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Databases · head to head

Dremio vs Immuta

Dremio logo

Dremio

Databases

SQL query engine and lakehouse layer over Iceberg tables in object storage

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Immuta logo

Immuta

Databases

Attribute-based access control and masking applied inside Snowflake, Databricks and BigQuery

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Dremio has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Dremio reflections consume compute and storage to build and refresh continuously, so a team that enables them widely discovers that background maintenance rather than user queries drives the DCU bill.; Immuta contracts commonly start around one hundred to two hundred thousand US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and exceed five hundred thousand at enterprise scale, which excludes most data teams without a regulatory mandate.
  • They diverge on capability: Dremio covers Arrow-based execution, Immuta covers Attribute-based policy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Dremio and Immuta actually diverge.

Attributes where Dremio and Immuta differ
AttributeDremioImmuta
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer Dremio Compute Unit consumedquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Kubernetes, Cloud, DockerWeb, API, Cloud

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

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 Dremio

  • Arrow-based execution
  • Reflections
  • Semantic layer
  • Iceberg catalogue
  • Federated queries
  • Autonomous management
  • Fine-grained access control
  • BI connectors

Only in Immuta

  • Attribute-based policy
  • Native enforcement
  • Dynamic masking
  • Row-level filtering
  • Purpose-based access
  • Sensitive data tagging
  • Audit logging
  • Multi-platform

What people use each for

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

Dremio

  • A company with petabytes of Parquet in S3 that wants BI dashboards without duplicating it into a warehousenot Immuta
  • A data platform team standardising on Apache Iceberg and needing a SQL engine plus catalogue that does not lock the tables innot Immuta
  • An analytics group accelerating slow lake queries with Reflections instead of hand-built aggregate tablesnot Immuta
  • A regulated enterprise that must keep data on premises but wants a modern lakehouse SQL layernot Immuta

Immuta

  • A bank whose Snowflake estate has grown to tens of thousands of roles that no one can review before an auditnot Dremio
  • A healthcare analytics team that must let researchers query patient data with identifiers masked unless a specific purpose is recordednot Dremio
  • A multinational applying different residency and access rules per jurisdiction to the same tables without duplicating datasetsnot Dremio
  • An organisation running both Snowflake and Databricks that wants one policy set rather than two divergent implementationsnot Dremio

Where each one falls short

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

Dremio

  • Reflections consume compute and storage to build and refresh continuously, so a team that enables them widely discovers that background maintenance rather than user queries drives the DCU bill.
  • Self-managing Dremio on Kubernetes requires real platform engineering capacity for tuning executors, memory and coordinator sizing, and it is not comparable in effort to running a managed warehouse.
  • The Community Edition lacks the security and governance features most enterprises require, so the free tier is a trial path rather than a viable production option for regulated buyers.
  • Dremio Cloud is AWS-first, which leaves Azure and Google Cloud customers on the self-managed path with the operational burden that entails.
  • Query performance without Reflections on raw, poorly laid out files is often unremarkable, so the promise of querying the lake as is depends on file layout work you still have to do.

Immuta

  • Contracts commonly start around one hundred to two hundred thousand US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and exceed five hundred thousand at enterprise scale, which excludes most data teams without a regulatory mandate.
  • Policy is only as good as the data classification underneath it, so an organisation with poorly tagged columns will spend months on classification before Immuta enforces anything useful.
  • Native enforcement means capability varies by platform, and a feature available on Snowflake may be absent or behave differently on BigQuery, which undermines the promise of one policy set everywhere.
  • Adding an access governance layer creates a new dependency in the path to data: a misconfigured policy silently returns fewer rows rather than erroring, and analysts can act on incomplete results without noticing.
  • It governs cloud data platforms, so personal data in operational databases, files and SaaS applications sits outside its scope and needs separate controls, meaning Immuta is rarely the whole answer.

Pricing, plan by plan

Dremio

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Self-managed on your own hardware
    • SQL engine and semantic layer
    • No vendor support
  • Dremio Cloud$0.2/hour
    • Billed at $0.20 per Dremio Compute Unit
    • Includes query execution, Reflections and background processing
    • 400 dollar trial credit for 30 days
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Self-managed on Kubernetes, on premises or any cloud
    • Enterprise security, SSO and governance
    • Vendor support with SLA

Immuta

On request
  • Immuta Platform$undefined/year
    • Attribute-based policy authoring
    • Native enforcement in supported data platforms
    • Dynamic masking and row-level security

Which should you pick?

Choose Dremio if

  • You need arrow-based execution.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Kubernetes, Cloud, Docker.
  • You also want reflections.
Dremio review

Choose Immuta if

  • You need attribute-based policy.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want native enforcement.
Immuta review

Questions people ask

Is Dremio or Immuta better?
Neither clearly leads. Dremio starts at Free and Immuta at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Dremio or Immuta?
Dremio has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Dremio and On request for Immuta.
Does Dremio or Immuta run on more platforms?
Dremio runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Cloud, Docker. Immuta runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use Dremio for free?
Yes. Dremio has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Immuta starts at On request.
What is Dremio best used for?
Dremio is most often used for a company with petabytes of parquet in s3 that wants bi dashboards without duplicating it into a warehouse, a data platform team standardising on apache iceberg and needing a sql engine plus catalogue that does not lock the tables in, an analytics group accelerating slow lake queries with reflections instead of hand-built aggregate tables, a regulated enterprise that must keep data on premises but wants a modern lakehouse sql layer. Of those, a company with petabytes of parquet in s3 that wants bi dashboards without duplicating it into a warehouse and a data platform team standardising on apache iceberg and needing a sql engine plus catalogue that does not lock the tables in are not what Immuta is typically brought in for.
What can Dremio do that Immuta cannot?
Dremio covers Arrow-based execution, Reflections, Semantic layer, Iceberg catalogue. Immuta covers Attribute-based policy, Native enforcement, Dynamic masking, Row-level filtering.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Dremio: How is Dremio Cloud billed?

At 0.20 US dollars per Dremio Compute Unit, which counts query execution, Reflection building and platform overhead, not just user queries.

Immuta: Does Immuta sit in the query path?

No. It compiles policies into the data platform's own native controls, so queries run at normal speed through your existing tools.

Dremio: Is there a free version?

Yes, a Community Edition you self-manage, but it omits the enterprise security and governance features and comes with no support.

Immuta: What does it cost?

Not published. Market data suggests roughly 100,000 to 200,000 US dollars a year for mid-market deployments and considerably more at enterprise scale.

Dremio: Does it lock in my data?

No, tables stay in Apache Iceberg or Parquet in your own object storage and can be read by Spark, Trino or other engines.

Immuta: Is Immuta still independent?

Yes. It remains independently owned, unlike several competitors in data access governance that have been acquired.

Dremio: Do I still need a warehouse?

Often not for analytics, but Dremio is not a transactional store and high-concurrency operational serving is not its strength.

Immuta: Does it work across more than one warehouse?

Yes, one policy set can target Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery and Starburst, though enforcement capability varies by platform.

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