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Apache Pinot

A fast analytics database that answers questions about huge, constantly updating data sets, with vector search for AI apps.

New this week

What it does

Apache Pinot is a database built to answer questions about very large amounts of data very quickly. It can take in data in batches from cloud storage, or as a live stream from tools like Apache Kafka, and lets you query it with SQL, a common language for asking databases questions.

It also supports vector similarity search, a way of finding items with similar meaning. Its makers say this suits semantic search, recommendations and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), where an AI looks up facts before answering. They also say its quick answers over fresh data suit AI assistants and automated decision systems.

Pinot was originally built at LinkedIn, where its makers say it powers many user-facing features. It comes with a built-in query editor in the browser and an API (a doorway that lets programs talk to it), and it can run as a cluster on many machines.

Who it's for

Engineering and data teams building apps or AI assistants that need instant answers from large, fast-changing data. It is not a tool for casual personal use.

Can I use it without coding?

With some setup. You can try a demo with one Docker command, but running it for real needs technical setup and SQL knowledge. New to this? Start here.

Can I run it?

Cost
FreeNothing to pay or sign up for.
Runs on
Server, Cloud
Computer
Made for servers or data centres
Privacy
Runs on your own device: your data stays with you
API key
Not needed

Try it

  1. Install Docker and give it at least 6 GB of memory.
  2. Start the Pinot quickstart container, which loads a sample baseball data set.
  3. Open the query console in your browser and try a sample SQL query.

Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?

Before you install

  • Only download from the official GitHub page. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
  • Plain-AyI is an independent guide and doesn't host or review the software it lists. Please check each project's official page before installing.
  • License (Apache-2.0): Permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
  • More on staying safe