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Trino

by Trino Software Foundation · Database · also known as PrestoSQL

Distributed SQL query engine that federates queries across data lakes, warehouses and databases through connectors, formerly PrestoSQL

Apache-2.0 licenseOpen sourceFreeSelf-hostedCloudSelf-hostable
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Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

Trino is a distributed SQL query engine governed by the Trino Software Foundation and released under Apache 2.0. It was created by the original Presto authors and renamed from PrestoSQL in 2020. A coordinator parses ANSI SQL and schedules work on worker nodes that read data in parallel from connectors: Hive-style object storage with Parquet or ORC, Iceberg, Delta Lake and Hudi tables, PostgreSQL, MySQL, ClickHouse, Kafka, Elasticsearch, MongoDB and many others. Because it owns no storage, one query can join a lake table with a relational database, and the same engine serves interactive dashboards and batch ETL (fault-tolerant execution mode).

Trino is a common SQL layer in lakehouse architectures and the engine behind Amazon Athena and Starburst's commercial Galaxy and Enterprise products. Running it requires a JVM cluster sized for memory-intensive queries and a metastore or catalog for lake tables; for a single machine, DuckDB answers the same questions with far less infrastructure.

Capabilities

  • ANSI SQL across heterogeneous sources via connectors
  • Parallel reads of Parquet and ORC on object storage
  • Iceberg, Delta Lake and Hudi table support
  • Federated joins between lakes and databases
  • Fault-tolerant execution for batch workloads
  • JDBC, ODBC, CLI and Python clients

Typical workflows

  1. Interactive SQL over an Iceberg lakehouse
  2. Federating PostgreSQL and S3 data in one query
  3. Serving BI tools from a central query layer

Strengths

  • Storage-agnostic federation
  • Apache 2.0 with foundation governance
  • Broad connector catalog

Limitations

  • JVM cluster and metastore to operate
  • Memory-bound joins and aggregations
  • No built-in storage or indexing

Prerequisites

  • Java runtime on coordinator and worker nodes; a catalog or metastore for lake tables

Who it is for

  • Data platform teams
  • Analysts querying data lakes

Alternatives & comparison

  • Apache DataFusion

    Extensible Rust query engine built on Apache Arrow offering SQL and DataFrame APIs, Parquet readers and an optimizer for embedding in data systems

    Open sourceOpen source
  • Apache Spark

    Distributed data processing engine with DataFrame and SQL APIs in Python, Scala, Java and R, plus structured streaming and MLlib

    Open sourceOpen source
  • ClickHouse

    Open-source columnar OLAP database server for fast aggregations over billions of rows, with MergeTree storage, SQL and a managed ClickHouse Cloud

    Open sourceOpen source
  • DuckDB

    In-process analytical SQL database that queries Parquet, CSV and Arrow data directly from Python, R, Node or the CLI

    Open sourceOpen source
Compare Trino with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

  • License
    Trino LICENSE (Apache 2.0)

    https://github.com/trinodb/trino/blob/master/LICENSE

    Supports: license_spdx, source_model

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official documentation
    Trino documentation

    https://trino.io/docs/current

    Supports: capabilities, integrations

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Official site
    Trino

    https://trino.io/

    Supports: name, summary, aliases

    checked Nov 1, 2026
  • Repository
    trinodb/trino

    https://github.com/trinodb/trino

    Supports: repo_url

    checked Nov 1, 2026
Confidence
High
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

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