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Database & Data Management · head to head

Amazon Redshift vs Dgraph

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Database & Data Management

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Dgraph logo

Dgraph

Database & Data Management

The only native GraphQL database with graph backend

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; Dgraph the GitHub repository (dgraph-io/dgraph) is licensed Apache 2.0 with no paid tier, cloud offering, or enterprise edition mentioned anywhere in the README
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Dgraph covers Native GraphQL.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and Dgraph differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftDgraph
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsWebLinux, Mac, Docker, Web
Founded20122016

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 Dgraph

  • Native GraphQL
  • Distributed Architecture
  • ACID Transactions
  • GraphQL Subscriptions
  • Full-text Search
  • Geolocation Queries
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • GraphQL

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Redshift

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

Dgraph

  • Knowledge graphsnot Amazon Redshift
  • Fraud detectionnot Amazon Redshift
  • Recommendation enginesnot Amazon Redshift
  • Network analysisnot Amazon Redshift
  • Master data managementnot 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

Dgraph

  • The GitHub repository (dgraph-io/dgraph) is licensed Apache 2.0 with no paid tier, cloud offering, or enterprise edition mentioned anywhere in the README

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

Dgraph

Free
  • CommunityFree
    • Native GraphQL
    • Graph queries
    • Full-text search
  • Cloud$39/month
    • Managed service
    • Auto-scaling
    • 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 Dgraph if

  • You need native graphql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Mac, Docker, Web.
  • You also want distributed architecture.
Dgraph review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or Dgraph better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Dgraph at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Dgraph?
Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Dgraph at Free.
Does Amazon Redshift or Dgraph run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. Dgraph runs on Linux, 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 Dgraph is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that Dgraph cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Dgraph covers Native GraphQL, Distributed Architecture, ACID Transactions, GraphQL Subscriptions. 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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Related pages

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