duckdb
DuckDB in-process database
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. DuckDB is production-stable, actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and carries a permissive license. It solves a real problem—fast in-process SQL analytics—with zero external dependencies and broad platform support. Install friction is moderate but manageable via prebuilt wheels. Suitable for data analysis, embedded analytics, and lightweight pipelines.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Medium install friction due to compiled wheels, but prebuilt binaries are available for Python 3.10–3.14 across macOS, Linux, and Windows architectures.
- Active maintenance with a release 23 days old.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Permissive MIT License; no restrictions on commercial or proprietary use. Core extensions are also open-source under the same license.
last release 2026-07-22 (23 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-30 · 176 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 57,186,609 downloads/mo, #521 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install duckdb
import duckdb
result = duckdb.sql('SELECT * FROM "data.csv" LIMIT 5')
print(result.fetchall())- Whether optional dependencies (duckdb[all]) are necessary for typical workflows or only for specialized extensions.
- Performance characteristics on larger-than-memory workloads in practice.
What it is and what it does
DuckDB is a lightweight, embedded SQL database designed for analytical workloads. It runs directly in your Python process without needing a separate server, making it simple to deploy and use. The engine reads and writes CSV, Parquet, JSON, and other formats from local files or remote endpoints like S3, and executes SQL queries using a columnar architecture that supports parallel execution.
You use it by importing the module and calling duckdb.sql() to query data files directly, or by connecting to an in-memory or on-disk database. It has zero external runtime dependencies and is available as precompiled wheels for all major platforms and Python versions. The project is actively maintained, production-stable, and released under a permissive MIT License.
Use it for
- Query CSV or Parquet files directly with SQL without loading them into memory first.
- Perform exploratory data analysis and ad-hoc analytics on local or remote datasets.
- Build lightweight data pipelines that transform and aggregate data without a separate database server.
- Embed analytical capabilities into Python applications without external service dependencies.
- Process larger-than-memory datasets using columnar execution and parallel query processing.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
DuckDB is production-stable, actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and carries a permissive license. It solves a real problem—fast in-process SQL analytics—with zero external dependencies and broad platform support. Install friction is moderate but manageable via prebuilt wheels. Suitable for data analysis, embedded analytics, and lightweight pipelines.
Install
duckdb on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled wheels, but prebuilt binaries are available for Python 3.10–3.14 across macOS, Linux, and Windows architectures. Active maintenance with a release 23 days old.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
Permissive MIT License; no restrictions on commercial or proprietary use. Core extensions are also open-source under the same license.
Quickstart
pip install duckdb
import duckdb
result = duckdb.sql('SELECT * FROM "data.csv" LIMIT 5')
print(result.fetchall())Verify before relying
- Whether optional dependencies (duckdb[all]) are necessary for typical workflows or only for specialized extensions.
- Performance characteristics on larger-than-memory workloads in practice.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10.0 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 23 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 57,186,609 / month, #521 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: EducationIntended Audience :: Information TechnologyIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: C++Programming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: DatabaseTopic :: Database :: Database Engines/ServersTopic :: Scientific/Engineering |
Evidence: duckdb-1.5.5-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_9_universal2.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_26_aarch64.manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_26_x86_64.manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_9_universal2.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp311-cp311-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_26_aarch64.manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_26_x86_64.manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp311-cp311-win_amd64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp311-cp311-win_arm64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp312-cp312-macosx_10_13_universal2.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp312-cp312-macosx_10_13_x86_64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp312-cp312-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_26_aarch64.manylinux_2_28_aarch64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_26_x86_64.manylinux_2_28_x86_64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp312-cp312-win_amd64.whl; duckdb-1.5.5-cp312-cp312-win_arm64.whl
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See also dbt-duckdb · chdb-core · chdb · duckdb-engine · duckdb-extension-httpfs · ibis-framework · mad-prefect · duckdb-extensions · aiosql · real-ladybug