Is BigQuery ML or Together AI better?

Neither clearly leads. BigQuery ML starts at Free and Together AI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, BigQuery ML or Together AI?

BigQuery ML starts at Free and Together AI at Free.

Does BigQuery ML or Together AI run on more platforms?

BigQuery ML runs on Web. Together AI runs on Api, Cloud.

Can I use BigQuery ML for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is BigQuery ML best used for?

BigQuery ML is most often used for training models in sql without exporting data, linear and logistic regression on warehouse data, k-means clustering and matrix factorisation for recommendations, time series forecasting with arima_plus. Of those, training models in sql without exporting data and linear and logistic regression on warehouse data are not what Together AI is typically brought in for.

What can BigQuery ML do that Together AI cannot?

BigQuery ML covers SQL-based ML, AutoML Tables, Model export, Prediction functions. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings.

Machine Learning · head to head

BigQuery ML vs Together AI

BigQuery ML

Machine Learning

Machine learning in BigQuery using SQL

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Full review Website

Together AI

Open-source AI at scale

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: BigQuery ML not available in BigQuery's Standard edition, so the cheapest tier cannot use it; Together AI free tier limits not clearly specified in pricing documentation
They diverge on capability: BigQuery ML covers SQL-based ML, Together AI covers Open-source models.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigQuery ML and Together AI actually diverge.

Attributes where BigQuery ML and Together AI differ
Attribute	BigQuery ML	Together AI
Platforms	Web	Api, Cloud
Category	Machine Learning	AI
Founded	2008	2022

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), 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 BigQuery ML

SQL-based ML
AutoML Tables
Model export
Prediction functions
Feature preprocessing
BigQuery
Vertex AI
TensorFlow

Only in Together AI

Open-source models
Fine-tuning
Fast inference
Embeddings
REST API
Python SDK
OpenAI compatible
Api support

What people use each for

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

BigQuery ML

Training models in SQL without exporting datanot Together AI
Linear and logistic regression on warehouse datanot Together AI
K-means clustering and matrix factorisation for recommendationsnot Together AI
Time series forecasting with ARIMA_PLUSnot Together AI
Running imported ONNX, TensorFlow or XGBoost models against BigQuery datanot Together AI

Together AI

LLM inference for production AI applicationsnot BigQuery ML
Content generation at scalenot BigQuery ML
Code execution and embeddingsnot BigQuery ML
Model fine-tuning and trainingnot BigQuery ML
Startup and enterprise AI deploymentnot BigQuery ML

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BigQuery ML

Not available in BigQuery's Standard edition, so the cheapest tier cannot use it
Billed through BigQuery compute and storage rather than as its own product, so training cost tracks data scanned
Remote models incur extra Agent Platform charges on top
Externally trained model types such as boosted trees and AutoML run through Agent Platform rather than inside BigQuery

Together AI

Free tier limits not clearly specified in pricing documentation
Pricing varies significantly by model and use case
Requires account setup for production access
Batch API discounts apply only to non-urgent workloads

Pricing, plan by plan

BigQuery ML

Free

Free TierFree
- 10GB storage
- 1TB queries
On-Demand$5/TB
- Pay per TB scanned
- ML training costs

Together AI

Free

Serverless Inference$0.03/1M input tokens
- Chat and Vision models
- Image generation
- Video generation
Provisioned Throughput$21600/month
- Up to 83% savings vs commercial alternatives
- Reserved capacity
- Guaranteed throughput
Dedicated Inference$5.49/hour
- H100 GPU instance
- Single-tenant deployment
- No resource sharing
GPU Clusters$3.99/GPU-hour
- On-demand capacity
- Volume discounts available
- Reserved options with up to 35% savings

Which should you pick?

Choose BigQuery ML if

You need sql-based ml.
You want to start without paying.
You also want automl tables.

BigQuery ML review

Choose Together AI if

You need open-source models.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Api, Cloud.
You also want fine-tuning.

Together AI review

Questions people ask

Is BigQuery ML or Together AI better?: Neither clearly leads. BigQuery ML starts at Free and Together AI at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigQuery ML or Together AI?: BigQuery ML starts at Free and Together AI at Free.
Does BigQuery ML or Together AI run on more platforms?: BigQuery ML runs on Web. Together AI runs on Api, Cloud.
Can I use BigQuery ML for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is BigQuery ML best used for?: BigQuery ML is most often used for training models in sql without exporting data, linear and logistic regression on warehouse data, k-means clustering and matrix factorisation for recommendations, time series forecasting with arima_plus. Of those, training models in sql without exporting data and linear and logistic regression on warehouse data are not what Together AI is typically brought in for.
What can BigQuery ML do that Together AI cannot?: BigQuery ML covers SQL-based ML, AutoML Tables, Model export, Prediction functions. Together AI covers Open-source models, Fine-tuning, Fast inference, Embeddings.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigQuery ML: How much does Google Cloud BigQuery ML cost?

BigQuery ML pricing is not specified separately on Google Cloud's pricing page. It follows the same pay-as-you-go model as BigQuery, charging per terabyte of data scanned during analysis. Customers receive $300 in free credits and can use 20+ products free up to monthly limits.

Source

Together AI: Does Together AI offer a free tier?

Yes, Together AI advertises 'Start for free, scale on demand,' but specific free tier usage limits are not detailed on the pricing page.

Source

BigQuery ML: Does Google Cloud offer a free trial?

Yes, new customers get $300 in free credits and all customers can use 20+ Google Cloud products free up to their monthly usage limits.

Source

Together AI: What are Together AI's highest model prices?

Serverless inference pricing ranges from free for base models up to $4.40 per 1M input tokens for premium models. Video generation costs $0.14 to $3.20 per video depending on resolution.

Source

Together AI: How much can I save with Provisioned Throughput?

Together AI offers up to 83% savings compared to commercial alternatives when using their Provisioned Throughput option with reserved capacity.

Source

Together AI: What is Together AI's fine-tuning pricing?

Standard fine-tuning costs $0.48 to $2.90 per 1M tokens depending on model size, with a minimum charge of $4.00 per job.

Source

BigQuery ML vs Together AI

BigQuery ML

Together AI

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in BigQuery ML

Only in Together AI

What people use each for

BigQuery ML

Together AI

Where each one falls short

BigQuery ML

Together AI

Pricing, plan by plan

BigQuery ML

Together AI

Which should you pick?

Choose BigQuery ML if

Choose Together AI if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on BigQuery ML

More on Together AI

Keep looking

Other head to heads