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Business Intelligence · head to head

Amazon QuickSight vs AWS SageMaker

Amazon QuickSight logo

Amazon QuickSight

Business Intelligence

Scalable, serverless BI by AWS

From
$3/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
AWS SageMaker logo

AWS SageMaker

Machine Learning

Build, train, and deploy machine learning models at scale

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only AWS SageMaker has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amazon QuickSight reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month; AWS SageMaker vendor lock-in to AWS ecosystem makes migration to other platforms difficult
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, AWS SageMaker covers Jupyter notebooks.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon QuickSight and AWS SageMaker actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon QuickSight and AWS SageMaker differ
AttributeAmazon QuickSightAWS SageMaker
Starting price$3/monthFree
Pricing modelper-userUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsAWSWeb
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceMachine Learning

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), founded (2006).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amazon QuickSight

  • SPICE In-memory Engine
  • ML Insights
  • Natural Language Queries
  • Embedded Analytics
  • Pay-per-session
  • Redshift
  • Athena
  • Aurora

Only in AWS SageMaker

  • Jupyter notebooks
  • Built-in algorithms
  • Automatic model tuning
  • One-click deployment
  • Model monitoring
  • Lambda
  • Step Functions
  • CloudWatch

Both cover

  • S3
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amazon QuickSight

  • Business intelligencenot AWS SageMaker
  • Dashboard creationnot AWS SageMaker
  • Data visualizationnot AWS SageMaker

AWS SageMaker

  • Machine learningnot Amazon QuickSight
  • Data analysisnot Amazon QuickSight
  • Model trainingnot Amazon QuickSight
  • Predictive analyticsnot Amazon QuickSight

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amazon QuickSight

  • Reader and Reader Pro roles charged separately at $3 and $20/month
  • Author and Author Pro roles charged at $24 and $40/month
  • $250/month infrastructure fee required if Pro users or Q&A enabled
  • SPICE storage charged at $0.38/GB monthly (10 GB included)
  • Pixel-perfect reports start at $500/month for 500 monthly units
  • Alerts charged at $0.05-$0.50 per 1,000 metrics evaluated

AWS SageMaker

  • Vendor lock-in to AWS ecosystem makes migration to other platforms difficult
  • Opaque pricing can lead to unexpected expenses like forgotten EBS volume charges
  • Does not include native job scheduling, requiring Lambda or EventBridge integration

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon QuickSight

$3/month
  • Reader$3/month
    • Dashboard viewing only
  • Reader Pro$20/month
    • Enhanced reader capabilities
  • Author$24/month
    • Dashboard creation and editing
  • Author Pro$40/month
    • Advanced authoring features

AWS SageMaker

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the AWS SageMaker review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon QuickSight if

  • You need spice in-memory engine.
  • You work on AWS.
  • You also want ml insights.
Amazon QuickSight review

Choose AWS SageMaker if

  • You need jupyter notebooks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want built-in algorithms.
AWS SageMaker review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon QuickSight or AWS SageMaker better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month and AWS SageMaker at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon QuickSight or AWS SageMaker?
AWS SageMaker has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3/month for Amazon QuickSight and Free for AWS SageMaker.
Does Amazon QuickSight or AWS SageMaker run on more platforms?
Amazon QuickSight runs on AWS. AWS SageMaker runs on Web.
Can I use AWS SageMaker for free?
Yes. AWS SageMaker has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month.
What is Amazon QuickSight best used for?
Amazon QuickSight is most often used for business intelligence, dashboard creation, data visualization. Of those, business intelligence and dashboard creation are not what AWS SageMaker is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon QuickSight do that AWS SageMaker cannot?
Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, ML Insights, Natural Language Queries, Embedded Analytics. AWS SageMaker covers Jupyter notebooks, Built-in algorithms, Automatic model tuning, One-click deployment. Both handle S3, Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon QuickSight: What does Amazon QuickSight cost per user?

QuickSight pricing varies by user role. Readers start at $3/month, Reader Pro at $20/month, Authors at $24/month, and Author Pro at $40/month. All prices are per user per month.

Source
AWS SageMaker: What is AWS SageMaker used for?

AWS SageMaker is a machine learning service for building, training, and deploying ML models at scale. It provides tools for data preparation, model training, inference endpoints, and performance optimization.

Source
Amazon QuickSight: Does QuickSight charge an infrastructure fee?

Yes, QuickSight charges an infrastructure fee of $250/month per account if the account has at least one Pro user, has Q&A enabled via topics, or has dashboard Q&A enabled.

Source
AWS SageMaker: How is AWS SageMaker priced?

SageMaker uses pay-as-you-go pricing with no upfront costs or long-term commitments. Pricing starts at $0.04 per hour for basic notebook instances and scales based on instance type. ML Savings Plans offer up to 64% off with hourly spend commitments.

Source
Amazon QuickSight: What are QuickSight's session capacity pricing options?

Session capacity pricing starts at $250/month for 500 sessions. Annual plans range from $20,000/year for 50,000 sessions to $258,000/year for 1,600,000 sessions, with volume discounts reducing unit costs from $0.50 to $0.16 per additional session.

Source
AWS SageMaker: Does AWS SageMaker have a free tier?

Yes, the free tier includes 250 hours of notebook usage, 50 hours of training, and 125 hours of hosting on ml.t3.medium instances during the first two months.

Source
Amazon QuickSight: How much does additional SPICE storage cost?

Additional SPICE storage beyond the included 10 GB costs $0.38 per GB per month. Authors receive 10 GB included, but Readers do not.

Source
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