--- title: "Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery: Which is Better in 2026? | App Stack Builder" description: "Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery compared for 2026: pricing, free tiers, features, pros & cons. See which cloud data warehouses tool is the better fit for your startup." source: https://appstackbuilder.com/compare/amazon-redshift-vs-bigquery retrieved: 2026-11-10 --- ![](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=aws.amazon.com&sz=128) vs ![](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=cloud.google.com&sz=128) # Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery: Which is Better in 2026? Cloud Data Warehouses [Amazon Redshift](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/amazon-redshift) and [Google BigQuery](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/bigquery) are both Cloud Data Warehouses tools, made for different people. Amazon Redshift is for teams already on AWS that want a warehouse inside the same account, IAM and network as everything else. Google BigQuery is for teams on Google Cloud, or anyone who wants a warehouse with nothing to size and a monthly free allowance. Quick verdict There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Amazon Redshift if your data and apps already live on AWS. Choose Google BigQuery if you want to start paying nothing and scale per query. ## Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery: Side by Side | | Amazon Redshift | Google BigQuery | | ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | Category | Cloud Data Warehouses | Cloud Data Warehouses | | What it is | Cloud data warehouse (AWS) | Serverless cloud data warehouse | | How you pay | Per RPU-hour (Serverless) or per node-hour | Per TiB scanned, or per slot-hour | | Free access | $300 Serverless credit for 90 days | 1 TiB queries and 10 GiB storage free a month | | Clouds | AWS | Google Cloud (Omni reaches AWS and Azure) | | How compute scales | Serverless capacity or provisioned nodes | Automatic; no clusters | | Pricing | From $0.375/mo | Free · paid from $6.25/mo | | Starting price | From $0.375/mo | Free tier available | | Free tier | — | ✓ | | Rating | 4.3 | 4.6 | | Best for | Cloud Data Warehouses: AWS, serverless or provisioned, S3 queries | Cloud Data Warehouses: serverless, pay per query, Google Cloud | Ratings are App Stack Builder’s editorial score out of 5, not an average of user reviews. ## Pros & Cons ![](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=aws.amazon.com&sz=128) [Amazon Redshift](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/amazon-redshift) * ✓Lives inside your AWS account and IAM * ✓Serverless or provisioned * ✓Queries S3 directly with Spectrum * ✓Clear published rates * ✗Mainly worth it if you already run on AWS * ✗Provisioned clusters need tuning * ✗Serverless minimum capacity runs while queries do ![](https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=cloud.google.com&sz=128) [Google BigQuery](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/bigquery) * ✓Nothing to provision * ✓Monthly free tier for queries and storage * ✓Per-query pricing suits spiky workloads * ✓Tight Google Cloud integration * ✗A careless SELECT \* scans and bills a whole table * ✗Google Cloud only * ✗Capacity pricing takes planning ## Key Features Compared ### Amazon Redshift * ✓Serverless: $0.375 per RPU-hour in US East, base capacity 4 to 1,024 RPUs; the page lists a $1.50 an hour start * ✓Provisioned: from $0.543 an hour; ra3.4xlarge is $3.26 an hour in AWS’s example * ✓Managed storage $0.024 per GB-month in US East (N. Virginia) * ✓Redshift Spectrum queries S3 at $5 per TB scanned * ✓$300 credit for first-time Serverless users, valid 90 days ### Google BigQuery * ✓On-demand: $6.25 per TiB processed; the first 1 TiB each month is free * ✓First 10 GiB of active and long-term logical storage free each month * ✓Capacity pricing per slot-hour in Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions * ✓One and three-year slot commitments on Enterprise and Enterprise Plus * ✓BigQuery Omni on AWS and Azure regions at $9.125 per TiB on demand ### Choose Amazon Redshift if… * ✓Budget is tight: paid plans start lower ($0.375/mo vs $6.25/mo). * ✓Your data and apps already live on AWS. * ✓You want to choose between serverless and reserved clusters later. * ✓You want to query S3 data next to warehouse tables. [Amazon Redshift review & pricing ](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/amazon-redshift) ### Choose Google BigQuery if… * ✓You want to start free. Google BigQuery has a free tier and Amazon Redshift does not. * ✓You want to start paying nothing and scale per query. * ✓Your workloads are spiky, so a per-TiB bill suits you better than always-on compute. * ✓Your data already sits in Google Cloud. [Google BigQuery review & pricing ](https://appstackbuilder.com/tools/bigquery) ## Frequently Asked Questions Is Amazon Redshift better than Google BigQuery?⌄ There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Amazon Redshift if your data and apps already live on AWS. Choose Google BigQuery if you want to start paying nothing and scale per query. What is the difference between Amazon Redshift and Google BigQuery?⌄ What it is. Amazon Redshift: Cloud data warehouse (AWS). Google BigQuery: Serverless cloud data warehouse. How you pay. Amazon Redshift: Per RPU-hour (Serverless) or per node-hour. Google BigQuery: Per TiB scanned, or per slot-hour. Free access. Amazon Redshift: $300 Serverless credit for 90 days. Google BigQuery: 1 TiB queries and 10 GiB storage free a month. Clouds. Amazon Redshift: AWS. Google BigQuery: Google Cloud (Omni reaches AWS and Azure). How compute scales. Amazon Redshift: Serverless capacity or provisioned nodes. Google BigQuery: Automatic; no clusters. Amazon Redshift vs Google BigQuery: which is cheaper?⌄ Amazon Redshift pricing: From $0.375/mo. Google BigQuery pricing: Free · paid from $6.25/mo. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change. Which is rated higher, Amazon Redshift or Google BigQuery?⌄ On our editorial score, Amazon Redshift is 4.3 out of 5 and Google BigQuery is 4.6 out of 5, so Google BigQuery is slightly ahead. This is our own score, not an average of user reviews. When should I skip both Amazon Redshift and Google BigQuery?⌄ Skip Amazon Redshift if you need to run on more than one cloud. Snowflake supports all three. Skip Google BigQuery if your queries scan large tables all day. Fixed compute on Snowflake or Redshift can cost less. Sources · tool facts checked November 2026 1. 1.[Amazon Redshift pricingaws.amazon.com ](https://aws.amazon.com/redshift/pricing/) 2. 2.[BigQuery pricingcloud.google.com ](https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/pricing) See more options in our guide to the [best cloud data warehouses tools for startups](https://appstackbuilder.com/categories/data-warehouse). ## Still not sure which to pick? Get a free, AI-powered tech stack, including the best cloud data warehouses pick for your budget and team, in 60 seconds. [Build my stack free ](https://appstackbuilder.com/build-stack)