Amazon Athena vs Starburst: Which is Better in 2026?
Amazon Athena and Starburst are both Distributed SQL Query Engines tools, made for different people. Amazon Athena is for teams on AWS that want to run SQL on files in S3 occasionally or on a schedule, with nothing to manage. Starburst is for teams that want Trino without running it, or need a supported enterprise build for private cloud and on-premises.
Quick verdict
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Amazon Athena if your data is already in S3 and you want SQL on it today. Choose Starburst if you like Trino but don’t want to run the cluster.
Amazon Athena vs Starburst: Side by Side
| Amazon Athena | Starburst | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Distributed SQL Query Engines | Distributed SQL Query Engines |
| What it is | Serverless SQL on S3 (AWS) | Managed and enterprise Trino |
| Licence | Managed AWS service | Commercial (built on Apache 2.0 Trino) |
| How you pay | $5 per TB scanned | Per credit, $0.50 to $1.00 by tier |
| Where it runs | AWS | Galaxy SaaS or your own environment |
| Managed option | Fully managed | Yes (Galaxy) |
| Pricing | From $0.3/mo | Free · paid from $0.5/mo |
| Starting price | From $0.3/mo | Free tier available |
| Free tier | — | |
| Rating | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| Best for | Distributed SQL Query Engines: serverless, S3, pay per scan | Distributed SQL Query Engines: managed Trino, Iceberg, enterprise support |
Ratings are App Stack Builder’s editorial score out of 5, not an average of user reviews.
Pros & Cons
- Nothing to provision
- Pay only for data scanned
- Works on existing S3 data
- Spark option on the same service
- Scanning uncompressed data gets expensive
- AWS only
- Less control over performance than your own cluster
- Managed Trino with nothing to operate
- Free tier and published credit prices
- Self-managed option for regulated teams
- Credit usage is hard to estimate up front
- Features above open Trino are paid
- Enterprise self-managed pricing by quote
Key Features Compared
Amazon Athena
- SQL queries: $5 per TB scanned
- Federated queries on non-S3 sources: rounded up per MB, 10 MB minimum
- Capacity Reservations: $0.30 per DPU-hour
- Athena for Apache Spark: $0.35 per DPU-hour
Starburst
- Built on Trino by Trino’s creators
- Galaxy (SaaS on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) free for up to 3 clusters
- Pro $0.50, Enterprise $0.75 and Mission-Critical $1.00 per credit; usage per credit is the same across tiers
- 30-day trial with $500 of compute and Enterprise features, then the free tier
- Starburst Enterprise: self-managed for private cloud, hybrid and on-premises
Choose Amazon Athena if…
- Budget is tight: paid plans start lower ($0.3/mo vs $0.5/mo).
- Your data is already in S3 and you want SQL on it today.
- Your query volume is irregular, so paying per TB scanned beats a running cluster.
- You don’t want to operate any servers.
Choose Starburst if…
- You want to start free. Starburst has a free tier and Amazon Athena does not.
- You like Trino but don’t want to run the cluster.
- You need a vendor-supported build on-premises.
- You want Iceberg table management alongside queries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Amazon Athena better than Starburst?⌄
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Amazon Athena if your data is already in S3 and you want SQL on it today. Choose Starburst if you like Trino but don’t want to run the cluster.
What is the difference between Amazon Athena and Starburst?⌄
What it is. Amazon Athena: Serverless SQL on S3 (AWS). Starburst: Managed and enterprise Trino. Licence. Amazon Athena: Managed AWS service. Starburst: Commercial (built on Apache 2.0 Trino). How you pay. Amazon Athena: $5 per TB scanned. Starburst: Per credit, $0.50 to $1.00 by tier. Where it runs. Amazon Athena: AWS. Starburst: Galaxy SaaS or your own environment. Managed option. Amazon Athena: Fully managed. Starburst: Yes (Galaxy).
Amazon Athena vs Starburst: which is cheaper?⌄
Amazon Athena pricing: From $0.3/mo. Starburst pricing: Free · paid from $0.5/mo. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change.
Which is rated higher, Amazon Athena or Starburst?⌄
On our editorial score, Amazon Athena is 4.4 out of 5 and Starburst is 4.4 out of 5, so they are level. This is our own score, not an average of user reviews.
When should I skip both Amazon Athena and Starburst?⌄
Skip Amazon Athena if you query across clouds or on-prem sources. Trino or Starburst connect to more places. Skip Starburst if you have the skills to run it yourself and want no licence. Use Trino.
Sources · tool facts checked November 2026
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