[hodgesrm]

ClickHouse only has fixed run cost if you configure it that way. We run ClickHouse clusters in AWS / GCS using block storage in our cloud platform. You can scale VMs up and down vertically in minutes, and scale horizontally in the same amount of time. The model works great for SaaS use cases that require constant response at all times and scale over days or weeks rather than minutes. Real-time analytic apps that show tenant dashboards or generate recommendations for users on ecommerce sites have this characteristic.

I don't think there's really a right or wrong answer here, just trade-offs.

Disclaimer: I work on Altinity.Cloud, a platform for managed ClickHouse