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Database & Data Management · head to head

Amazon Redshift vs Couchbase

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Database & Data Management

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Couchbase logo

Couchbase

Database & Data Management

The modern database for enterprise applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Redshift on-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery; Couchbase the free tier is a single node with 8 GB of storage and forum support only
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Couchbase covers JSON Document Model.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Redshift and Couchbase actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and Couchbase differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftCouchbase
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsWebLinux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web
Founded20122011

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Database & Data Management).

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 Redshift

  • Columnar Storage
  • Massively Parallel
  • Machine Learning
  • AQUA Acceleration
  • Data Sharing
  • Federated Query
  • Concurrency Scaling
  • S3

Only in Couchbase

  • JSON Document Model
  • SQL++ Query
  • Full-text Search
  • Eventing
  • Analytics
  • Mobile Sync
  • Multi-dimensional Scaling
  • Kafka

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Redshift

  • Business intelligencenot Couchbase
  • Data warehousingnot Couchbase
  • Real-time analyticsnot Couchbase
  • Reportingnot Couchbase
  • Machine learningnot Couchbase

Couchbase

  • Running a distributed NoSQL document database as a managed servicenot Amazon Redshift
  • Mobile sync and offline first applications backed by a cloud databasenot Amazon Redshift

Where each one falls short

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

Amazon Redshift

  • On-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery
  • Requires significant manual tuning including managing concurrency scaling costs and configuring Workload Management queues
  • Performance degrades without proper design of distribution keys and sort keys
  • Limited elastic resize options - can only halve or double current cluster size
  • AWS lock-in makes it unsuitable for multi-cloud architectures

Couchbase

  • The free tier is a single node with 8 GB of storage and forum support only
  • Node rates are hourly and quoted as starting figures, from $0.15 an hour on Basic to $0.49 on Enterprise
  • The Developer Pro and Enterprise plans require 3 nodes, so the hourly rate multiplies before any usage
  • Backup storage is billed separately at $0.07 per GB a month, and analytics backups at $0.14
  • Support response time is a plan feature, at 8 hours on Developer Pro against 30 minutes on Enterprise
  • AI and analytics run as separately priced planes at up to $0.86 an hour per node

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon Redshift

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • 750 DC2.Large hours
    • 2 months free
    • Full features
  • On-Demand$0.25/hour
    • Pay per node hour
    • All features
    • Standard support

Couchbase

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Full features
    • Community support
    • Self-managed
  • Capella FreeFree
    • Managed service
    • Limited resources
    • Cloud hosted

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Redshift if

  • You need columnar storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want massively parallel.
Amazon Redshift review

Choose Couchbase if

  • You need json document model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
  • You also want sql++ query.
Couchbase review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or Couchbase better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Couchbase at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Couchbase?
Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Couchbase at Free.
Does Amazon Redshift or Couchbase run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. Couchbase runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
Can I use Amazon Redshift for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Amazon Redshift best used for?
Amazon Redshift is most often used for business intelligence, data warehousing, real-time analytics, reporting. Of those, business intelligence and data warehousing are not what Couchbase is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that Couchbase cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Couchbase covers JSON Document Model, SQL++ Query, Full-text Search, Eventing. Both handle Web support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amazon Redshift: What deployment options does Amazon Redshift offer?

Redshift offers Provisioned Cluster (with RA3 or DC2 nodes) and Serverless options to match varying workloads. The new Redshift RG instance family, powered by Graviton, delivers 2.4x faster performance than RA3 at 30% lower cost per vCPU.

Source
Amazon Redshift: What does Amazon Redshift cost?

Provisioned cluster pricing: RA3 on-demand starts at $1.086/hour for ra3.xlplus. Serverless costs approximately $0.375 per RPU-hour with 4-RPU minimum (roughly $1.50/hour active workload). Managed storage costs $0.024/GB-month.

Source
Amazon Redshift: Does Redshift work with data lakes?

Yes, Redshift's integrated data lake query engine processes workloads on Apache Iceberg tables and other supported formats in Amazon S3, allowing you to run SQL analytics across your data warehouse and data lake from the same engine.

Source
Amazon Redshift: Is there a free tier for Amazon Redshift?

AWS offers a free trial with $300 USD in Serverless credits valid for 90 days, but Redshift is not part of the permanent AWS Free Tier.

Source
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