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Databases · head to head

Amazon Redshift vs Holistics

Amazon Redshift logo

Amazon Redshift

Databases

Fast, scalable cloud data warehouse from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Holistics logo

Holistics

Business Intelligence

Self-service BI for data teams

From
$800/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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; Holistics the entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Holistics covers Data Modeling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Amazon Redshift and Holistics differ
AttributeAmazon RedshiftHolistics
Starting priceFree$800/month
Pricing modelusage-basedsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Cloud
CategoryDatabasesBusiness Intelligence
Founded20122015

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Holistics

  • Data Modeling
  • Version Control
  • Scheduling
  • Caching
  • Embedding
  • BigQuery
  • Snowflake
  • Redshift

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Redshift

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

Holistics

  • Modelling business metrics in a code-defined semantic layer with Git version controlnot Amazon Redshift
  • Self-service exploration and dashboards for non-SQL usersnot Amazon Redshift
  • Embedding analytics into a customer-facing productnot 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

Holistics

  • The entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool
  • Every plan includes only the first 10 users, with additional users charged at $15 per month each on Entry and Standard and $18 on the Security Compliance Suite
  • The Entry plan caps reports at 100, and each additional 100 reports costs $120 per month
  • Google SSO requires the Standard plan at $1,200 per month; enterprise SSO with SAML and SCIM provisioning requires the Security Compliance Suite at $2,400 per month
  • Row-based access control, IP whitelisting, pass-through authentication and user activity monitoring are all Security Compliance Suite features
  • Connecting Git version control to your own repository requires Standard; Entry only gets Holistics-hosted Git
  • White labelling, dynamic row-level permissions and unlimited dashboard viewers for embedded analytics are Custom Plan only, with no published price
  • Bank payments and custom payment terms are Custom Plan only, and custom infosec or legal paperwork is Enterprise plan only
  • The two months off discount requires yearly billing

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

Holistics

$800/month
  • Entry$800/month
    • 100 reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Core self-service analytics
  • Standard$1000/month
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Custom charts
  • Security Compliance Suite$2000/month
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Granular access controls

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 Holistics if

  • You need data modeling.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want version control.
Holistics review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Redshift or Holistics better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Redshift starts at Free and Holistics at $800/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Redshift or Holistics?
Amazon Redshift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amazon Redshift and $800/month for Holistics.
Does Amazon Redshift or Holistics run on more platforms?
Amazon Redshift runs on Web. Holistics runs on Web, Cloud.
Can I use Amazon Redshift for free?
Yes. Amazon Redshift has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Holistics starts at $800/month.
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 Holistics is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Redshift do that Holistics cannot?
Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. Holistics covers Data Modeling, Version Control, Scheduling, Caching. 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
Holistics: How much do additional Holistics users cost?

Additional users cost $12.50 per month (yearly billing) or $15 per month (monthly billing) for Entry/Standard plans, and $15-18 per month for Security Suite.

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
Holistics: Can I purchase additional reports on Holistics?

Yes, additional 100-report blocks cost $100 per month (yearly) or $120 per month (monthly billing).

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
Holistics: Does Holistics support multiple data centers?

Yes, Holistics supports multiple data centers in US, EU, and APAC regions with pricing available for embedded analytics with unlimited dashboard viewers.

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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