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Database & Data Management · head to head

Amazon Redshift vs Firebase Realtime Database

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Database & Data Management

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Firebase Realtime Database logo

Firebase Realtime Database

Database & Data Management

Store and sync data in real-time across all clients

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; Firebase Realtime Database the no-cost Spark plan caps storage at 1 GB, downloads at 10 GB per month and simultaneous connections at 100
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Firebase Realtime Database covers Real-time Sync.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Redshift and Firebase Realtime Database actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and Firebase Realtime Database differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftFirebase Realtime Database
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
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 Firebase Realtime Database

  • Real-time Sync
  • Offline Support
  • JSON Storage
  • Security Rules
  • Data Validation
  • Multi-platform SDKs
  • Scalable
  • Firebase Auth

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Redshift

  • Business intelligencenot Firebase Realtime Database
  • Data warehousingnot Firebase Realtime Database
  • Real-time analyticsnot Firebase Realtime Database
  • Reportingnot Firebase Realtime Database
  • Machine learningnot Firebase Realtime Database

Firebase Realtime Database

  • Syncing JSON application state between clients in real timenot Amazon Redshift
  • Backing mobile and web apps with offline capable data storagenot Amazon Redshift
  • Prototyping realtime features such as presence and chatnot 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

Firebase Realtime Database

  • The no-cost Spark plan caps storage at 1 GB, downloads at 10 GB per month and simultaneous connections at 100
  • The Spark plan does not support multiple databases in a project
  • Even on the paid Blaze plan simultaneous connections are capped at 200,000 per database
  • Billing is by data transferred out at $1 per GB plus $5 per GB stored, so chatty clients cost more than the data volume suggests

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

Firebase Realtime Database

Free
  • SparkFree
    • 1GB storage
    • 10GB/month download
    • 100 simultaneous connections
  • BlazeFree
    • Pay as you go
    • Unlimited storage
    • Unlimited connections

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 Firebase Realtime Database if

  • You need real-time sync.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want offline support.
Firebase Realtime Database review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or Firebase Realtime Database better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Firebase Realtime Database at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Firebase Realtime Database?
Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Firebase Realtime Database at Free.
Does Amazon Redshift or Firebase Realtime Database run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. Firebase Realtime Database runs on Web, Ios, Android.
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 Firebase Realtime Database is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that Firebase Realtime Database cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Firebase Realtime Database covers Real-time Sync, Offline Support, JSON Storage, Security Rules. 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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