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Business Intelligence · head to head

Amazon QuickSight vs Databricks

Amazon QuickSight logo

Amazon QuickSight

Business Intelligence

Scalable, serverless BI by AWS

From
$3/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Databricks logo

Databricks

Machine Learning

Unified analytics platform for data engineering and data science

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Databricks 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; Databricks cloud compute is billed separately by the cloud provider on top of Databricks DBU charges
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, Databricks covers Delta Lake.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon QuickSight and Databricks actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon QuickSight and Databricks differ
AttributeAmazon QuickSightDatabricks
Starting price$3/monthFree
Pricing modelper-userusage-based
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsAWSWeb, Aws, Azure, Gcp
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceMachine Learning
Founded20062013

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

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
  • S3
  • Athena

Only in Databricks

  • Delta Lake
  • Apache Spark
  • MLflow
  • Unity Catalog
  • Photon Engine
  • Collaborative Notebooks
  • Auto-scaling
  • AWS

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon QuickSight

  • Business intelligencenot Databricks
  • Dashboard creationnot Databricks
  • Data visualizationnot Databricks

Databricks

  • Running Spark data engineering pipelines on managed clustersnot Amazon QuickSight
  • Building a lakehouse over data in cloud object storagenot Amazon QuickSight
  • Training and serving machine learning models alongside the datanot 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

Databricks

  • Cloud compute is billed separately by the cloud provider on top of Databricks DBU charges
  • The free trial lasts 14 days
  • Discounts require a Committed Use Contract, with larger commitments needed for larger discounts
  • Azure Databricks pricing is set by Microsoft rather than by Databricks
  • Security and compliance capabilities are sold as separate platform add ons rather than included in the base rate

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

Databricks

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Limited cluster
    • Notebook environment
    • Community support
  • Standard$0.07/DBU
    • Jobs compute
    • SQL compute
    • Standard support

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 Databricks if

  • You need delta lake.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp.
  • You also want apache spark.
Databricks review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon QuickSight or Databricks better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon QuickSight starts at $3/month and Databricks at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon QuickSight or Databricks?
Databricks has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $3/month for Amazon QuickSight and Free for Databricks.
Does Amazon QuickSight or Databricks run on more platforms?
Amazon QuickSight runs on AWS. Databricks runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp.
Can I use Databricks for free?
Yes. Databricks 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 Databricks is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon QuickSight do that Databricks cannot?
Amazon QuickSight covers SPICE In-memory Engine, ML Insights, Natural Language Queries, Embedded Analytics. Databricks covers Delta Lake, Apache Spark, MLflow, Unity Catalog. Both handle 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
Databricks: How is Databricks priced?

Databricks bills pay as you go with no up front cost, charging per second for the products used. Consumption is measured in Databricks Units, a normalised unit of processing power on the platform.

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
Databricks: Does Databricks publish a per DBU price?

Not on its main pricing page. Rates vary by product and instance type, and Databricks directs buyers to individual product pricing pages and a calculator rather than listing a single figure.

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
Databricks: Does the Databricks price include cloud costs?

No. Databricks states that if you configure it to work with your own cloud account, your cloud provider still charges you separately for the underlying resources.

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
Databricks: Can I get a discount on Databricks?

Databricks offers Committed Use Contracts, where larger usage commitments earn greater benefits, including options to use commitments flexibly across multiple clouds.

Source
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