StarRocks
StarRocks is an open-source analytical database under the Linux Foundation delivering sub-second SQL analytics for real-time, lakehouse, and AI agent workloads. It serves enterprise data engineering teams at Pinterest, Shopee, DiDi, and Microsoft via community-led distribution and enterprise support services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What StarRocks does
StarRocks is an open-source high-performance analytical database project operated as a Series of LF Projects, LLC under the Linux Foundation. The platform delivers sub-second query latency for real-time, lakehouse, and AI-agent workloads through an MPP architecture combining a fully vectorized execution engine (with SIMD and Operation-on-Encoded-Data), a fully-customized cascades-like cost-based optimizer (CBO), columnar storage supporting real-time updates, late materialization, bitmap indexing, intelligent materialized views with transparent query rewrite, and a two-tier Data Cache (Page Cache and Block Cache). It natively queries external data lake formats (Hive, Iceberg, Hudi, Delta Lake, Paimon, MaxCompute, Kudu) and JDBC-accessible databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Oracle, SQL Server) without data ingestion, and is compatible with MySQL protocols and JDBC for broad BI and tooling connectivity.
The product portfolio centers on the Apache 2.0-licensed StarRocks database, supported by comprehensive multilingual documentation (English, Chinese, Japanese), an active Slack community of thousands of members, a public GitHub repository, and the annual StarRocks Summit. Revenue is generated through enterprise support, consulting, and managed services for production deployments rather than core software licensing; no public pricing tiers or commercial plans are disclosed. Distribution is community-led and self-serve, with direct download from starrocks.io and the GitHub repository.
Adoption spans enterprise customers across e-commerce (Shopee, Shein), social media (Pinterest), ride-sharing (DiDi), travel (Trip.com, Expedia), gaming (miHoYo, InnoGames, Funplus), fintech and quick commerce (Coinbase, Zepto), and large technology platforms (Microsoft, Naver, Tencent, Fanatics, Lenovo, FLYR, Community Brands). Documented outcomes include Pinterest achieving 50% p90 latency reduction with 32% of instances, Shopee achieving 3–10x query performance improvement versus Presto with 60% CPU savings, and DiDi achieving 1,109 peak QPS at 39 ms average latency. Benchmark results position StarRocks 2.2x faster than ClickHouse and 8.9x faster than Apache Druid on SSB flat-table queries, and 5.54x faster than Trino on TPC-DS 1TB. PhoenixAI (formerly CelerData), which builds an AI-agent database on StarRocks, raised an $80 million Series B in June 2026 led by Sky9 Capital, extending the platform's commercial footprint into the AI-agent workload segment with customers including AppLovin, Coinbase, Demandbase, and Conductor.
StarRocks firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- StarRocks
- Legal name
- StarRocks Project a Series of LF Projects, LLC
- Website
- https://starrocks.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- StarRocks is an open-source analytical database under the Linux Foundation delivering sub-second SQL analytics for real-time, lakehouse, and AI agent workloads. It serves enterprise data engineering teams at Pinterest, Shopee, DiDi, and Microsoft via community-led distribution and enterprise support services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
StarRocks industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Analytical Database / Real-Time Data Warehouse
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cloud Data Warehouses (HDAEABAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Lakehouse Platforms (HDAEABAB), Columnar / Analytical Databases (OLAP) (HDAEAAAG)
Keywords
Where StarRocks is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
StarRocks business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Open Source (Apache 2.0): Core StarRocks database is open source under Apache License 2.0, freely available for download and use. Revenue is likely generated through enterprise support, consulting, and managed services rather than the core software licensing.
- Enterprise Support & Services: Enterprise support, consulting services, and potentially managed cloud offerings for organizations requiring production-grade support and SLAs for their StarRocks deployments.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
StarRocks product offering
Product offeringCore offering
StarRocks is an open-source, next-generation high-performance analytical data warehouse (Apache 2.0 licensed) built on an MPP architecture with a fully vectorized execution engine, columnar storage supporting real-time updates, and a customized cost-based optimizer. It delivers sub-second query latency for complex multi-table joins at any scale, supports direct querying of data lake formats (Hive, Iceberg, Hudi, Delta Lake) and external databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Oracle, SQL Server) without data ingestion, and serves both end-user analytics and AI agent workloads under one engine.
Product overview
StarRocks is a next-generation, open-source high-performance analytical database (Apache 2.0 licensed) designed for sub-second analytics at scale. The core product is the StarRocks analytical database engine featuring an MPP architecture, fully vectorized execution engine, columnar storage with real-time updates, and a cost-based optimizer (CBO). The product portfolio centers around the open-source StarRocks database with supporting components including comprehensive documentation, an active Slack-based community with thousands of members, GitHub repository hosting, and the annual StarRocks Summit user conference. Key capabilities include External Catalog support for querying data lakes (Hive, Iceberg, Hudi, Delta Lake) and external databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Oracle, SQL Server) directly without ingestion; Data Cache for accelerating queries via Page Cache and Block Cache; and intelligent Materialized Views with transparent query rewrite. The database supports standard MySQL protocol connectivity and can integrate with popular BI tools.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- StarRocks (Open Source Analytical Database) Next-generation, high-performance open-source analytical data warehouse (Apache 2.0 licensed) with MPP architecture, fully vectorized execution engine, columnar storage supporting real-time updates, and a cost-based optimizer. Delivers sub-second query latency for complex multi-table joins at any scale for enterprise users and AI agents.
- StarRocks GitHub Repository
Quantifiable outcome
- 50% latency reduction with 32% of instances vs previous setup
- +10 more outcomes
Companies that use StarRocks
Customer profileNamed customers19 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
StarRocks technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration26 records
Feature8 records
StarRocks partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- PhoenixAI (formerly CelerData)corePhoenixAI has built its AI agent database software on the open-source StarRocks project. The company raised $80 million in Series B funding led by Sky9 Capital. PhoenixAI's product is designed to handle real-time queries from AI agents requiring sub-second latency and high concurrency, leveraging StarRocks as its foundational technology.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
StarRocks competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Apache Druid: Real-time OLAP database for sub-second queries on streaming and batch data. StarRocks cites an 8.9x performance advantage on SSB flat-table benchmarks, indicating direct competition in real-time analytics.
- ClickHouse: Open-source columnar OLAP database with vectorized execution, directly benchmarked against StarRocks (2.2x performance gap cited by StarRocks). Competes head-to-head for real-time analytical workloads and high-concurrency use cases.
- Trino (formerly PrestoSQL): Distributed SQL query engine for data lakehouse analytics; StarRocks claims 5.54x better performance on TPC-DS. Competes directly on federated querying of Hive/Iceberg/Hudi/Delta without data movement.
- Apache Pinot: Real-time distributed OLAP datastore built for user-facing analytics with high concurrency. Targets the same low-latency, high-QPS use cases as StarRocks (e.g., risk scoring, dashboards).
- Apache Impala: Open-source massively parallel SQL query engine for Hadoop data lakes. Competes with StarRocks on low-latency SQL analytics over HDFS/Hive without data migration.
- Apache Doris: Open-source MPP analytical database originating from the same lineage (originally Baidu Palo), with similar MPP architecture, vectorized execution, and real-time update capabilities. Closest architectural twin to StarRocks.
Emerging players
- PhoenixAI (formerly CelerData): Commercial vendor built directly on the open-source StarRocks engine; raised an $80M Series B in 2026 to commercialize StarRocks for AI agent query serving. Closest commercial cousin and primary monetization channel for the project.
- DuckDB: In-process analytical SQL database gaining traction for embedded and single-node analytics. Competes at the lightweight end of the OLAP spectrum and increasingly in lakehouse/AI workloads.
Broad incumbents
- Snowflake: Dominant cloud data warehouse platform with broad enterprise adoption and a large ecosystem. Competes broadly in analytical SQL workloads and increasingly in lakehouse and AI serving.
- Databricks: Unified lakehouse and data platform built on Delta Lake and Spark. Competes on real-time analytics, lakehouse querying, and AI/ML serving, with the SQL Analytics/Databricks SQL product directly comparable to StarRocks.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
StarRocks social profiles
Digital presenceStarRocks compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
StarRocks financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
StarRocks leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
StarRocks funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
StarRocks M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about StarRocks
What does StarRocks do?
StarRocks is an open-source, next-generation high-performance analytical data warehouse (Apache 2.0 licensed) built on an MPP architecture with a fully vectorized execution engine, columnar storage supporting real-time updates, and a customized cost-based optimizer. It delivers sub-second query latency for complex multi-table joins at any scale, supports direct querying of data lake formats (Hive, Iceberg, Hudi, Delta Lake) and external databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, Oracle, SQL Server) without data ingestion, and serves both end-user analytics and AI agent workloads under one engine.
Is StarRocks a public or private company?
StarRocks is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was StarRocks founded?
StarRocks was founded in 2021. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is StarRocks based?
StarRocks is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does StarRocks make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Open Source (Apache 2.0) is the primary driver. The others are enterprise Support & Services.
Who are StarRocks's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Apache Druid, ClickHouse, Trino (formerly PrestoSQL), Apache Pinot, Apache Impala and Apache Doris. Emerging players are PhoenixAI (formerly CelerData) and DuckDB. Broad incumbents are Snowflake and Databricks.
Does StarRocks have an API?
Yes. StarRocks provides an HTTP SQL API that allows developers to execute SQL queries via HTTP requests. The API supports executing SQL statements, managing connections, and retrieving query results over HTTP. Additionally, StarRocks supports JDBC for database connectivity and can be integrated with MySQL clients and popular BI tools. Developer documentation is at docs.starrocks.io/docs/sql-reference/http_sql_api.
What industry is StarRocks in?
StarRocks's product category is Analytical Database / Real-Time Data Warehouse. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEABAA, Cloud Data Warehouses, with a secondary code of HDAEABAB, Lakehouse Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7370.