Architecture

Tinybird is built using open source software. We love open source and have dedicated teams that contribute to all of the projects we use.

ClickHouse is an open source OLAP database, and it serves as Tinybird's real-time analytics database and SQL engine. The SQL that you write inside Tinybird uses the ClickHouse SQL dialect.

What is ClickHouse?

An open source, high performance, columnar OLAP database. It's a lightning-fast database that solves use cases requiring rapid ingestion, low latency queries, and high concurrency. Tinybird gives you the speed of ClickHouse with 10x the DevEx.

Where does Tinybird fit in my tech stack?

Tinybird is the analytical backend for your applications; it consumes data from any source and exposes it via API Endpoints.

Tinybird can sit parallel to the Data Warehouse or (ideally) in front of it. The Data Warehouse enables "exploration" use cases like BI and data science, and Tinybird enables "action" use cases like operational applications, embedded analytics, and user-facing analytics.

Read the guide "Team integration and data governance" to learn more about implementing Tinybird in your existing team.

Is data stored in Tinybird?

Yes, data is stored in ClickHouse under the hood. Depending on the use case, you can add a TTL to control how long data is stored for.

Can I deploy Tinybird in my own cloud environment or on-prem?

Tinybird is a managed SaaS solution and it's not possible to deploy Tinybird in your own cloud or on-premises.

Next steps