Software · head to head
Amazon Redshift vs Firebolt
Firebolt
Software
Sub-second analytics at cloud data warehouse scale
- From
- $1.84/hour
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Amazon Redshift has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Amazon Redshift on-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery; Firebolt compute billed per second on Arm-based processors; small instances still incur measurable costs during idle periods despite auto-stop
- They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Firebolt covers Sub-second Queries.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Amazon Redshift and Firebolt actually diverge.
| Attribute | Amazon Redshift | Firebolt |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $1.84/hour |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web | Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes |
| Founded | 2012 | 2019 |
Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), 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 Firebolt
- Sub-second Queries
- Sparse Indexes
- Data Pruning
- Decoupled Storage/Compute
- SQL Support
- Semi-structured Data
- Workload Isolation
- Airflow
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 Firebolt
- Data warehousingnot Firebolt
- Real-time analyticsnot Firebolt
- Reportingnot Firebolt
- Machine learningnot Firebolt
Firebolt
- Data analytics teams running gigabyte-to-petabyte datasets with sub-second query requirementsnot Amazon Redshift
- Real-time business intelligence platforms requiring ACID transactions and snapshot isolationnot Amazon Redshift
- Applications needing vector search on analytical data for similarity queriesnot 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
Firebolt
- Compute billed per second on Arm-based processors; small instances still incur measurable costs during idle periods despite auto-stop
- Storage pass-through charged at $0.0264/GB monthly on compressed data; uncompressed storage could exceed this
- Azure deployment currently in Preview status; production recommendations unclear
- Vector indexes limited to float arrays; other data types require alternative indexing strategies
- Free tier credits ($200) limited; no perpetual free tier for production use
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
Firebolt
$1.84/hourNo published plan breakdown. See the Firebolt review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Amazon Redshift if
- You need columnar storage.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want massively parallel.
Choose Firebolt if
- You need sub-second queries.
- You work on Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes.
- You also want sparse indexes.
Questions people ask
- Is Amazon Redshift or Firebolt better?
- Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Firebolt at $1.84/hour, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Firebolt?
- Amazon Redshift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amazon Redshift and $1.84/hour for Firebolt.
- Does Amazon Redshift or Firebolt run on more platforms?
- Amazon Redshift runs on Web. Firebolt runs on Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes.
- Can I use Amazon Redshift for free?
- Yes. Amazon Redshift has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Firebolt starts at $1.84/hour.
- 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 Firebolt is typically brought in for.
- What can Amazon Redshift do that Firebolt cannot?
- Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Firebolt covers Sub-second Queries, Sparse Indexes, Data Pruning, Decoupled Storage/Compute. 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.
SourceAmazon 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.
SourceAmazon 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.
SourceAmazon 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