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Amazon Redshift vs DuckDB

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Software

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
DuckDB logo

DuckDB

Software

Fast in-process analytical database

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; DuckDB client-server setup remains in beta and not recommended for production distributed scenarios
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Massively Parallel, DuckDB covers In-process Execution.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and DuckDB differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftDuckDB
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows, WebAssembly
Founded20122019

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

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

Only in DuckDB

  • In-process Execution
  • Vectorized Execution
  • Rich SQL Support
  • Parquet Support
  • CSV/JSON Import
  • Zero Dependencies
  • Python
  • R

Both cover

  • Columnar Storage

What people use each for

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

Amazon Redshift

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

DuckDB

  • Analytics and data warehousingnot Amazon Redshift
  • OLAP queries and data explorationnot Amazon Redshift
  • Data science and machine learning workflowsnot Amazon Redshift
  • Multi-format data ingestion and processingnot 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

DuckDB

  • Client-server setup remains in beta and not recommended for production distributed scenarios

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

DuckDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the DuckDB review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Redshift if

  • You need massively parallel.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want machine learning.
Amazon Redshift review

Choose DuckDB if

  • You need in-process execution.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, WebAssembly.
  • You also want vectorized execution.
DuckDB review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or DuckDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and DuckDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or DuckDB?
Amazon Redshift starts at Free and DuckDB at Free.
Does Amazon Redshift or DuckDB run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. DuckDB runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, WebAssembly.
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 DuckDB is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that DuckDB cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration, Data Sharing. DuckDB covers In-process Execution, Vectorized Execution, Rich SQL Support, Parquet Support. Both handle Columnar Storage.

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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