Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery
Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial
Amazon Redshift
AWS's managed cloud data warehouse, available as provisioned clusters or a serverless option.
Google BigQuery
Google Cloud's serverless data warehouse for SQL analytics, billed per query or by capacity.
The short answer
Redshift and BigQuery are the native data warehouses of AWS and Google Cloud, so the choice usually follows your cloud. Redshift offers provisioned clusters or a serverless option billed per second. BigQuery is fully serverless and, on demand, bills by data scanned, with a monthly free allowance. Pick Redshift if you run on AWS; pick BigQuery if you're on Google Cloud, use GA4 exports or want no infrastructure to manage.
Amazon Redshift or Google BigQuery: our take
Amazon Redshift and Google BigQuery are both managed SQL warehouses tied to a single cloud, and in most companies the deciding factor is which cloud you already use. Redshift lives on AWS and integrates with IAM, Lake Formation, QuickSight and SageMaker; Spectrum queries files in S3 directly. BigQuery lives on Google Cloud, takes native exports from Google Analytics 4 and other Google products, and BigQuery Omni can query data held on AWS or Azure.
The operating model differs. Redshift gives you a choice: provisioned clusters you size and tune yourself, starting at $0.543 per hour, or Redshift Serverless from $1.50 per hour, billed per second with a 60-second minimum. New Serverless users get $300 credit for 90 days. BigQuery has no clusters at all: you load data or point it at cloud storage and run SQL. On-demand pricing is $6.25 per TiB scanned, with the first 1 TiB per month free and the first 10 GiB of storage free each month, and capacity pricing is available for predictable spend. That free allowance makes BigQuery easy to try on small projects, while careless queries over wide tables can scan a lot of data and cost more than expected.
On features, BigQuery includes machine learning in plain SQL (BigQuery ML), geospatial functions and streaming inserts. Redshift offers zero-ETL replication from AWS databases and a PostgreSQL-flavoured dialect that common BI tools support. Redshift gives more control over performance tuning; BigQuery gives less to tune but less to manage.
AWS-based teams that want their warehouse inside the same IAM and data lake setup should choose Redshift. Teams on Google Cloud, marketers working with GA4 data, and small teams who want a warehouse with no servers and a free monthly allowance should choose BigQuery.
Which should you pick?
Choose Amazon Redshift if…
- Teams on AWS that want a managed SQL warehouse integrated with their other AWS services
- Serverless option bills compute per second
- Queries data in S3 directly with Spectrum
Choose Google BigQuery if…
- Teams on Google Cloud or GA4 who want a warehouse with no servers to manage
- You want a free option (Amazon Redshift is paid only)
- Fully serverless, with nothing to size or keep running
- Monthly free query and storage allowance for small projects
About each app
What is Amazon Redshift?
Amazon Redshift is the data warehouse service from Amazon Web Services. It stores data in columns across many nodes so large SQL analytics queries run in parallel, and it speaks a PostgreSQL-flavoured dialect that most BI tools connect to. You can run it as provisioned clusters you size yourself, or as Redshift Serverless, which bills for compute by the second while it runs queries. Redshift Spectrum queries files sitting in S3, including open table formats, without loading them first, and zero-ETL integrations replicate data from AWS databases. It also ties into IAM, Lake Formation, QuickSight and SageMaker, which is the main reason AWS-centred teams choose it. It suits companies already on AWS that want SQL analytics at scale without leaving that ecosystem. It is paid, with usage-based pricing and a credit-based trial for Serverless; costs can be harder to predict than flat plans, and it runs only on AWS, so multi-cloud teams often prefer Snowflake or Databricks.
What is Google BigQuery?
BigQuery is Google Cloud's serverless data warehouse. There are no clusters or instances to set up: you load data or point it at files in cloud storage and run standard SQL, and Google allocates compute behind the scenes. It suits teams already on Google Cloud, marketers working with Google Analytics 4 exports, and anyone who wants a warehouse without operations work. It includes built-in machine learning in SQL (BigQuery ML), geospatial functions, streaming inserts, and BigQuery Omni for querying data held on AWS or Azure. Pricing has two compute models: on-demand, where you pay for the bytes each query scans with the first chunk each month free, and capacity pricing for predictable spend; storage is billed separately with a small free allowance. It only runs on Google Cloud, and careless queries over wide tables can scan a lot of data and cost more than expected.
Side by side
| Attribute | Amazon Redshift | Google BigQuery |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan + paid |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Best for | Teams on AWS that want a managed SQL warehouse integrated with their other AWS services | Teams on Google Cloud or GA4 who want a warehouse with no servers to manage |
| Status | Active | Active |
Verified facts, compared
Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.
| Fact | Amazon Redshift | Google BigQuery |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0.543 per hour (provisioned) | $6.25 per TiB scanned (on-demand) |
Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery pricing
Amazon Redshift: paid
- Free trial: $300 credit for 90 days source
- Serverless price: From $1.50 per hour source
- Starting price: $0.543 per hour (provisioned) source
Google BigQuery: free plan + paid
- Free query allowance: First 1 TiB per month source
- Free storage: First 10 GiB per month source
- Starting price: $6.25 per TiB scanned (on-demand) source
Platforms
| Platform | Amazon Redshift | Google BigQuery |
|---|---|---|
| Web |
Amazon Redshift facts
4 of 4 verified- Free trial
- $300 credit for 90 days
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “eligible for a $300 credit, which can be used within 90 days of sign-up toward your compute and usage use.”
- Serverless price
- From $1.50 per hour
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Redshift Provisioned starts at $0.543 per hour, while Redshift Serverless begins at $1.50 per hour.”
- Starting price
- $0.543 per hour (provisioned)
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Redshift Provisioned starts at $0.543 per hour, while Redshift Serverless begins at $1.50 per hour.”
- Billing
- Per second, 60-second minimum
- Checked Nov 8, 2026aws.amazon.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “You pay for the workloads you run in RPU-hours on a per-second basis (with a 60-second minimum charge), including queries that access data in open file formats in Amazon S3.”
Google BigQuery facts
4 of 4 verified- Serverless
- Yes
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “BigQuery is a serverless data analytics platform.”
- Free query allowance
- First 1 TiB per month
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “The first 1 TiB of query data processed per month is free.”
- Free storage
- First 10 GiB per month
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Resource Monthly free usage limits Details Storage The first 10 GiB per month is free.”
- Starting price
- $6.25 per TiB scanned (on-demand)
- Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “1 tebibyte and above $6.25 / 1 tebibyte, per 1 month / account The first 1 TiB per month is free.”
Pros and cons of Amazon Redshift
- Serverless option bills compute per second
- Queries data in S3 directly with Spectrum
- Deep integration with IAM and other AWS services
- Standard SQL that common BI tools support
- Runs only on AWS
- Usage-based pricing can be hard to forecast
- Provisioned clusters need sizing and tuning
Pros and cons of Google BigQuery
- Fully serverless, with nothing to size or keep running
- Monthly free query and storage allowance for small projects
- Native exports from Google Analytics 4 and other Google products
- Machine learning models can be trained in plain SQL
- Tied to Google Cloud; there is no self-hosted version
- On-demand billing by data scanned can surprise teams that query wide tables
- Less control over performance tuning than with your own cluster
Other apps to consider
ClickHouseInstead of Amazon Redshift
Open-source columnar database you can self-host or use as a cloud service, very fast for real-time analytics.
SnowflakeInstead of Amazon Redshift
Runs on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud with separate storage and compute, and needs less tuning.
DatabricksInstead of Amazon Redshift
Lakehouse that pairs SQL warehousing with Spark, notebooks and machine learning on open formats.
MotherDuckInstead of Google BigQuery
Serverless warehouse built on DuckDB that can split a query between your laptop and the cloud.
TeradataInstead of Google BigQuery
Enterprise warehouse that runs on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud or on-premises instead of tying you to one cloud.
Microsoft FabricInstead of Google BigQuery
Microsoft's all-in-one analytics service, the natural landing spot if your company moves from Google Cloud to Azure.
Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery: common questions
Is Amazon Redshift better than Google BigQuery?
Redshift and BigQuery are the native data warehouses of AWS and Google Cloud, so the choice usually follows your cloud. Redshift offers provisioned clusters or a serverless option billed per second. BigQuery is fully serverless and, on demand, bills by data scanned, with a monthly free allowance. Pick Redshift if you run on AWS; pick BigQuery if you're on Google Cloud, use GA4 exports or want no infrastructure to manage.
Is Amazon Redshift free?
No. Amazon Redshift is paid, though it may offer a trial.
Is Google BigQuery free?
Google BigQuery has a free plan, with paid plans for more features. See its verified pricing facts above for current limits.
Is Amazon Redshift or Google BigQuery open source?
Neither is open source.
Which platforms do Amazon Redshift and Google BigQuery support?
Amazon Redshift: Web. Google BigQuery: Web.