Trench
Open-source event tracking built on Kafka and ClickHouse
Founded
2024
Starting Price
Free
Category
Developer Tools
Last updated April 27, 2026
About Trench
Trench is open-source event tracking infrastructure built on Apache Kafka and ClickHouse, designed to handle large volumes of analytics events in real time. It provides a Segment-compatible API (Track, Identify, Group) that teams can self-host via a single Docker image or use as a managed cloud service. Built by the team behind Frigade (YC W23), it targets companies that need high-throughput, privacy-compliant analytics without the overhead of managing Kafka and ClickHouse separately.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely open source under MIT license with no vendor lock-in
- Segment-compatible API enables drop-in replacement with minimal migration friction
- Proven ClickHouse + Kafka stack used by Airbnb, Datadog, and Spotify at scale
- Privacy-first and cookie-free with GDPR/PECR compliance out of the box
- Very generous free cloud tier with 1M events/month and 99.99% SLA
Key Features
Segment API Compatibility
Drop-in replacement for Segment's Track, Identify, and Group calls with minimal migration
High-throughput Event Processing
Handles thousands of events per second on a single node powered by Kafka
Real-time SQL Queries
Query event data in real time via SQL or REST API
Single Docker Deployment
Entire stack ships as one Docker image with no separate Kafka/ClickHouse management
Webhook Destinations
Route events to external systems and data warehouses via webhooks
GDPR & PECR Compliance
Cookie-free architecture with built-in data access, rectification, and deletion controls
Serverless Autoscaling
Managed cloud tier scales automatically with a 99.99% SLA
Pricing
Open Source
Free
- Self-hosted
- Unlimited events
- Community support
- MIT license
Cloud
Free
Best For
Product Analytics Backend
Replace Segment or Mixpanel's data pipeline with a self-hosted, cost-effective event store
Privacy-Compliant Event Tracking
Collect user behavior data without cookies for GDPR/PECR compliant EU-focused SaaS products
High-Volume Event Ingestion
Handle millions of events per day from mobile apps, web apps, or IoT devices without sampling
Data Warehouse Feeding
Stream real-time events into Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift via webhook destinations
