Database & Data Management · head to head
BigQuery vs Snowflake
BigQuery
Database & Data Management
Serverless, highly scalable enterprise data warehouse
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Snowflake
Machine Learning & Data Science
The AI Data Cloud for enterprise data warehousing
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: BigQuery query costs can become substantial for organizations with high query volumes; Snowflake no flat subscription price is published - cost varies by edition, cloud provider, and region and requires a separate calculator or credit-consumption table
- They diverge on capability: BigQuery covers Serverless Architecture, Snowflake covers Separated Compute/Storage.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which BigQuery and Snowflake actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), 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
- Serverless Architecture
- Petabyte Scale
- Real-time Analytics
- Machine Learning
- Geospatial Analysis
- Streaming Ingestion
- Standard SQL
- Data Studio
Only in Snowflake
- Separated Compute/Storage
- Near-zero Maintenance
- Data Sharing
- Time Travel
- Cloning
- Multi-cluster Warehouse
- Semi-structured Data
- dbt
Both cover
- Looker
- Web support
- Gcp support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
BigQuery
- Business intelligencenot Snowflake
- Data warehousingnot Snowflake
- Real-time analyticsnot Snowflake
- Reportingnot Snowflake
- Machine learningnot Snowflake
Snowflake
- Cloud data warehousing and SQL analyticsnot BigQuery
- Data engineering and ELT pipelinesnot BigQuery
- Data sharing and marketplacenot BigQuery
- AI/ML workloads via Snowpark and Cortexnot BigQuery
- BI backend for tools such as Tableau and Power BInot BigQuery
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
BigQuery
- Query costs can become substantial for organizations with high query volumes
- Data egress from Google Cloud incurs additional charges
Snowflake
- No flat subscription price is published - cost varies by edition, cloud provider, and region and requires a separate calculator or credit-consumption table
- Free trial is capped at $400 in credits or 30 days, whichever comes first, not a perpetual free tier
- During the trial, certain features (external network access, hybrid tables, Openflow) are capped at 10 credits/day until a payment method is added
- Total cost combines compute credits, storage, and data transfer billed separately
Pricing, plan by plan
BigQuery
Free- Free TierFree
- 1TB queries/month
- 10GB storage/month
- Standard support
- On-demand$6.25/TB
- Pay per query
- Pay per storage
- All features
Snowflake
Free- Standard$undefined/mo
- Consumption-based, per-credit pricing
- Enterprise$undefined/mo
- Consumption-based, per-credit pricing
- Business Critical$undefined/mo
- Consumption-based, per-credit pricing
- Virtual Private Snowflake$undefined/mo
- Consumption-based, per-credit pricing
Which should you pick?
Choose BigQuery if
- You need serverless architecture.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Cloud API.
- You also want petabyte scale.
Choose Snowflake if
- You need separated compute/storage.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want near-zero maintenance.
Questions people ask
- Is BigQuery or Snowflake better?
- Neither clearly leads. BigQuery starts at Free and Snowflake at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, BigQuery or Snowflake?
- BigQuery starts at Free and Snowflake at Free.
- Does BigQuery or Snowflake run on more platforms?
- BigQuery runs on Web, Cloud API. Snowflake runs on Web, API.
- Can I use BigQuery for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is BigQuery best used for?
- BigQuery is most often used for business intelligence, data warehousing, real-time analytics, reporting. Of those, business intelligence and data warehousing are not what Snowflake is typically brought in for.
- What can BigQuery do that Snowflake cannot?
- BigQuery covers Serverless Architecture, Petabyte Scale, Real-time Analytics, Machine Learning. Snowflake covers Separated Compute/Storage, Near-zero Maintenance, Data Sharing, Time Travel. Both handle Looker, Web support, Gcp support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
BigQuery: How is BigQuery priced?
BigQuery charges $5 per terabyte of data processed in on-demand queries. Storage is billed separately: active storage is charged per GB, and data inactive for 90+ days moves to long-term storage at reduced rates.
SourceBigQuery: What is BigQuery's architecture?
BigQuery separates compute and storage, using Google's Colossus for distributed storage and Borg for computation, allowing independent scaling of each.
Source