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BigQuery vs Snowflake Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 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
7.4
Organizations experienced improved performance and cost savings after adopting BigQuery, achieving a 75% cost reduction and efficient data management.
Sentiment score
6.6
Snowflake Analytics offers potential 40-50% performance benefits and cost savings, though financial returns vary based on user needs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Customers generally find BigQuery support helpful, but integration challenges and resource availability need improvement despite positive responsiveness.
Sentiment score
7.0
Snowflake Analytics receives praise for responsive support, though some suggest improvements in complex issue resolution and occasional delay handling.
I have been self-taught and I have been able to handle all my problems alone.
rating the customer support at ten points out of ten
The technical support for Snowflake Analytics is excellent based on what I have heard from others.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
BigQuery offers impressive scalability and efficiency for large data, but may be costly and present integration challenges for smaller users.
Sentiment score
8.0
Snowflake Analytics efficiently manages large data volumes with dynamic cloud scaling, offering superior scalability and cost efficiency versus competitors.
It is a 10 out of 10 in terms of scalability.
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.
It supports both horizontal and vertical scaling effectively.
Storage is unlimited because they use S3 if it is AWS, so storage has no limit.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
BigQuery is highly stable and reliable for cloud data analytics, efficiently handling large volumes with minor issues.
Sentiment score
8.5
Snowflake Analytics is highly rated for its stable and reliable performance, ensuring minimal disruptions and high availability.
Snowflake Analytics is stable, scoring around eight point five to nine out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

BigQuery users face challenges with migration, integration, cost, scaling, user interfaces, and call for better machine learning capabilities.
Snowflake Analytics needs improved integration, machine learning, speed, user interface, cost transparency, data handling, and real-time support.
Troubleshooting requires opening each pipeline individually, which is time-consuming.
BigQuery is already integrating Gemini AI into the data extraction process directly in order to reduce costs.
In general, if I know SQL and start playing around, it will start making sense.
If it offered flexibility similar to Oracle and supported more heterogeneous data sources and database connectivity, it would be even better.
AIML-based SQL prompt and query generation could be an area for enhancement.
Navigating the user console can be challenging, particularly when looking for details like the account ID.
 

Setup Cost

BigQuery offers flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing based on data usage, with low storage costs and adaptable enterprise plans.
Snowflake Analytics offers flexible, region-dependent pricing, deemed costly by some but competitive due to its ease and flexibility.
Being able to optimize the queries to data is critical. Otherwise, you could spend a fortune.
The price is perceived as expensive, rated at eight out of ten in terms of costliness.
Snowflake charges per query, which amounts to a very minor cost, such as $0.015 per query.
Snowflake Analytics is quite economical.
Snowflake is better and cheaper than Redshift and other cloud warehousing systems.
 

Valuable Features

BigQuery excels in scalability, performance, cost-efficiency, and integration with Google products, making it ideal for complex data analyses.
Snowflake Analytics provides efficient, secure, and scalable data management, supporting seamless integration and cost-effective analytics with advanced features.
It is really fast because it can process millions of rows in just a matter of one or two seconds.
The features I find most valuable in this solution are the ability to run and handle large data sets in a very efficient way with multiple types of data, relational as SQL data.
BigQuery processes a substantial amount of data, whether in gigabytes or terabytes, swiftly producing desired data within one or two minutes.
Running a considerable query on Microsoft SQL Server may take up to thirty minutes or an hour, while Snowflake executes the same query in less than three minutes.
Snowflake Analytics supports data security with a single sign-on feature and complies with framework regulations, which is highly beneficial.
It is a data offering where I can see data lineage, data governance, and data security.
 

Categories and Ranking

BigQuery
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Snowflake Analytics
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Web Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of BigQuery is 6.8%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Snowflake Analytics is 0.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

Luís Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
Handles large data sets efficiently and offers flexible data management capabilities
The features I find most valuable in this solution are the ability to run and handle large data sets in a very efficient way with multiple types of data, relational as SQL data. It is kind of difficult to explain, but structured data and the ability to handle large data sets are key features. The data integration capabilities in BigQuery were, in fact, an issue at the beginning. There are two types of integrations. As long as integration is within Google, it is pretty simple. When you start to try to connect external clients to that data, it becomes more complex. It is not related to BigQuery, it is related to Google security model, which is not easy to manage. I would not call it an integration issue of BigQuery, I would call it an integration issue of Google security model.
Paresh_Nayak - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables data-driven decision-making with robust features and effective scalability
The internal design engine and the columnar database are particularly valuable. These features reduce input and output memory, which is crucial in handling large data sets. The solution fulfills the business requirement for scaling and analytics. Snowflake Analytics supports data security with a single sign-on feature and complies with framework regulations, which is highly beneficial.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Retailer
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Retailer
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
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?
I believe the cost of BigQuery is competitive versus the alternatives in the market, but it can become expensive if the tool is not used properly. It is on a per-consumption basis, the billing, so ...
What needs improvement with BigQuery?
I have not used BigQuery for AI and machine learning projects myself. I know how to use it, and I can see where it would be useful, but so far, in my projects, I have not included a BigQuery compon...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Snowflake Analytics?
Snowflake Analytics is quite economical. It does not appear to incur significant extra expenses beyond the solution's initial cost. However, a complete pricing analysis is still in progress.
What needs improvement with Snowflake Analytics?
The advantages of Snowflake Analytics outweigh the disadvantages. However, if it offered flexibility similar to Oracle and supported more heterogeneous data sources and database connectivity, it wo...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Lionsgate, Adobe, Sony, Capital One, Akamai, Deliveroo, Snagajob, Logitech, University of Notre Dame, Runkeeper
Find out what your peers are saying about BigQuery vs. Snowflake Analytics and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.