Distributed SQL Query Engines

The 3 Best Amazon Athena Alternatives in 2026

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. If that isn’t you, these 3 Distributed SQL Query Engines tools are the closest alternatives. A common reason to look elsewhere: you query across clouds or on-prem sources. Trino or Starburst connect to more places.

Category

Distributed SQL Query Engines

Amazon Athena pricing

From $0.3/mo

Free tier

No

Alternatives

3 compared

Choose Amazon Athena if…

  • 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.

Look at an alternative if…

  • You query across clouds or on-prem sources. Trino or Starburst connect to more places.
  • You run heavy queries all day. A warehouse such as Amazon Redshift may cost less.

Amazon Athena vs Alternatives: Quick Comparison

ToolPricingFree tierRating
Amazon AthenaYou searchedFrom $0.3/mo—4.4
1.TrinoFree4.6
2.StarburstFree · paid from $0.5/mo4.4
3.PrestoFree4.2

Ratings are App Stack Builder’s editorial score out of 5, not an average of user reviews.

Top Amazon Athena Alternatives, Explained

Trino

1. Trino

Free tier4.6· Free

Trino runs fast SQL over data where it already lives, from object storage tables to relational databases, and can join across sources in one query. It is Apache 2.0 licensed and run by the non-profit Trino Software Foundation. You operate the coordinator and workers yourself, or buy it managed from Starburst, which was founded by Trino’s creators.

Best for: federated SQL, open source, data lakes

  • Free and vendor-neutral
  • Joins across many data sources
  • Large connector set
Trino pricing & review Amazon Athena vs Trino
Starburst

2. Starburst

Free tier4.4· Free · paid from $0.5/mo

Starburst is built on Trino by the people who created it, adding performance features, Iceberg table management, ingestion, security and support. Starburst Galaxy is the managed SaaS on AWS, Google Cloud and Azure; Starburst Enterprise is self-managed for private cloud and on-premises. Galaxy is free for up to 3 clusters, then Pro is $0.50 a credit, Enterprise $0.75 and Mission-Critical $1.00. The 30-day trial includes $500 of compute.

Best for: managed Trino, Iceberg, enterprise support

  • Managed Trino with nothing to operate
  • Free tier and published credit prices
  • Self-managed option for regulated teams
Starburst pricing & review Amazon Athena vs Starburst
Presto

3. Presto

Free tier4.2· Free

Presto is a distributed SQL query engine for big data, governed by the Presto Foundation under the Linux Foundation, which Facebook, Alibaba, Twitter and Uber founded. It is Apache 2.0 licensed. Presto native is a C++ rewrite of the worker that uses Velox as its engine. There is no paid edition from the project; you run it yourself.

Best for: open source, C++ workers, Linux Foundation

  • Free under Apache 2.0
  • C++ native worker on Velox
  • Neutral foundation governance
Presto pricing & review Amazon Athena vs Presto

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best alternatives to Amazon Athena in 2026?⌄

The best Amazon Athena alternatives in 2026 are Trino, Starburst, Presto. Each is a distributed sql query engines option you can compare on pricing, free tiers, and features in the table above.

Is there a free alternative to Amazon Athena?⌄

Yes. Trino, Starburst, Presto offer free tiers, making them strong free Amazon Athena alternatives for bootstrapped startups.

When should I choose Amazon Athena, and when an alternative?⌄

Choose Amazon Athena when: 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. Look at an alternative when: You query across clouds or on-prem sources. Trino or Starburst connect to more places. You run heavy queries all day. A warehouse such as Amazon Redshift may cost less.

What is the cheapest Amazon Athena alternative?⌄

Trino is among the most affordable Amazon Athena alternatives: free. Check the comparison table above for the full pricing breakdown.

Which Amazon Athena alternative is rated highest?⌄

Trino has the highest editorial score among the Amazon Athena alternatives here, at 4.6 out of 5. That is our own score, not an average of user reviews, so check it against your budget and stack before you pick.

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