Apache Hive

Windows · Mac · Linux · Self-hosted · API

Freedom report

Three barsScore 6.4

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely3 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Apache Hive is ranked #7 of 28 in OLAP databases on Freedom251. It runs on API, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted, Windows. There is a free plan.

Apache Hive plans and pricing

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Apache Hive Free Open-source data warehouse software hive.apache.org · 4 Oct 2026

Compared on OLAP databases

Deployment model: hybrid
Separate storage and compute: Yes
Data lake support: Yes
Streaming ingestion: Yes

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The record

Purpose: Apache Hive is a distributed, fault-tolerant data warehouse system for reading, writing, and managing large datasets with SQL.
Metastore: Hive Metastore provides a central repository of metadata for tables and partitions and serves clients including Hive, Impala, and Spark.
SQL connectivity: HiveServer2 supports multi-client concurrency and JDBC and ODBC clients.
Transactions: Hive supports full ACID transactions for ORC tables and insert-only transactions for other formats.
Storage: The project site describes support for S3, Azure Data Lake, and Google Cloud Storage.
Integrations: The project site names Spark, Presto, and Impala as integrations; it also describes Apache Ranger for authorization and Apache Atlas for lineage and governance.
Iceberg: Hive supports Apache Iceberg tables through its StorageHandler.
Security: The site describes Kerberos authentication, fine-grained access control, and audit logging; HiveServer2 documentation also lists LDAP, PAM, and custom authentication options.
Deployment: The official quickstart provides Docker instructions for running HiveServer2 and the Metastore in a container.
Platforms and prerequisites: The installation manual says Hive is commonly used in production on Linux, while Mac is commonly used for development; its current prerequisites list Java 8, Maven 3.6.3, Protobuf 2.5, Hadoop 3.3.6, and Tez.
Release compatibility: The downloads page says Hive 4.2.x requires JDK 21 as its minimum supported Java version and works with Hadoop 3.4.1 and Tez 0.10.5.
Support and community: Apache Hive is an open-source project run by Apache Software Foundation volunteers, with mailing lists and community channels for participation.
Notable limit: The Apache Hive community declared the 3.x release line end of life in October 2024, with no further updates or releases planned for that series.
Organization: The website identifies Apache Hive as an Apache Software Foundation project and says it graduated from an Apache Hadoop subproject to a top-level project.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best OLAP Databases in 2026#7 of 28
Best Query Engine Software in 2026#3 of 25
Best Data Warehouse Software in 2026#2 of 22

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Sources

hive.apache.org· checked 4 Oct 2026
hive.apache.org/docs/latest/admin/setting-up-hiveserver· checked 4 Oct 2026
hive.apache.org/development/quickstart/· checked 4 Oct 2026
hive.apache.org/docs/latest/admin/manual-installation/· checked 4 Oct 2026
hive.apache.org/general/downloads/· checked 4 Oct 2026
hive.apache.org/development/gettingstarted/· checked 4 Oct 2026