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BigQuery vs Teradata

BigQuery logo

BigQuery

Software

Serverless, highly scalable enterprise data warehouse

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
T

Teradata

Software

Autonomous Knowledge Platform for Enterprise AI

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only BigQuery has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: BigQuery query costs can become substantial for organizations with high query volumes; Teradata no pricing is disclosed on the site; buyers must contact sales or use a free evaluation program to get a quote, per teradata.com, August 2026

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigQuery and Teradata actually diverge.

Attributes where BigQuery and Teradata differ
AttributeBigQueryTeradata
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelusage-basedquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Cloud APIWeb
Founded2008Unknown

Identical on both: 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 BigQuery

  • Serverless Architecture
  • Petabyte Scale
  • Real-time Analytics
  • Machine Learning
  • Geospatial Analysis
  • Streaming Ingestion
  • Standard SQL
  • Looker

Only in Teradata

Nothing recorded that BigQuery does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

BigQuery

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

Teradata

No use cases recorded yet. See the Teradata review.

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

Teradata

  • No pricing is disclosed on the site; buyers must contact sales or use a free evaluation program to get a quote, per teradata.com, August 2026

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

Teradata

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Teradata review.

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.
BigQuery review

Choose Teradata if

Nothing in the data separates Teradata from BigQuery on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Teradata review

Questions people ask

Is BigQuery or Teradata better?
Neither clearly leads. BigQuery starts at Free and Teradata at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigQuery or Teradata?
BigQuery has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for BigQuery and On request for Teradata.
Does BigQuery or Teradata run on more platforms?
BigQuery runs on Web, Cloud API. Teradata runs on Web.
Can I use BigQuery for free?
Yes. BigQuery has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teradata starts at On request.
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 Teradata is typically brought in for.
What can BigQuery do that Teradata cannot?
BigQuery covers Serverless Architecture, Petabyte Scale, Real-time Analytics, Machine Learning.

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.

Source
BigQuery: 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
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