analytics on massive streaming datasets.
  • Users report 10x to 100x performance improvements over Microsoft SQL Server for aggregate queries, with sub-second response times.
  • It offers significantly lower costs than Snowflake while delivering superior performance, as highlighted in user comparisons.
  • The platform has a strong customer focus and a robust roadmap, with nearly two dozen Gartner Peer Insights reviews averaging 4.5 stars.

Trade-offs

  • SingleStoreDB provides limited tuning control compared to ClickHouse, which offers more granular optimization options for advanced users.
  • It is not open-source, which restricts community contributions and transparency, unlike competitors such as ClickHouse.
  • Separation of compute and storage may incur additional costs for users who need to scale compute independently of storage.
  • Scaling to a smaller footprint is less smooth than desired, according to some user reviews on Gartner Peer Insights.

Pricing context

Pricing is not explicitly stated in sources; SingleStoreDB offers a cloud-based service with flexible pricing, but specific tiers or dollar figures are not provided.

Getting started with SingleStoreDB

  1. Sign up for SingleStoreDB

    Navigate to the SingleStoreDB website and click the "Start Free" or "Try Free" button. Fill in your email, name, and company details to create an account. Verify your email address to activate your workspace.

  2. Connect your data source

    In the SingleStoreDB portal, go to the "Data Sources" section. Choose your data source type (e.g., MySQL, Kafka, S3). Enter the connection details such as host, port, credentials, and database name. Test the connection to ensure it succeeds.

  3. Create a database and table

    Open the SQL Editor in the SingleStoreDB portal. Run a CREATE DATABASE statement to create a new database. Then, define a table using CREATE TABLE, specifying columns and choosing rowstore or columnstore storage based on your workload.

  4. Load sample data and query

    Use INSERT statements or the data import wizard to load sample data into your table. Write a SELECT query with aggregations (e.g., SUM, COUNT) to test performance. Observe sub-second response times for aggregate queries.

  5. Set up a real-time dashboard

    Connect your SingleStoreDB database to a visualization tool like Tableau or Power BI. Create a live dashboard that refreshes automatically. Configure the dashboard to display real-time metrics from streaming data ingested via Kafka or other pipelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SingleStoreDB used for?

SingleStoreDB is a distributed SQL database for low-latency analytics and real-time data ingestion. It supports use cases like real-time dashboards, user-facing analytics, and AI-powered applications. Customers include Nvidia, Goldman Sachs, Adobe, and Siemens.

Is SingleStoreDB compatible with MySQL?

Yes, SingleStoreDB is wire protocol-compatible with MySQL, allowing MySQL clients and tools to connect directly. This minimizes migration effort for teams familiar with MySQL while offering faster query performance and real-time analytics capabilities.

How fast is SingleStoreDB data ingestion?

SingleStoreDB can ingest data at a rate of a trillion rows per second, enabling real-time data pipelines and streaming analytics. This capability supports massive datasets and sub-second query performance for aggregate queries at scale.

What are the main strengths of SingleStoreDB?

SingleStoreDB offers sub-second query performance, 10x to 100x improvements over Microsoft SQL Server for aggregates, and lower costs than Snowflake. It also has strong customer focus with nearly two dozen Gartner Peer Insights reviews averaging 4.5 stars.

What are the weaknesses of SingleStoreDB?

SingleStoreDB provides limited tuning control compared to ClickHouse and is not open-source, restricting community contributions. Separation of compute and storage may add costs, and scaling to a smaller footprint is less smooth than desired per user reviews.

Does SingleStoreDB support AI workloads?

Yes, SingleStoreDB includes integrated AI features for enterprise workloads, such as vector search and machine learning model inference. This supports AI-powered applications alongside real-time analytics and dashboards.

Alternatives

How SingleStoreDB compares

Direct head-to-head against 3 competitors. Picked by 7wData.

This tool

SingleStoreDB

Pricing
Pricing is not explicitly stated in sources; SingleStoreDB offers a cloud-based service with flexible pricing, but specific tiers or dollar figures are not provided.
Target
SingleStoreDB is a distributed SQL database engineered for low-latency analytics and real-time data ingestion, targeting enterprises that need sub-second query performance at scale.
Strength
SingleStoreDB ingests data at a rate of a trillion rows per second, enabling real-time analytics on massive streaming datasets.
Watch for
SingleStoreDB provides limited tuning control compared to ClickHouse, which offers more granular optimization options for advanced users.

TiDB

Pricing
Free tier available, enterprise pricing custom/contact sales
Target
MySQL-compatible HTAP workloads
Deployment
Cloud, on-prem, hybrid
Strength
Auto-sharding with Raft consensus for strong consistency
Watch for
Open-source core but enterprise features require commercial license

Snowflake

Pricing
$23/credit (compute), $40/TB/month (storage)
Target
Cloud-native analytics workloads
Deployment
Multi-cloud SaaS
Strength
Near-zero maintenance with elastic scaling
Watch for
Compute/storage decoupling can lead to unpredictable costs

Amazon Redshift

Pricing
$0.25/hour for RA3 nodes, $0.024/GB/month storage
Target
AWS-centric data warehousing
Deployment
AWS only
Strength
Deep AWS service integrations
Watch for
Concurrency scaling adds 10x cost during peak loads

User reviews

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Sources

Reporting on this tool draws on these publicly available sources.

  1. www.reddit.com
  2. www.singlestore.com
  3. clickhouse.com
  4. www.singlestore.com