📊 Detailed Query Results

Exasol vs ClickHouse Performance Comparison on TPC-H SF1

Author: Oleksandr Kozachuk, Principal Architect at Exasol AG Date: 2025-10-24 14:26:01 Environment: AWS eu-west-1

Overview

This report presents the complete query-by-query performance results for 4 database systems tested using the TPC-H benchmark at scale factor 1.

Systems Under Test

Exasol 2025.1.0

Environment & Hardware

  • Cloud: AWS eu-west-1
  • Instance: r5d.4xlarge
  • CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8259CL CPU @ 2.50GHz (16 vCPUs)
  • Memory: 124.4GB RAM

Software

  • Database: exasol 2025.1.0

Clickhouse 25.9.4.58

Environment & Hardware

  • Cloud: AWS eu-west-1
  • Instance: r5d.4xlarge
  • CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8259CL CPU @ 2.50GHz (16 vCPUs)
  • Memory: 124.4GB RAM

Software

  • Database: clickhouse 25.9.4.58

Clickhouse_tuned 25.9.4.58

Environment & Hardware

  • Cloud: AWS eu-west-1
  • Instance: r5d.4xlarge
  • CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8259CL CPU @ 2.50GHz (16 vCPUs)
  • Memory: 124.4GB RAM

Software

  • Database: clickhouse 25.9.4.58

Clickhouse_stat 25.9.4.58

Environment & Hardware

  • Cloud: AWS eu-west-1
  • Instance: r5d.4xlarge
  • CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8259CL CPU @ 2.50GHz (16 vCPUs)
  • Memory: 124.4GB RAM

Software

  • Database: clickhouse 25.9.4.58

Performance Summary

Key Findings

  • exasol was the fastest overall with 19.9ms median runtime
  • clickhouse_tuned was 4.6× slower
  • Tested 616 total query executions across 22 different query types

Performance Visualizations

Detailed Analysis

Performance by Query Type

The benchmark results reveal distinct performance characteristics across different query categories:

The following table shows the median performance for each query category across all systems:

Query Type clickhouse clickhouse_stat clickhouse_tuned exasol Winner
Aggregation 37.10 46.60 37.60 10.80 exasol
Join-Heavy 129.40 105.00 122.80 21.90 exasol
Complex Analytical 95.00 105.20 105.60 22.30 exasol

Query-by-Query Results

The following table shows the median execution time for each query across all systems:

query baseline_system comparison_system baseline_ms comparison_ms ratio speedup faster
Q01 exasol clickhouse_tuned 28.80 82.50 2.86 0.35 0
Q02 exasol clickhouse_tuned 23.10 61.00 2.64 0.38 0
Q03 exasol clickhouse_tuned 22.30 88.00 3.95 0.25 0
Q04 exasol clickhouse_tuned 9.00 129.50 14.39 0.07 0
Q05 exasol clickhouse_tuned 19.20 180.90 9.42 0.11 0
Q06 exasol clickhouse_tuned 5.80 21.60 3.72 0.27 0
Q07 exasol clickhouse_tuned 19.80 105.90 5.35 0.19 0
Q08 exasol clickhouse_tuned 17.60 138.90 7.89 0.13 0
Q09 exasol clickhouse_tuned 31.80 183.20 5.76 0.17 0
Q10 exasol clickhouse_tuned 43.70 95.50 2.19 0.46 0
Q11 exasol clickhouse_tuned 21.20 38.20 1.80 0.55 0
Q12 exasol clickhouse_tuned 10.80 37.60 3.48 0.29 0
Q13 exasol clickhouse_tuned 36.30 109.20 3.01 0.33 0
Q14 exasol clickhouse_tuned 8.50 31.70 3.73 0.27 0
Q15 exasol clickhouse_tuned 18.30 34.10 1.86 0.54 0
Q16 exasol clickhouse_tuned 92.20 96.90 1.05 0.95 0
Q17 exasol clickhouse_tuned 10.60 48.60 4.58 0.22 0
Q18 exasol clickhouse_tuned 25.80 212.70 8.24 0.12 0
Q19 exasol clickhouse_tuned 9.80 183.40 18.71 0.05 0
Q20 exasol clickhouse_tuned 19.90 63.70 3.20 0.31 0
Q21 exasol clickhouse_tuned 22.50 289.20 12.85 0.08 0
Q22 exasol clickhouse_tuned 13.00 46.10 3.55 0.28 0
Q01 exasol clickhouse 28.80 83.90 2.91 0.34 0
Q02 exasol clickhouse 23.10 62.70 2.71 0.37 0
Q03 exasol clickhouse 22.30 94.90 4.26 0.23 0
Q04 exasol clickhouse 9.00 68.90 7.66 0.13 0
Q05 exasol clickhouse 19.20 183.50 9.56 0.10 0
Q06 exasol clickhouse 5.80 21.90 3.78 0.26 0
Q07 exasol clickhouse 19.80 105.30 5.32 0.19 0
Q08 exasol clickhouse 17.60 146.20 8.31 0.12 0
Q09 exasol clickhouse 31.80 201.50 6.34 0.16 0
Q10 exasol clickhouse 43.70 103.50 2.37 0.42 0
Q11 exasol clickhouse 21.20 38.70 1.83 0.55 0
Q12 exasol clickhouse 10.80 37.80 3.50 0.29 0
Q13 exasol clickhouse 36.30 109.90 3.03 0.33 0
Q14 exasol clickhouse 8.50 28.40 3.34 0.30 0
Q15 exasol clickhouse 18.30 32.00 1.75 0.57 0
Q16 exasol clickhouse 92.20 84.70 0.92 1.09 1
Q17 exasol clickhouse 10.60 94.40 8.91 0.11 0
Q18 exasol clickhouse 25.80 95.90 3.72 0.27 0
Q19 exasol clickhouse 9.80 83.50 8.52 0.12 0
Q20 exasol clickhouse 19.90 37.20 1.87 0.53 0
Q21 exasol clickhouse 22.50 552.60 24.56 0.04 0
Q22 exasol clickhouse 13.00 50.60 3.89 0.26 0
Q01 exasol clickhouse_stat 28.80 79.70 2.77 0.36 0
Q02 exasol clickhouse_stat 23.10 62.90 2.72 0.37 0
Q03 exasol clickhouse_stat 22.30 107.10 4.80 0.21 0
Q04 exasol clickhouse_stat 9.00 73.70 8.19 0.12 0
Q05 exasol clickhouse_stat 19.20 202.40 10.54 0.09 0
Q06 exasol clickhouse_stat 5.80 25.10 4.33 0.23 0
Q07 exasol clickhouse_stat 19.80 116.10 5.86 0.17 0
Q08 exasol clickhouse_stat 17.60 88.40 5.02 0.20 0
Q09 exasol clickhouse_stat 31.80 122.50 3.85 0.26 0
Q10 exasol clickhouse_stat 43.70 404.80 9.26 0.11 0
Q11 exasol clickhouse_stat 21.20 45.50 2.15 0.47 0
Q12 exasol clickhouse_stat 10.80 56.20 5.20 0.19 0
Q13 exasol clickhouse_stat 36.30 104.10 2.87 0.35 0
Q14 exasol clickhouse_stat 8.50 38.00 4.47 0.22 0
Q15 exasol clickhouse_stat 18.30 40.20 2.20 0.46 0
Q16 exasol clickhouse_stat 92.20 92.40 1.00 1.00 0
Q17 exasol clickhouse_stat 10.60 103.90 9.80 0.10 0
Q18 exasol clickhouse_stat 25.80 113.40 4.40 0.23 0
Q19 exasol clickhouse_stat 9.80 133.00 13.57 0.07 0
Q20 exasol clickhouse_stat 19.90 46.60 2.34 0.43 0
Q21 exasol clickhouse_stat 22.50 560.30 24.90 0.04 0
Q22 exasol clickhouse_stat 13.00 55.10 4.24 0.24 0

Detailed Statistics

The complete performance statistics for all queries and systems:

query system warmup runs median_ms mean_ms std_ms min_ms max_ms
Q01 clickhouse 85.30 7 83.90 88.10 7.80 81.00 100.10
Q01 clickhouse_stat 83.90 7 79.70 82.80 7.90 78.20 100.50
Q01 clickhouse_tuned 86.10 7 82.50 82.80 7.60 76.30 98.80
Q01 exasol 30.70 7 28.80 28.80 0.30 28.40 29.30
Q02 clickhouse 89.10 7 62.70 62.60 1.70 60.70 64.80
Q02 clickhouse_stat 75.20 7 62.90 63.60 2.50 60.40 68.00
Q02 clickhouse_tuned 89.80 7 61.00 61.30 1.70 59.40 63.10
Q02 exasol 48.70 7 23.10 23.30 0.80 22.40 24.90
Q03 clickhouse 105.60 7 94.90 95.40 5.60 89.60 103.80
Q03 clickhouse_stat 121.40 7 107.10 109.30 6.90 102.50 120.20
Q03 clickhouse_tuned 102.80 7 88.00 91.40 5.30 87.80 102.00
Q03 exasol 22.40 7 22.30 22.10 0.50 21.40 22.80
Q04 clickhouse 74.50 7 68.90 69.30 2.80 66.60 74.80
Q04 clickhouse_stat 76.00 7 73.70 73.80 1.70 71.40 76.20
Q04 clickhouse_tuned 135.20 7 129.50 134.70 9.10 125.90 149.90
Q04 exasol 10.90 7 9.00 9.20 0.40 8.80 9.90
Q05 clickhouse 209.70 7 183.50 182.60 3.80 176.80 187.80
Q05 clickhouse_stat 223.60 7 202.40 205.40 9.20 194.30 218.50
Q05 clickhouse_tuned 197.20 7 180.90 180.00 4.20 174.00 187.00
Q05 exasol 34.00 7 19.20 19.40 0.40 19.00 20.00
Q06 clickhouse 27.70 7 21.90 22.10 0.60 21.70 23.40
Q06 clickhouse_stat 30.20 7 25.10 28.00 7.70 24.90 45.40
Q06 clickhouse_tuned 27.60 7 21.60 21.60 0.30 21.20 22.10
Q06 exasol 5.90 7 5.80 5.80 0.30 5.70 6.40
Q07 clickhouse 109.20 7 105.30 105.60 0.70 104.90 106.60
Q07 clickhouse_stat 121.80 7 116.10 116.40 1.70 113.70 118.30
Q07 clickhouse_tuned 116.80 7 105.90 108.30 5.40 102.10 116.20
Q07 exasol 22.90 7 19.80 19.70 0.20 19.50 20.00
Q08 clickhouse 160.50 7 146.20 150.70 9.50 143.60 170.10
Q08 clickhouse_stat 97.90 7 88.40 88.10 1.00 86.40 89.20
Q08 clickhouse_tuned 156.20 7 138.90 140.90 4.60 136.10 147.30
Q08 exasol 18.80 7 17.60 19.90 6.00 17.30 33.50
Q09 clickhouse 209.50 7 201.50 201.10 9.20 190.90 214.40
Q09 clickhouse_stat 157.30 7 122.50 123.20 2.40 120.70 126.10
Q09 clickhouse_tuned 212.30 7 183.20 184.20 3.90 180.60 192.70
Q09 exasol 38.20 7 31.80 31.80 0.30 31.50 32.40
Q10 clickhouse 114.60 7 103.50 104.00 6.40 96.40 115.10
Q10 clickhouse_stat 414.60 7 404.80 400.90 35.60 337.70 444.10
Q10 clickhouse_tuned 107.20 7 95.50 96.50 6.10 90.10 109.50
Q10 exasol 48.20 7 43.70 43.70 0.50 42.90 44.50
Q11 clickhouse 44.60 7 38.70 38.60 0.70 37.90 39.50
Q11 clickhouse_stat 45.80 7 45.50 45.90 1.60 44.40 49.20
Q11 clickhouse_tuned 45.60 7 38.20 38.30 0.70 37.30 39.30
Q11 exasol 22.20 7 21.20 21.20 0.50 20.20 21.80
Q12 clickhouse 63.30 7 37.80 40.90 7.00 37.10 56.30
Q12 clickhouse_stat 65.30 7 56.20 55.90 9.90 46.90 75.80
Q12 clickhouse_tuned 63.60 7 37.60 40.60 7.30 36.80 57.00
Q12 exasol 12.80 7 10.80 10.90 0.30 10.50 11.40
Q13 clickhouse 113.70 7 109.90 111.10 13.50 88.70 134.70
Q13 clickhouse_stat 103.40 7 104.10 107.40 17.30 88.20 137.90
Q13 clickhouse_tuned 107.10 7 109.20 104.40 13.00 84.40 121.30
Q13 exasol 40.40 7 36.30 36.50 0.90 35.20 38.00
Q14 clickhouse 34.90 7 28.40 29.80 2.40 27.80 34.00
Q14 clickhouse_stat 42.20 7 38.00 38.70 1.40 37.50 41.20
Q14 clickhouse_tuned 33.30 7 31.70 30.80 2.60 27.60 33.50
Q14 exasol 9.00 7 8.50 8.50 0.10 8.40 8.70
Q15 clickhouse 36.10 7 32.00 32.10 1.70 30.50 35.70
Q15 clickhouse_stat 44.30 7 40.20 40.30 1.30 38.30 41.60
Q15 clickhouse_tuned 38.20 7 34.10 33.60 1.40 32.10 35.60
Q15 exasol 19.80 7 18.30 18.60 0.70 17.80 19.70
Q16 clickhouse 92.40 7 84.70 87.80 7.70 83.20 105.10
Q16 clickhouse_stat 94.30 7 92.40 95.50 8.60 89.60 114.40
Q16 clickhouse_tuned 100.10 7 96.90 98.60 7.10 91.90 114.00
Q16 exasol 95.80 7 92.20 94.50 6.70 91.10 109.50
Q17 clickhouse 131.90 7 94.40 94.20 0.90 92.80 95.10
Q17 clickhouse_stat 138.70 7 103.90 104.10 2.20 100.50 107.00
Q17 clickhouse_tuned 57.40 7 48.60 48.90 1.20 47.80 50.90
Q17 exasol 12.20 7 10.60 10.80 0.30 10.40 11.30
Q18 clickhouse 124.80 7 95.90 96.00 1.30 94.80 98.60
Q18 clickhouse_stat 141.00 7 113.40 117.00 10.40 111.10 140.30
Q18 clickhouse_tuned 288.90 7 212.70 213.60 13.30 199.20 233.50
Q18 exasol 29.20 7 25.80 26.30 1.10 25.50 28.40
Q19 clickhouse 89.40 7 83.50 84.20 1.90 81.70 86.50
Q19 clickhouse_stat 137.10 7 133.00 132.10 14.50 113.30 149.00
Q19 clickhouse_tuned 195.20 7 183.40 182.70 2.50 178.30 185.30
Q19 exasol 10.40 7 9.80 9.70 0.70 8.80 10.60
Q20 clickhouse 44.10 7 37.20 37.50 1.20 36.30 39.00
Q20 clickhouse_stat 49.90 7 46.60 47.10 1.50 45.70 49.80
Q20 clickhouse_tuned 86.30 7 63.70 63.70 1.50 61.50 65.80
Q20 exasol 20.30 7 19.90 20.00 0.50 19.40 20.70
Q21 clickhouse 605.80 7 552.60 555.30 17.90 535.10 581.70
Q21 clickhouse_stat 577.80 7 560.30 563.30 29.40 523.40 612.80
Q21 clickhouse_tuned 382.80 7 289.20 293.80 11.00 282.00 308.50
Q21 exasol 21.80 7 22.50 24.10 4.30 21.80 33.70
Q22 clickhouse 50.70 7 50.60 52.90 6.40 49.80 67.40
Q22 clickhouse_stat 59.20 7 55.10 57.70 6.40 54.70 72.00
Q22 clickhouse_tuned 49.20 7 46.10 49.40 6.00 45.20 62.00
Q22 exasol 15.40 7 13.00 13.00 0.20 12.80 13.30

System Rankings

Based on median query execution time:

Rank System Median Runtime Average Runtime Range (Min - Max)
1 Exasol 19.9ms 23.5ms 5.7ms - 109.5ms
2 Clickhouse 86.2ms 106.5ms 21.7ms - 581.7ms
3 Clickhouse_stat 89.4ms 122.6ms 24.9ms - 612.8ms
4 Clickhouse_tuned 91.8ms 104.6ms 21.2ms - 308.5ms

Benchmark Methodology

Workload Configuration

TPC-H Benchmark:

  • Scale Factor: 1
  • Data Format: CSV
  • Data Generator: dbgen

Execution Parameters

  • Warmup Runs: 1
  • Measured Runs: 7
  • Metric Reported: Median execution time

Performance Measurement

All queries were executed with the same data and parameters across all systems. The median execution time from 7 runs is reported for each query to minimize the impact of system variance and outliers.

Conclusion

This benchmark provides a detailed, query-level comparison of 4 database systems on analytical workloads. The results demonstrate the performance characteristics and trade-offs of each system when processing TPC-H queries.

While exasol demonstrated the strongest overall performance in this test, the optimal choice for a specific use case depends on multiple factors including workload characteristics, operational requirements, and system integration needs.

Query Details