Google BigQuery vs Microsoft Fabric
Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial
Google BigQuery
Google Cloud's serverless data warehouse for SQL analytics, billed per query or by capacity.
Microsoft Fabric
Microsoft's SaaS analytics platform combining a data lake, warehouse, data engineering and Power BI.
The short answer
Google BigQuery suits teams on Google Cloud or exporting Google Analytics 4 data who want a serverless warehouse with nothing to size, and a free monthly allowance for small projects. Microsoft Fabric suits Azure and Power BI organisations that want warehousing, Spark, pipelines and reporting in one capacity-billed platform. The biggest difference is serverless per-query billing on Google Cloud versus a reserved or pay-as-you-go capacity pool on Azure.
Google BigQuery or Microsoft Fabric: our take
BigQuery is a serverless data warehouse. There are no clusters to set up: you load data or point it at files in cloud storage, write standard SQL, and Google allocates compute behind the scenes. It adds BigQuery ML for training models in SQL, geospatial functions, streaming inserts and BigQuery Omni for querying data held on AWS or Azure. Fabric is a broader suite built on OneLake, a single tenant-wide data lake, with Data Factory pipelines, Spark notebooks, a SQL warehouse, real-time analytics, Copilot assistance and Power BI all working on the same copy of the data.
The billing models are very different. BigQuery's on-demand pricing charges per data scanned, starting at $6.25 per TiB scanned (on-demand), with the first 1 TiB per month of queries and the first 10 GiB per month of storage free; capacity pricing is available for predictable spend. Careless queries over wide tables can cost more than expected. Fabric charges for a shared pool of compute units, either pay-as-you-go or reserved for one or three years at about a 41% discount, plus storage. Capacity is hard to estimate up front, and some sharing still needs Power BI licences. Fabric has a per-user free trial rather than an ongoing free allowance.
Each is tied to its own cloud: BigQuery to Google Cloud and Fabric to Azure, and neither can be self-hosted. That usually settles the choice before features do.
Choose BigQuery for a warehouse with no operations work, small projects that fit the free tier, or marketing teams working with GA4 exports and other Google data. Choose Fabric when the organisation already runs Microsoft 365, Azure and Power BI and wants data engineering, warehousing and dashboards in one product with one bill.
Which should you pick?
Choose Google BigQuery if…
- Teams on Google Cloud or GA4 who want a warehouse with no servers to manage
- You want a free option (Microsoft Fabric is paid only)
- Fully serverless, with nothing to size or keep running
- Monthly free query and storage allowance for small projects
Choose Microsoft Fabric if…
- Organisations on Azure and Power BI that want one analytics platform and one bill
- One data lake shared by warehouse, Spark, real-time and BI engines
- Power BI built in, so reporting sits next to the data
About each app
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.
What is Microsoft Fabric?
Microsoft Fabric is a cloud analytics platform that brings several Microsoft data services under one SaaS product. Everything sits on OneLake, a single tenant-wide data lake, and different engines work on the same copy of data: Data Factory pipelines for ingestion, Spark notebooks for data engineering and data science, a SQL data warehouse, real-time event analytics, operational databases, and Power BI for reports and dashboards. Copilot features help write queries, notebooks and reports in natural language, and governance builds on Microsoft Purview. Instead of paying per service, you buy Fabric capacity: a shared pool of compute units, billed pay-as-you-go by the hour or reserved for one or three years at a discount, plus storage; Power BI licences are still needed for some sharing scenarios. A free trial gives each user a trial capacity. It runs entirely in Azure and the browser. It suits organisations already on Microsoft 365, Azure and Power BI, while multi-cloud teams often prefer Snowflake or Databricks.
Side by side
| Attribute | Google BigQuery | Microsoft Fabric |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan + paid | Paid |
| Open source | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Best for | Teams on Google Cloud or GA4 who want a warehouse with no servers to manage | Organisations on Azure and Power BI that want one analytics platform and one bill |
| Status | Active | Active |
Google BigQuery vs Microsoft Fabric pricing
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
Microsoft Fabric: paid
- Free trial: Yes, per-user trial capacity source
Platforms
| Platform | Google BigQuery | Microsoft Fabric |
|---|---|---|
| Web |
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.”
Microsoft Fabric facts
4 of 4 verified- Free trial
- Yes, per-user trial capacity
- Checked Nov 8, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “When you start a free trial, each user gets their own fixed Fabric capacity, so everyone in your business can try Fabric for themselves.”
- Pricing model
- Pay-as-you-go or reserved capacity
- Checked Nov 8, 2026azure.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Microsoft Fabric Capacity (Pay-as-you-go or Reservation)”
- Reservation discount
- About 41% for 1 or 3 years
- Checked Nov 8, 2026azure.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Committing to a 1 or 3 year reservation can help you save ~41% when compared to pay-as-you-go.”
- Storage
- OneLake shared data lake
- Checked Nov 8, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
- “Learn more about OneLake Reduce data movement Minimize data duplication and movement by virtualizing data in OneLake”
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
Pros and cons of Microsoft Fabric
- One data lake shared by warehouse, Spark, real-time and BI engines
- Power BI built in, so reporting sits next to the data
- Single capacity-based bill instead of separate services
- Free trial capacity for every user
- Runs only on Azure, with no AWS or Google Cloud option
- Capacity sizing in compute units is hard to estimate up front
- Some features still depend on separate Power BI licensing
Other apps to consider
ClickHouseInstead of Google BigQuery
Open source and faster for real-time dashboards, with predictable cost when self-hosted.
SnowflakeInstead of Google BigQuery
Runs on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, so it avoids lock-in to a single cloud provider.
DatabricksInstead of Google BigQuery
Adds Spark, notebooks and ML tooling for teams that do heavy data engineering too.
TeradataInstead of Microsoft Fabric
Enterprise warehouse that also runs on-premises and across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
Amazon RedshiftInstead of Microsoft Fabric
AWS's managed warehouse, the closest fit if your data and tooling already live on Amazon rather than Azure.
Google BigQuery vs Microsoft Fabric: common questions
Is Google BigQuery better than Microsoft Fabric?
Google BigQuery suits teams on Google Cloud or exporting Google Analytics 4 data who want a serverless warehouse with nothing to size, and a free monthly allowance for small projects. Microsoft Fabric suits Azure and Power BI organisations that want warehousing, Spark, pipelines and reporting in one capacity-billed platform. The biggest difference is serverless per-query billing on Google Cloud versus a reserved or pay-as-you-go capacity pool on Azure.
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 Microsoft Fabric free?
No. Microsoft Fabric is paid, though it may offer a trial.
Is Google BigQuery or Microsoft Fabric open source?
Neither is open source.
Which platforms do Google BigQuery and Microsoft Fabric support?
Google BigQuery: Web. Microsoft Fabric: Web.