At a glance
| SQL support | Distributed SQL with MySQL wire compatibility; rowstore and columnstore tables |
| Storage and compute architecture | Sharded distributed cluster; unified engine for transactional and analytical workloads |
| Workload types | Real-time analytics, mixed OLTP and OLAP, vector and full-text search |
| Integrations | Pipelines from Kafka, S3, GCS, Azure, HDFS, MongoDB, MySQL; Iceberg ingest |
| Deployment | SingleStore Helios on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, or self-managed |
| Pricing model | Helios hourly editions (free Shared, Standard from USD 0.99/hr, Enterprise from USD 1.49/hr); self-managed by license units |
SingleStore suits applications that need fast analytics on data that is also being written to continuously, such as real-time dashboards, with MySQL-compatible connectivity and built-in streaming ingestion. It is a commercial product, so compare the Helios hourly rates and self-managed licence quotes with open source options before committing.
Overview
SingleStore (formerly MemSQL) is a distributed SQL database that its documentation describes as having a unified storage engine able to handle transactional and analytical workloads at the same time. Data is sharded across the cluster, and queries are compiled to machine code. Tables can be rowstore, which SingleStore recommends for mixed transactional and analytical work, or columnstore, recommended for analytics. It uses the same wire protocol as MySQL, so MySQL clients can connect.
SingleStore Helios is the managed service on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, with Shared (free), Standard and Enterprise editions. Self-managed SingleStore runs on your own infrastructure; its end-of-life policy lists SingleStore 10 as released on 27 October 2026 and supported until 26 October 2028, following version 9.0 (October 2025).
Key features
- Rowstore and columnstore tables in one engine for mixed transactional and analytical workloads
- MySQL wire protocol, so MySQL clients and drivers can connect
- Pipelines that load continuously from Kafka, S3, GCS, Azure, HDFS and other sources
- Iceberg ingest from Glue, REST, JDBC, Hive and Hadoop catalogs
- Native vector type with approximate nearest neighbour vector indexes
- Full-text search on columnstore tables, with documented hybrid search patterns
Pros and cons
Pros
- One engine for transactional writes and analytical queries
- MySQL wire compatibility lowers the barrier for existing tools
- Built-in pipelines for continuous ingestion from Kafka and object storage
- Free Shared edition and published starting rates for Helios
Cons
- Commercial licence; self-managed pricing needs a quote
- Some features, such as vector indexes and version 2 full-text indexes, apply only to columnstore tables
- Iceberg ingest needs an engine variable turned on, which is off by default
Pricing
SingleStore Helios, the managed service, has a free Shared edition for evaluation and development, a Standard edition listed from USD 0.99 per hour and an Enterprise edition listed from USD 1.49 per hour (the page shows dollar prices), with USD 500 of free credits offered to get started; Enterprise pricing is arranged with sales. Self-managed SingleStore is licensed by license units, which the documentation defines as 8 vCPUs, 64 GB of RAM and 1 TB of persistent cache; self-managed list prices were not clearly published. The documentation says no licence is needed for development, prototyping and functional testing with the Free Edition or the Dev Image.
Pricing checked on the vendor's official page on 7 November 2026. Prices change; confirm before buying.
Who it is best for
Teams building real-time analytics into applications that write data continuously and want MySQL-compatible connectivity with managed or self-managed deployment.
Who should look elsewhere
- Teams that require an open source licence: look at ClickHouse or StarRocks.
- Pure batch warehousing over a data lake, where a lakehouse query engine may fit better: see Trino.
Verdict
SingleStore is a reasonable choice when one database must handle fast inserts and analytical queries together, and its MySQL compatibility and built-in pipelines reduce integration work. It is commercial, with published Helios starting rates but quote-based self-managed licensing, so run a trial on representative data and price the edition you need.
Frequently asked questions
Is SingleStore free?
SingleStore Helios has a free Shared edition for evaluation and development. The documentation also says no licence is needed for development and functional testing with the Free Edition or the Dev Image. Production use is paid.
Is SingleStore compatible with MySQL?
SingleStore uses the same wire protocol as MySQL and supports similar SQL syntax, so MySQL client software can connect. It is a different database, so check feature differences before migrating.
What is the latest SingleStore version?
SingleStore's end-of-life policy lists SingleStore 10 as released on 27 October 2026, with support until 26 October 2028. Helios is updated continuously rather than by major version.
Sources
- SingleStore pricing
- SingleStore general FAQ (MySQL protocol, storage, licensing)
- SingleStore end-of-life policy
- CREATE PIPELINE reference
- Vector indexing documentation
- Iceberg ingest documentation
Checked November 2026.
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