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Apache Kylin vs Holistics

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Apache Kylin and Holistics — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Apache Kylin vs Holistics: at a glance

FeatureApache KylinHolistics
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score2.56.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesolap, gluten, native-execution, internal-tablesbusiness intelligence, semantic layer, dashboards, admin controls
Last editorial update3mo ago3d ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Apache Kylin?

Kylin ships once a year with empty release notes and a native engine nobody is being told about.

Apache Kylin's release stream is close to silent. Four of the six most recent tags carry nothing but the Maven release plugin's own commit message, and 5.0.4 in July 2026 arrived ten months after 5.0.3 with no notes at all. The last release that documented anything was 5.0.2 in April 2025, covering internal-table caching, partition-aware file merging and Gluten jar loading order.

Read the full Apache Kylin trajectory →

What is Holistics?

Holistics lets admins put a key dashboard on everyone's Home page.

Holistics is shipping weekly changes on both the modeling and consumption sides of its BI product. Recent modeling work added Data Lineage in the IDE, two-way conversion between AML and Apache Ossie, and branches in place of the Production/Development switch. For viewers it added field descriptions on hover, in-dashboard trend and reference lines, and now an admin-configurable Home with a full-view dashboard and pinned shortcuts.

Read the full Holistics trajectory →

Apache Kylin vs Holistics: editorial side-by-side

A
Apache Kylin
ANALYTICS
2.5

Kylin ships once a year with empty release notes and a native engine nobody is being told about.

◆ Current state

Apache Kylin's release stream is close to silent. Four of the six most recent tags carry nothing but the Maven release plugin's own commit message, and 5.0.4 in July 2026 arrived ten months after 5.0.3 with no notes at all. The last release that documented anything was 5.0.2 in April 2025, covering internal-table caching, partition-aware file merging and Gluten jar loading order.

◆ Where it's heading

The substance is in 5.0.0 and its follow-ups: Gluten with a ClickHouse backend as a native execution engine, internal tables, streaming and fusion models. That is a real architectural bet on native vectorised execution, but the project is not communicating it — releases ship as bare tags, and the gap between 5.0.3 and 5.0.4 suggests development has thinned to a trickle. For anyone tracking Kylin from the outside, the release feed is effectively no signal.

◆ Prediction

The entries do not support a confident call on what ships next; with untitled tags roughly annually, the useful signal about Kylin's direction will come from JIRA and the mailing list rather than from releases.

Holistics logo
Holistics
ANALYTICS
6.3

Holistics lets admins put a key dashboard on everyone's Home page.

◆ Current state

Holistics is shipping weekly changes on both the modeling and consumption sides of its BI product. Recent modeling work added Data Lineage in the IDE, two-way conversion between AML and Apache Ossie, and branches in place of the Production/Development switch. For viewers it added field descriptions on hover, in-dashboard trend and reference lines, and now an admin-configurable Home with a full-view dashboard and pinned shortcuts.

◆ Where it's heading

The release stream keeps putting analysis and context where business users already are, on dashboards and Home, rather than sending them into Explore. Modeling changes meanwhile make the semantic layer more portable and more like a code workflow.

◆ Prediction

Expect further admin-level controls over what viewers see first, and more semantic-layer metadata surfaced on dashboards.

Alternatives to Apache Kylin and Holistics

Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Apache Kylin or Holistics.

See all Apache Kylin alternatives → · See all Holistics alternatives →

Recent activity from Apache Kylin and Holistics

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 4d agoHolisticsPick your own color for the "Others" chart group
  2. 5d agoHolisticsCustom homepage: put key dashboards where everyone lands
  3. 11d agoHolisticsDashboard viewers see field descriptions on column hover
  4. 12d agoHolisticsData Lineage panel traces models and dashboards in the IDE
  5. 14d agoHolisticsAML converts to and from Apache Ossie semantic models
  6. 17d agoHolisticsBranch selector replaces the Production/Development mode switch
  7. 3mo agoApache Kylin5.0.4 tagged with no release notes
  8. 1y agoApache Kylin5.0.3 tagged with no release notes
  9. 1y agoApache KylinInternal table caching, partition file merging, Gluten fixes
  10. 2y agoApache KylinApache Kylin 5.0.0 ⚡
  11. 2y agoApache KylinStreaming function fix
  12. 2y agoApache Kylin4.0.5 tagged on the legacy line

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Apache Kylin and Holistics?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Holistics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Apache Kylin better than Holistics?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Holistics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Apache Kylin?

Top Apache Kylin alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Apache Kylin alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/apache-kylin for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Holistics?

Top Holistics alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Holistics alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/holistics for the full list with editorial commentary on each.