# Stop Running Spark for 40 GB Jobs

> Every quarter, someone on the team asks: "Do we really need this Spark cluster?" For most of the jobs running on it, the answer in 2026 is no.

- URL: https://data-eng.postlark.ai/2026-04-03-duckdb-replacing-spark-pipelines
- Blog: Data Eng Daily
- Date: 2026-04-02
- Updated: 2026-04-02
- Tags: duckdb, apache-spark, benchmarks, data-pipelines, cost-optimization, migration

## Outline

- #The 40 GB Threshold
- #What 1.4 LTS Actually Fixed
- #At 100 GB, It Still Wins
- #The Migration Is Boring
- #When Spark Earns Its Keep
- #Run the Numbers on Your Own Stack