Software · head to head
ArangoDB vs Amazon Redshift
ArangoDB
Software
Multi-model database for graph, document, and search
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: ArangoDB the company has repositioned around a wider platform, so ArangoDB is now described as the foundation inside Arango rather than the product itself; Amazon Redshift on-demand pricing runs up to 75% higher than competitors like Snowflake and BigQuery
- They diverge on capability: ArangoDB covers Multi-model Support, Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ArangoDB and Amazon Redshift actually diverge.
| Attribute | ArangoDB | Amazon Redshift |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | usage-based |
| Platforms | Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web | Web |
| Founded | 2014 | 2012 |
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 ArangoDB
- Multi-model Support
- AQL Query Language
- Graph Traversals
- Full-text Search
- ACID Transactions
- SmartGraphs
- Satellite Collections
- Foxx Microservices
Only in Amazon Redshift
- Columnar Storage
- Massively Parallel
- Machine Learning
- AQUA Acceleration
- Data Sharing
- Federated Query
- Concurrency Scaling
- S3
Both cover
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
ArangoDB
- Graph, document and key-value data in one databasenot Amazon Redshift
- Vector and full-text search alongside graph traversalnot Amazon Redshift
- Avoiding separate stores for related and unstructured datanot Amazon Redshift
- Backing AI applications needing both graph context and vectorsnot Amazon Redshift
Amazon Redshift
- Business intelligencenot ArangoDB
- Data warehousingnot ArangoDB
- Real-time analyticsnot ArangoDB
- Reportingnot ArangoDB
- Machine learningnot ArangoDB
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
ArangoDB
- The company has repositioned around a wider platform, so ArangoDB is now described as the foundation inside Arango rather than the product itself
- Neither the community licence terms nor cloud pricing are stated on the main site
- arangodb.com redirects to arango.ai
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
Pricing, plan by plan
ArangoDB
Free- CommunityFree
- All data models
- AQL queries
- Full-text search
- ArangoGraph$99/month
- Managed service
- Graph analytics
- Enterprise support
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
Which should you pick?
Choose ArangoDB if
- You need multi-model support.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web.
- You also want aql query language.
Choose Amazon Redshift if
- You need columnar storage.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want massively parallel.
Questions people ask
- Is ArangoDB or Amazon Redshift better?
- Neither clearly leads. ArangoDB starts at Free and Amazon Redshift at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ArangoDB or Amazon Redshift?
- ArangoDB starts at Free and Amazon Redshift at Free.
- Does ArangoDB or Amazon Redshift run on more platforms?
- ArangoDB runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Docker, Web. Amazon Redshift runs on Web.
- Can I use ArangoDB for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is ArangoDB best used for?
- ArangoDB is most often used for graph, document and key-value data in one database, vector and full-text search alongside graph traversal, avoiding separate stores for related and unstructured data, backing ai applications needing both graph context and vectors. Of those, graph, document and key-value data in one database and vector and full-text search alongside graph traversal are not what Amazon Redshift is typically brought in for.
- What can ArangoDB do that Amazon Redshift cannot?
- ArangoDB covers Multi-model Support, AQL Query Language, Graph Traversals, Full-text Search. Amazon Redshift covers Columnar Storage, Massively Parallel, Machine Learning, AQUA Acceleration. 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.
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