Introducing the MotherDuck connector
Data workflows can get messy with constant back-and-forth between local analytics and cloud solutions. But what if you could have the best of both worlds: lightweight, in-process analytics and scalable cloud power?
That's where Stacksync's new MotherDuck connector comes in, so you can quit ducking around with complex setups.
What is DuckDB?
When DuckDB was first released in 2019, it quickly became a cult favorite. It's a lightweight SQL OLAP database designed to be fast, easy to use, and completely in-process. Unlike cloud-based warehouses that rely on client-server architecture, DuckDB runs entirely within your application. You don't need a separate server to get started - just drop it into your app, load your data, and you're off to the races.
The magic of DuckDB lies in how accessible it makes analytics. You don't have to stand up a full-blown database server or rent cloud warehouse time just to run a few queries. DuckDB lets you explore data right where it lives: in-memory. It's great when you need to quickly prototype without the complexity of traditional database infrastructure.
DuckDB also plays well with the tools you already use. Got a few gigabytes of Parquet files lying around on your laptop or an S3 bucket? Just point DuckDB at them and start querying.
But DuckDB's pros are also what causes its limitations. Because it runs on a single machine, it can't support massive, multi-node workloads. If your data grows beyond what fits in local memory, or you need distributed compute, DuckDB isn’t for you.
Concurrency also isn't its strong suit. DuckDB excels with single-user or small-team use cases - think one analyst exploring a dataset, not dozens of dashboards updating in real time. It’s a personal analytics superpower, not an enterprise-level workhorse. If you need high user concurrency or cloud-native features like automatic scaling, managed storage, and multi-node querying, you'll hit DuckDB's limits.
Fortunately, that's why we have MotherDuck!
What is MotherDuck?
Like a mama duck leading her ducklings (small DuckDB instances running locally) to the pond (the cloud), MotherDuck gathers all those ducklings together, making sure they swim in formation with scalable cloud infrastructure.
When working with data locally, DuckDB handles in-process SQL queries as usual. But when the data exceeds local memory capacity, MotherDuck steps in by offloading data processing to the cloud, ensuring that your queries continue to glide smoothly even as data demands grow.
This transition is automatic and doesn't require manual intervention. MotherDuck's query planner decides whether to execute queries locally or in the cloud. If it's something lightweight, DuckDB handles it; if the job demands more muscle, MotherDuck calls in the cloud infrastructure. Since every user automatically gets their own dedicated compute 'duckling,' resource contention is never an issue, and no one gets delayed because another user is using too much compute.
Stacksync + MotherDuck
Just as MotherDuck extends DuckDB to the cloud, Stacksync's new MotherDuck connector takes your data workflows to the next level. Use the connector to set up real-time, bi-directional data syncs between MotherDuck and business tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, BigQuery, and more.
No more custom code, no more middleware headaches. Our MotherDuck connector makes data integration a breeze so you can stop waddling through tedious processes and fly straight to insights. Analysts and engineers get near-instant data updates across all systems, slashing the delay between data generation and insights. Your real-time reports are actually real-time, and your analytics are always aligned with the freshest data.
Ready to get your data ducks in a row? Get a demo of Stacksync, or sign up for a free account today.