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BigQuery vs Snowflake comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 11, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
8.6
BigQuery users report up to 75% cost savings and improved performance, with training yielding full benefits in one year.
Sentiment score
6.8
Snowflake offers improved data management and security, with varied ROI perceptions, yet users recognize added value and efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
BigQuery's customer service is efficient for premium users, but others face challenges and rely on documentation and partners.
Sentiment score
7.3
Snowflake's customer service is praised for expertise and responsiveness, though some users experience delays due to time zone differences.
rating the customer support at ten points out of ten
I received great support in migrating data to Snowflake, with quick responses and innovative solutions.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
BigQuery is highly scalable and efficient, ideal for large operations, but may have limitations with extremely large datasets.
Sentiment score
7.8
Snowflake offers seamless and cost-effective scalability with independent compute and storage, enabling efficient resource management for large data volumes.
The scalability is definitely good because we are migrating to the cloud since the computers on the premises or the big database we need are no longer enough.
Snowflake is very scalable and has a dedicated team constantly improving the product.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
BigQuery is highly stable and reliable, with efficient data processing despite some regional scalability challenges.
Sentiment score
8.2
Snowflake impresses users with remarkable stability, reliability, and performance, ensuring efficient data management with minimal disruptions and maintenance.
Snowflake is very stable, especially when used with AWS.
 

Room For Improvement

BigQuery faces challenges in user-friendliness, performance, cost, regional access, and integration, affecting its appeal to SMBs.
Snowflake users desire improvements in spatial components, analytics, pricing, support, data protection, integration, and advanced AI features.
Troubleshooting requires opening each pipeline individually, which is time-consuming.
In general, if I know SQL and start playing around, it will start making sense.
Cost reduction is one area I would like Snowflake to improve.
 

Setup Cost

BigQuery offers affordable, competitive pricing with flexible options; careful data management is vital to optimize costs and avoid unexpected charges.
Snowflake's pricing is pay-as-you-go with competitive storage, higher compute costs, and discounts for bulk purchases, requiring usage optimization.
The price is perceived as expensive, rated at eight out of ten in terms of costliness.
Snowflake's pricing is on the higher side.
 

Valuable Features

BigQuery offers scalable, fast data handling and analysis with machine learning integration, supporting diverse needs and seamless SQL compatibility.
Snowflake is praised for its scalability, flexibility, performance, cost-effectiveness, and seamless integration with popular cloud platforms.
It is really fast because it can process millions of rows in just a matter of one or two seconds.
BigQuery processes a substantial amount of data, whether in gigabytes or terabytes, swiftly producing desired data within one or two minutes.
One key feature is the separation of compute and storage, which eliminates storage limitations.
 

Categories and Ranking

BigQuery
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Snowflake
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of BigQuery is 9.1%, up from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Snowflake is 29.0%, up from 24.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

Sathishkumar Jayaprakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient large dataset handling with seamless service integration
BigQuery allows for very fast access, and it is efficient in handling large datasets compared to other SQL databases. It integrates well with other GCP products, and creating subscriptions in the UI is straightforward. The whole ecosystem of GCP products makes BigQuery beneficial for our data-handling tasks. Additionally, it is more cost-effective compared to alternatives like AWS.
Snehasish Das - PeerSpot reviewer
Transformation in data querying speed with good migration capabilities
Snowflake is a data lake on the cloud where all processing happens in memory, resulting in very fast query responses. One key feature is the separation of compute and storage, which eliminates storage limitations. It also has tools for migrating data from legacy databases like Oracle. Its stability and efficiency enhance performance greatly. Tools in the AI/ML marketplace are readily available without needing development.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Retailer
7%
Educational Organization
38%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BigQuery?
The initial setup process is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BigQuery?
The price is perceived as expensive, rated at eight out of ten in terms of costliness. Still, it offers significant cost savings.
What needs improvement with BigQuery?
When I execute a query, the dashboard doesn't always present the output seamlessly. Troubleshooting requires opening each pipeline individually, which is time-consuming. Moreover, pricing, the abse...
What do you like most about Snowflake?
The best thing about Snowflake is its flexibility in changing warehouse sizes or computational power.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Snowflake?
Snowflake's pricing is on the higher side, rated as eight out of ten. If there were ways to reduce costs, it would be a positive improvement.
What needs improvement with Snowflake?
Cost reduction is one area I would like Snowflake to improve. The product is not very cheap, and a reduction in costs would be appreciated.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Snowflake Computing
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Accordant Media, Adobe, Kixeye Inc., Revana, SOASTA, White Ops
Find out what your peers are saying about BigQuery vs. Snowflake and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,791 professionals have used our research since 2012.