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Amazon Redshift vs DataStax

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Software

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
DataStax logo

DataStax

Software

The real-time data company for AI 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; DataStax dataStax's own Astra DB documentation states the Enterprise plan is an annual, contract-based plan with negotiated pricing, meaning list prices are not published for that tier
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, DataStax covers Cassandra Compatible.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and DataStax differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftDataStax
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsWebWeb, Aws, Azure, Gcp
Founded20122010

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

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 DataStax

  • Cassandra Compatible
  • Vector Search
  • Serverless
  • Multi-cloud
  • Streaming
  • CDC
  • GraphQL API
  • LangChain

Both cover

  • Web support
  • Aws support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Redshift

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

DataStax

  • Real-time applicationsnot Amazon Redshift
  • Content managementnot Amazon Redshift
  • User profilesnot Amazon Redshift
  • Mobile backendsnot Amazon Redshift
  • Cachingnot 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

DataStax

  • DataStax's own Astra DB documentation states the Enterprise plan is an annual, contract-based plan with negotiated pricing, meaning list prices are not published for that tier
  • DataStax's Astra DB documentation directs Standard plan customers to IBM's watsonx.data pricing for exact consumption-based rates following the DataStax/IBM deal, rather than publishing them on DataStax's own site

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

DataStax

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5GB storage
    • 40M read/write ops
    • Vector search
  • Pay As You GoFree
    • Usage-based pricing
    • Multi-region
    • Enterprise support

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 DataStax if

  • You need cassandra compatible.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp.
  • You also want vector search.
DataStax review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or DataStax better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and DataStax at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or DataStax?
Amazon Redshift starts at Free and DataStax at Free.
Does Amazon Redshift or DataStax run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. DataStax runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp.
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 DataStax is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that DataStax cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. DataStax covers Cassandra Compatible, Vector Search, Serverless, Multi-cloud. Both handle Web support, Aws 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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