In today’s world, data is king. It is the key to all business and even personal lives. With the growing importance of data and its uses, there needed to be a way to collect it all for a company and store it in one place. Hence, the age of cloud-based data storage was born. With this boost in ability to store and utilize company data, many cloud-based storage systems started to branch out and find new methods of organizing said data. The variety of data storage systems is expansive but, in this article, we’ll be looking into two of the top options: Databricks and Snowflakes. These two companies market themselves as being a sort of one-stop-shop for all your analytics and data user needs. Let’s dive in!
Databricks vs Snowflake: Main Differences
Databricks and Snowflake, while doing the same basic job, do have several key differences. For starters, they are set up very differently. They also are ideal for different functions with data.
A side-by-side look at what reviewers are saying:
| Databricks | Snowflake | |
| Storage Type | Data Lakehouse (uses all the features of data warehouses and data lakes) | Elastic Data Warehouse |
| Support | Customer support available during business hours | 24/7 live customer support |
| Best use | Ideal for complex data engineering | Ideal for typical data analysis |
| Ease of use | Pretty complex, not recommended for beginners | Great for beginners |
| Data Types | Useful for all data types | Semi-structured or structured data |
» MORE: Which Is Better for You, Databricks or Sagemaker?
Databricks vs Snowflake: Features & Capabilities
Databricks and Snowflake have many of the same features but also have their own unique ones. Below we’ll take a look at some of those, but there are absolutely more.
Databricks Features:
- Real-time data collection, organized and stored
- Data distribution using parallel computing clusters
- Spark and Hadoop integration, plus several others
- Cloud and workload processing
- Data compression
- Machine scaling for running on and scaling to large numbers of computers
- Scalability
- High focus on machine learning, streaming, and data-based science analysis
Snowflake Features:
- Multifactor authentication for extra security
- Automatic data encryption to add to the safety of your account
- Object-level access control
- Fail-safe recovery in case of accidental catastrophic data loss
- Extensive client connectors (ex: Python, Spark, Node, etc.)
- Secure data sharing between Snowflake users
- Optimized table structures for ease of use
- Continuous data pipelines automate the incoming flow and organization of data
» MORE: Is Palantir or Databricks a Better Option for You?
Databricks vs Snowflake: Pricing
Both Databricks and Snowflake work on a pay-for-what-you-need structure. The Databricks pricing system is honestly confusing to understand on their site. When looking at comparison sites, I got a much clearer sense of the pricing. Databricks works out to, on average, $99/month. They also have a free version as well as a 14-day free trial for all their packages. Since storage isn’t included in their pricing, Databricks can work out to be less expensive depending on how storage is used. Snowflake is a little more complicated. Their pricing comes out to around $40/month, but they separate their computing and storage in their pricing, and it becomes much more fluctuating. Whichever you are interested in, absolutely use the resources each company has available in order to make an educated choice.
» MORE: Top Snowflake Competitors & Alternatives
Why to Choose Databricks over Snowflake?
Databricks got its origin out of academia and is the only data lakehouse platform in the cloud, so it has proven its knowledge to the world. From a technical standpoint, it is the golden choice. Databricks will give you everything that Snowflake does and more, with a better range of analysis. You have unlimited levels of scalability, so long as you’re willing to invest in the infrastructure. If you are a professional with an expansive skill set looking for a way to not only store and analyze your data but also delve deeper into data science, then Databricks is the one for you.
Why to Choose Snowflake over Databricks?
Snowflake is geared toward technical and non-technical users alike. This cloud-based storage system gives you incredible data analytics power without getting all bogged down by too many extra functions. There is far less of a learning curve with Snowflake as it’s less complicated to set up and utilize, but that’s not to say that it’s any less full of great features. Snowflake also provides its clients with better customer support than Databricks. If you’re looking for a well-structured data warehouse to use for storage and analytical purposes, Snowflake will be a solid option for you.
» MORE: Top Snowflake Bi Tools
Similarities Between Databricks & Snowflake
Both Databricks and Snowflake have many similar features at play, which makes sense as they are designed to do the same basic tasks. These cloud-based storage companies both provide quality analytical ability. They both provide high security for their clients. They each are pretty even on pricing, with each being paid on a consumption basis. Scalability with these platforms is relatively easy, with the option for auto-scaling available on both. There are many other similarities, but these are the most prominent.
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Databricks & Snowflake Alternatives
If these don’t seem like the right fit for you, no worries! There are several other options in the cloud-based world to explore.
Alternatives for Databricks:
- H2O.ai
- DataRobot
- Anaconda
- Alteryx
- Cloudera
Alternatives for Snowflake:
- Oracle Database
- Db2
- MarkLogic
- Redis Enterprise Cloud
- Couchbase Server
» MORE: Is Learndash Better for You Than Thinkific?
Databricks vs Snowflake: Final Verdict
With Databricks and Snowflake, in order to make the right decision for your team, you’ll have to take a look at how your company uses data and how much you need to be able to handle for your business. Databricks is going to be better for streaming data, and Snowflake will be better for standard data analysis. In all honesty, the Databricks platform is much more complicated to use, not to mention having a difficult-to-maneuver website. If that’s not a concern and you have the skillset to handle it, then Databricks will be the more flexible and feature-filled option. According to several comparison sites, many companies tend to use these two in tandem to better balance the benefits! You should do the research within your company to see what you need and make your decision from there. You may find that using both could be your best bet. Any way you go, you’ll be in good cloud-based hands.
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FAQs
How does cloud storage store my data?
Cloud-based storage works by using huge computer systems that physically store your data and make it available for you to use online.
What are the advantages of cloud-based storage?
No more hard drives, easy backups, remotely updating and syncing files, easy to share files, etc. There are plenty!
Are there any disadvantages of cloud-based storage?
There are always going to be disadvantages to any cloud-based system. Lack of full control, difficult to migrate, internet dependent.
Is cloud storage more secure?
Yes! The physical computers are kept in restricted-access warehouses, and the files themselves in your cloud storage are encrypted.
» MORE: Which Would You Rather Use, Webflow or Wix?
Sources
- https://databricks.com/
- https://www.snowflake.com/
- https://www.eweek.com/big-data-and-analytics/snowflake-vs-databricks/#:~:text=Snowflake%20includes%20a%20storage%20layer,features%2C%20Databricks%20is%20the%20winner.
- https://www.upsolver.com/blog/snowflake-vs-databricks-a-practical-comparison
- https://www.macrometa.com/event-stream-processing/databricks-vs-snowflake
- https://www.g2.com/products/databricks-lakehouse-platform/features