AWS has finalized a definitive acquisition agreement with DuckLabs, the Amsterdam company behind the open-source DuckDB analytical database.

DuckDB, along with the DuckLake and Quack projects, will continue as free and open-source initiatives under the independent oversight of the DuckDB Foundation. DuckLabs founders Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt will continue leading the team and guiding the technical roadmap for the open-source project.

DuckLabs and AWS have worked together throughout 2024, and Amazon said the transaction is intended to deliver faster, simpler, and more cost-efficient analytics tools for AWS users. The companies did not disclose financial terms.

Today, @ducklabs_com is joining @awscloud . The move is expected to be completed by early September.

Joining AWS gives DuckLabs the resources and reach to bring DuckDB, DuckLake, and the Quack protocol to many more developers and organizations – and to pursue ideas at a scale… pic.twitter.com/RtiNhsOSHq — DuckDB (@duckdb) August 26, 2026

Through the deal, DuckLabs’ engineering team will join AWS. Mühleisen and Raasveldt, who co-developed DuckDB, will keep their leadership roles and continue steering the technical direction of the open-source initiative after the acquisition closes.

Amazon stressed that DuckDB itself is not being bought. The open-source project will remain freely available and independently governed by the DuckDB Foundation, a nonprofit organization, under MIT licensing terms. That separation is important for developers and organizations that already use DuckDB in production, since the announcement frames continuity of access and governance as part of the transaction.

“Becoming part of AWS provides us with the capabilities and scale to deliver this technology to significantly more developers and enterprises,” Mühleisen and Raasveldt said on their official website.

DuckLabs and AWS have maintained a collaborative relationship throughout 2024, making the move a formalization of an existing partnership rather than an entirely new arrangement.

Strategic role for AWS

Andy Warfield, vice president and distinguished engineer at Amazon, described DuckLabs as a company that has built software with strong appeal among developers.

“I believe that philosophy, not merely simplifying data accessibility, but genuinely enabling individuals to explore, create, and truly drive innovation with data, aligns perfectly with AWS’s and our customers’ approach to data,” Warfield said.

Amazon said its goal is to deliver AWS analytics offerings that are faster, more straightforward, and more economical. For AWS, the acquisition adds a database engineering team known for work on analytical tooling at a time when cloud providers continue to compete on data performance, usability, and integration for enterprise customers that depend on large-scale analysis.

Following the acquisition, the DuckLabs team will remain based in Amsterdam, according to the official announcement.

Continuity for the DuckDB community

Amazon also sought to reassure the DuckDB community that existing users will not face changes to their workflows.

The DuckLake and Quack projects are not part of the acquisition. All three initiatives will continue under the DuckDB Foundation’s independent governance structure.

That distinction matters because DuckDB has built a loyal following among data professionals and engineers. Any indication that Amazon might restrict or commercialize the project could have raised concern within that community.

Mühleisen and Raasveldt have guided DuckDB’s development for nearly 10 years, and their continued involvement remains a central part of Amazon’s presentation of the deal.

Amazon said it expects the transaction to close in the near term, subject to standard closing conditions. After completion, the company plans to share more details about integration plans and collaboration between the teams.

The company said the DuckLabs team brings “exceptional database engineering capabilities,” which AWS will use to support its analytics customer base.