These are the main BigQuery alternatives when serverless batch analytics doesn't match your requirements:

1. Tinybird (real-time analytics platform for streaming data and APIs)
2. Snowflake (multi-cloud data warehouse)
3. Amazon Redshift (AWS data warehouse)
4. Databricks SQL (lakehouse analytics platform)
5. ClickHouse® (columnar OLAP database)
6. Azure Synapse Analytics (Microsoft analytics service)
7. Apache Druid/Pinot (real-time OLAP engines)
8. Trino (federated SQL query engine)

Google BigQuery is a serverless data warehouse with automatic scaling, pay-per-query pricing, and petabyte-scale analytics without infrastructure management. It separates storage and compute, charging for data scanned by queries with options for capacity reservations through slots.

It's excellent for batch analytics and BI. For many teams, it's also solving the wrong problem when real-time analytics is the requirement.

Here's what actually happens: You chose BigQuery because you need analytics infrastructure. You love the serverless model—no clusters to manage, automatic scaling, SQL interface familiar to analysts. You load data through scheduled batch jobs, build dashboards in your BI tool, and run reporting queries.

Then requirements change. Product needs real-time metrics updated as events arrive, not on hourly batch schedules. Engineering wants operational dashboards with second-level data freshness. The business wants customer-facing analytics embedded in applications with guaranteed sub-second latency.

BigQuery can technically handle some of these through streaming inserts and BI Engine. But it wasn't designed for real-time data serving—it optimizes for throughput over latency, batch processing over continuous streaming, and scheduled queries over instant APIs.

Someone asks: "Can we expose these metrics through user-facing APIs?" or "Why does our dashboard show data from 15 minutes ago when events are happening now?" The answer reveals BigQuery's architectural focus—batch analytics and BI, not real-time data products.

The uncomfortable reality: most teams evaluating BigQuery alternatives don't need different data warehouses—they need different analytics architectures entirely.

This article explores BigQuery alternatives—when other serverless warehouses solve similar problems differently, when OLAP databases provide capabilities BigQuery doesn't, and when your actual requirement is real-time analytics platforms rather than batch data warehousing.

1. Tinybird: When Your BigQuery Problem Is Really a Real-Time Analytics Problem

Let's start with the fundamental question: are you evaluating BigQuery alternatives because you need different batch analytics capabilities, or because you need real-time data serving?

Most teams considering BigQuery alternatives have outgrown batch warehouse patterns and need streaming analytics with instant query results.

The serverless warehouse mismatch

Here's the pattern: Your team needs analytics capabilities. You choose BigQuery because it's serverless, scalable, and requires zero infrastructure management. You load data through batch jobs, create views and materialized views, and connect BI tools.

Then real-time requirements emerge:

Streaming data ingestion requiring continuous updates, not hourly batch loads through scheduled queries or data transfer jobs.

Sub-second low latency for user-facing dashboards and APIs—not variable performance dependent on bytes scanned and slot availability.

Instant API endpoints serving aggregated analytics to applications with authentication and rate limiting.

Event-driven updates where analytics reflect what's happening now, not what happened in the last batch window.

Cost predictability for API serving workloads where BigQuery's bytes-scanned pricing becomes expensive at scale.

BigQuery excels at batch throughput analytics. It doesn't optimize for real-time data products requiring streaming ingestion and consistent low-latency serving.

What BigQuery's architecture doesn't provide

BigQuery handles analytical queries efficiently for batch workloads. What it doesn't provide for real-time analytics:

True streaming ingestion at scale—streaming inserts work but aren't optimized for high-throughput continuous event streams like Kafka.

Guaranteed sub-second latency for serving queries—query performance depends on bytes scanned, slot availability, and query complexity with variable p95/p99 latencies.

API-first serving for production applications—you build custom API layers on top of BigQuery with caching, authentication, and rate limiting.

Materialized view limitations that make them unsuitable for frequently updated real-time aggregations versus batch-refresh patterns.

Streaming costs that accumulate when inserting millions of events continuously versus batch loading.

One team described their experience: "We used BigQuery for analytics dashboards. When we tried serving real-time metrics through APIs to 1000 concurrent users, query costs exploded and p95 latency was 3+ seconds. We needed real-time serving, not batch warehousing."

How Tinybird actually solves real-time analytics

Tinybird is a real-time analytics platform built on ClickHouse® that handles streaming data ingestion, SQL transformations, and instant API publication for sub-100ms serving at scale.

You stream events from streaming data sources such as Kafka, webhooks, databases via CDC, or even BigQuery itself.

You write SQL to aggregate and transform data. Those queries become production APIs with guaranteed low latency.

No batch loading delays. Data streams continuously and becomes queryable in milliseconds, not hourly batch windows.

Predictable sub-100ms latency. Columnar storage and vectorized execution deliver consistent performance regardless of query concurrency.

Instant API publication. SQL queries become authenticated REST endpoints with automatic scaling and monitoring—ideal for powering real-time personalization in user-facing analytics.

Consumption-based costs optimized for serving. Pricing designed for continuous queries, not bytes-scanned billing that penalizes high-frequency access.

Incremental materialized views. Pre-aggregations update automatically as data arrives without manual refresh scheduling.

One team migrated from BigQuery and described it: "BigQuery worked for batch BI. When we needed real-time customer analytics in our product, Tinybird delivered sub-100ms APIs on streaming data. We couldn't achieve that architecture with BigQuery."

The architectural difference

BigQuery approach: Serverless batch warehouse optimized for throughput, scheduled queries, and BI tools. Adding real-time capabilities requires extensive workarounds (streaming inserts, BI Engine, custom API layers, caching).

Tinybird approach: Real-time analytics platform purpose-built for streaming ingestion, fast queries, and API serving. Batch analytics is a subset of capabilities, not the primary use case.

This matters because time to production for real-time features is measured in days versus months, and operational burden is SQL development versus warehouse optimization and cost management.

When Tinybird Makes Sense vs. BigQuery Alternatives

Consider Tinybird instead of BigQuery alternatives when:

• Your requirement is real-time analytics (streaming data, instant dashboards, user-facing APIs) not batch BI
• You need sub-second query latency with predictable performance regardless of concurrency
• Streaming data ingestion from Kafka, webhooks, or CDC is core to your architecture
• API serving to applications or end users is the primary consumption pattern
• Cost predictability for high-frequency queries matters more than pay-per-query flexibility

Tinybird might not fit if:

• Your primary workload is scheduled batch analytics and overnight reporting
• BigQuery's ecosystem integration (Google Cloud, Looker, Data Studio) is strategically important
• You need petabyte-scale ad-hoc queries on historical data without predefined access patterns
• Regulatory requirements mandate specific infrastructure Google Cloud provides

If your competitive advantage is batch analytics and BI, BigQuery or warehouse alternatives make sense.

If your competitive advantage requires real-time analytics delivery, real-time data platforms purpose-built for that workload deliver faster.

2. Snowflake: Multi-Cloud Serverless Warehouse Alternative

If you're leaving BigQuery primarily due to Google Cloud lock-in but still need serverless warehousing, Snowflake provides the most direct alternative.

What makes Snowflake a strong BigQuery alternative

Snowflake delivers serverless data warehousing with multi-cloud deployment and different architectural choices than BigQuery:

Multi-cloud deployment across AWS, Azure, and GCP—avoiding BigQuery's Google Cloud lock-in while maintaining serverless benefits.

Virtual warehouses as independent compute groups enable workload isolation (ETL, BI, data science) scaling separately without queue contention.

Automatic scaling within warehouses adjusts capacity based on query load.

Data sharing between organizations without copying data—useful for multi-tenant products or partner integrations.

Time Travel and Zero-Copy Cloning for data recovery and environment management.

The cost model difference

Snowflake as a BigQuery alternative changes pricing dynamics:

Compute credits for virtual warehouse usage versus BigQuery's bytes-scanned model. Query cost depends on warehouse size and execution time, not data scanned.

Separation of storage and compute costs—storage billed separately at flat rate versus BigQuery's integrated pricing.

Automatic scaling costs accumulate when warehouses scale up without governance controls.

Without discipline around warehouse sizing, auto-suspend policies, and access controls, Snowflake costs can exceed BigQuery despite similar capabilities.

When Snowflake makes sense as a BigQuery alternative

Choose Snowflake over BigQuery when:

• Multi-cloud strategy requires avoiding Google Cloud lock-in
• Workload isolation through independent virtual warehouses matters for performance and cost allocation
• Data sharing between organizations is core to your business model
• Your team prefers compute-based pricing over bytes-scanned model

Snowflake and BigQuery both solve serverless batch warehousing. Neither optimizes for real-time API serving at sub-second latency—that's Tinybird's differentiation.

3. Amazon Redshift: AWS Serverless Warehouse Alternative

Amazon Redshift provides BigQuery alternatives for teams committed to AWS ecosystem with both provisioned and serverless options.

What Redshift provides as a BigQuery alternative

Redshift offers data warehousing within AWS with architecture choices BigQuery doesn't provide:

Redshift Serverless eliminates cluster management similar to BigQuery's model while staying in AWS.

RA3 instances with managed storage separate compute and storage scaling independently.

Concurrency Scaling adds temporary capacity for query spikes without manual intervention.

Spectrum queries data in S3 without loading into Redshift—similar to BigQuery's external tables.

Data Sharing enables sharing live data between Redshift clusters, accounts, or regions.

The AWS ecosystem consideration

Redshift as a BigQuery alternative ties to AWS infrastructure:

Native AWS integration with S3, Glue, Kinesis, and other AWS services versus cross-cloud tooling.

VPC deployment provides network control BigQuery's multi-tenant model doesn't offer.

AWS-specific optimizations for workloads already in AWS ecosystem.

Learning curve from BigQuery's serverless model to Redshift's capacity management even in Serverless mode.

When Redshift makes sense as a BigQuery alternative

Choose Redshift over BigQuery when:

• AWS commitment makes staying within that ecosystem strategically important
• Network isolation through VPC deployment addresses compliance requirements
• Existing AWS services (S3, Glue, Kinesis) integrate more naturally than cross-cloud options
• Your team has Redshift expertise or PostgreSQL familiarity transferable to Redshift

Redshift solves AWS-native data warehousing. Like BigQuery, it doesn't optimize for real-time API serving without additional architecture.

4. Databricks SQL: Lakehouse Analytics Alternative

Databricks SQL represents a lakehouse approach as a BigQuery alternative—unifying data lake and warehouse capabilities on open formats.

What Databricks SQL provides

Databricks delivers analytics on lakehouse architecture with different philosophy than BigQuery:

SQL warehouses execute queries on Delta Lake tables stored in object storage using open formats.

Photon engine provides vectorized execution for fast analytical queries.

Unity Catalog unifies governance across data lake, warehouse, and ML workflows.

Unified platform for data engineering (Spark), ML, and BI analytics without copying data between systems.

Serverless SQL warehouses offer BigQuery-like serverless experience on lakehouse architecture.

The open format advantage

Databricks as a BigQuery alternative emphasizes data portability:

Delta Lake (or Iceberg/Hudi support) enables multiple engines to query same data without vendor lock-in.

Object storage ownership means data persists even if you change compute platforms.

Spark ecosystem integration for complex transformations BigQuery's SQL doesn't handle elegantly.

The trade-off: more architectural decisions (table formats, catalogs, optimization strategies) versus BigQuery's opinionated simplicity.

When Databricks makes sense as a BigQuery alternative

Choose Databricks SQL over BigQuery when:

• Data lake and ML workflows require unified platform beyond pure warehousing
• Open table formats and vendor portability matter strategically
• You're already invested in Spark for data engineering
• Lakehouse architecture provides flexibility BigQuery's closed format doesn't

Databricks unifies lake and warehouse. It doesn't solve real-time API serving efficiently without additional infrastructure.

5. ClickHouse®: Columnar OLAP Alternative for Control

ClickHouse® provides a fundamentally different BigQuery alternative—columnar OLAP database you operate versus serverless managed service.

What ClickHouse® provides as a BigQuery alternative

ClickHouse® delivers high-performance analytical queries through different architecture than BigQuery:

MergeTree storage with sparse primary indexes and data skipping for fast filtering without BigQuery's bytes-scanned overhead.

Vectorized execution comparable to BigQuery's performance but with more configuration control.

Real-time ingestion optimized for continuous streaming versus BigQuery's batch-oriented loading.

Projections and materialized views that update incrementally as data arrives.

Self-hosted or cloud options (ClickHouse® Cloud) provide deployment flexibility BigQuery doesn't offer.

The operational trade-off

ClickHouse® as a BigQuery alternative trades serverless convenience for infrastructure control:

Cluster management for replication, sharding, and capacity planning versus BigQuery's automatic scaling.

Query optimization through ORDER BY selection and index design versus BigQuery's automatic query planning.

Cost management through infrastructure capacity versus BigQuery's dynamic bytes-scanned pricing.

Engineering expertise in distributed databases versus BigQuery's managed simplicity.

When ClickHouse® makes sense as a BigQuery alternative

Choose ClickHouse® over BigQuery when:

• Real-time ingestion and queries are core requirements BigQuery's batch model doesn't optimize for
• Infrastructure control and optimization matter more than serverless convenience
• Cost efficiency at scale through self-hosting justifies operational complexity
• Deployment flexibility (on-premises, specific clouds, regions) BigQuery doesn't support

ClickHouse® solves columnar OLAP efficiently. Tinybird packages it into complete platform with ingestion, APIs, and zero infrastructure operations.

6. Azure Synapse Analytics: Microsoft Ecosystem Alternative

Azure Synapse Analytics provides BigQuery alternatives for organizations committed to Microsoft ecosystem.

What Synapse provides as a BigQuery alternative

Synapse delivers analytics services within Azure with integration BigQuery doesn't offer:

Dedicated SQL pools for data warehousing with MPP architecture.

Serverless SQL pools for querying data lakes without infrastructure management—similar to BigQuery's model.

Spark integration for data engineering alongside SQL analytics.

Power BI integration optimized within Microsoft stack.

Azure ecosystem connectivity to services like Cosmos DB, Event Hubs, and Azure ML.

The Microsoft platform consideration

Synapse as a BigQuery alternative ties to Azure infrastructure:

Native Azure integration simplifies architecture for organizations already in Microsoft ecosystem.

Cost model based on Azure pricing may differ from BigQuery's per-query approach.

Learning curve from BigQuery to Synapse's different query syntax and optimization patterns.

When Synapse makes sense as a BigQuery alternative

Choose Azure Synapse over BigQuery when:

• Microsoft commitment makes staying within Azure strategically important
• Power BI is your standard BI tool and tight integration provides value
• Azure services integrate more naturally than cross-cloud options
• Your team has SQL Server expertise transferable to Synapse

Synapse solves Azure-native analytics. Like BigQuery, it's batch-optimized, not real-time serving optimized.

7. Apache Druid/Pinot: Real-Time OLAP Alternatives

Apache Druid and Apache Pinot represent specialized real-time OLAP as BigQuery alternatives for specific workloads.

When Druid/Pinot work as BigQuery alternatives

These systems address real-time analytics problems BigQuery doesn't optimize for:

Druid's segment architecture with streaming ingestion and sub-second queries on time-series data.

Pinot's index-driven approach for ultra-low latency user-facing analytics with high concurrency.

Real-time serving as primary design goal versus BigQuery's batch throughput optimization.

Both require distributed cluster operations BigQuery's serverless model avoids—either self-managed or through managed services (Imply, StarTree). These architectures are especially powerful for telemetry and event analytics from the Internet of Things (IoT), where continuous device data streams demand immediate aggregation and query availability.

When real-time OLAP makes sense as BigQuery alternatives

Choose Druid or Pinot over BigQuery when:

• Real-time slice-and-dice on event streams is core requirement
• Sub-second query latency at high concurrency matters more than petabyte-scale batch queries
• User-facing analytics requires guaranteed performance BigQuery doesn't provide
• Your team has expertise in these systems or commitment to building it

Druid and Pinot solve real-time OLAP. They don't eliminate platform engineering around them—that's Tinybird's differentiation.

8. Trino: Federated SQL Alternative

Trino addresses a different problem as a BigQuery alternative—querying data across multiple systems without centralization.

When Trino works as a BigQuery alternative

Trino provides federated querying capabilities BigQuery's architecture doesn't emphasize:

Data lake queries on Parquet, ORC, Iceberg, Delta formats in S3/HDFS without loading into warehouse.

Cross-system joins between data lakes, operational databases, and warehouses in single queries.

Exploration without ETL when centralizing data into BigQuery creates unnecessary data movement.

The distributed execution consideration

Trino as a BigQuery alternative requires different operational model:

Cluster management for coordinator and workers versus BigQuery's serverless abstraction.

Memory management with spilling to disk when queries exceed available memory.

Variable performance depending on source systems and network latency.

When Trino makes sense as a BigQuery alternative

Choose Trino over BigQuery when:

• Data federation matters more than centralizing everything into a warehouse
• Exploratory analytics on distributed data justifies variable query performance
• Data lake architecture with open formats is your foundation

Trino solves federated querying. It doesn't solve production analytics serving at consistent low latency.

Decision Framework: Choosing the Right BigQuery Alternative

Start with workload requirements

Batch analytics and scheduled BI? Snowflake, Redshift, or Databricks provide serverless warehousing similar to BigQuery with different trade-offs.

Real-time analytics with streaming data and APIs? Tinybird solves this purpose-built. BigQuery alternatives optimized for batch require extensive workarounds.

Data lake analytics without loading? Databricks lakehouse or Trino federation enable querying in place.

Ecosystem lock-in concerns? Multi-cloud options (Snowflake, Databricks) or self-hosted (ClickHouse®) provide portability.

Evaluate operational preferences

Want serverless simplicity? Snowflake, Redshift Serverless, or Databricks Serverless SQL maintain BigQuery-like operational model.

Need infrastructure control? ClickHouse® or self-managed options provide configuration access serverless platforms abstract.

Prefer ecosystem integration? Redshift (AWS), Synapse (Azure), or staying with BigQuery (GCP) simplify cloud-native architecture.

Consider cost models

Predictable compute costs? Snowflake's warehouse-based pricing or ClickHouse® capacity planning versus BigQuery's bytes-scanned variability.

Optimize for high-frequency queries? Tinybird's serving-optimized pricing or ClickHouse® capacity versus BigQuery's per-query costs.

Need petabyte-scale flexibility? BigQuery's pay-per-scan works well for variable large-scale exploration.

Calculate total cost honestly

Include:

Platform fees for managed services (Snowflake, Databricks, ClickHouse® Cloud, Tinybird).

Engineering time for optimization, cost management, and platform operations.

Infrastructure costs for self-hosted options or additional serving layers.

Query costs at your actual access patterns and concurrency levels.

A platform costing 2x in subscription might deliver 10x faster with 1/4 the engineering effort—dramatically lower total cost.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What's the main reason to leave BigQuery?

Common drivers include real-time analytics requirements BigQuery's batch architecture doesn't optimize for, cost unpredictability with bytes-scanned pricing on high-frequency queries, Google Cloud lock-in requiring multi-cloud flexibility, and streaming ingestion limitations for continuous event processing at scale.

Is Snowflake more expensive than BigQuery?

Depends on workload patterns. Snowflake's compute-based pricing can be cheaper for workloads with predictable warehouse usage and more expensive for variable exploration. BigQuery's bytes-scanned pricing favors infrequent queries and penalizes high-frequency access. Calculate based on actual query patterns.

Can ClickHouse® replace BigQuery for all use cases?

No—they optimize for different workloads. BigQuery excels at petabyte-scale ad-hoc queries with zero infrastructure management. ClickHouse® excels at real-time ingestion and serving with guaranteed low latency. Many teams use both—BigQuery for batch analytics, ClickHouse® (via Tinybird or self-managed) for real-time serving.

What about BigQuery for real-time analytics?

BigQuery has real-time capabilities (streaming inserts, materialized views, BI Engine) but they're additions to batch-optimized architecture. For production real-time analytics with consistent sub-second latency and streaming ingestion at scale, purpose-built platforms (Tinybird) or specialized OLAP (ClickHouse®, Druid, Pinot) deliver better results.

Should I use Databricks instead of BigQuery?

Choose Databricks when data lake architecture, ML workflows, and Spark processing are core requirements. BigQuery optimizes for pure SQL analytics. Databricks unifies lake, warehouse, and ML. Neither optimizes for real-time API serving—that's Tinybird's focus.

How does Tinybird differ from BigQuery?

BigQuery is a batch data warehouse optimized for throughput and petabyte-scale queries. Tinybird is a real-time analytics platform optimized for streaming ingestion, sub-100ms queries, and instant APIs. Choose BigQuery for scheduled BI and exploration. Choose Tinybird for real-time data products.

Can I query BigQuery data from alternatives?

Yes—most alternatives offer BigQuery connectors for federation or export. Tinybird can ingest from BigQuery for real-time serving. Trino can query BigQuery alongside other sources. Snowflake and Databricks support BigQuery data transfer. Migration strategies depend on data volumes and access patterns.

Most teams evaluating BigQuery alternatives discover they're solving different problems.

The question isn't "which serverless warehouse is better than BigQuery?" The question is "what workload am I actually trying to solve?"

If your requirement is batch analytics and BI with petabyte-scale exploration, BigQuery excels at serverless data warehousing. Snowflake provides multi-cloud flexibility. Redshift keeps you in AWS. Databricks unifies lake and warehouse on open formats.

If your requirement is real-time analytics delivery with streaming data, instant dashboards, and user-facing APIs, Tinybird solves this purpose-built—sub-100ms queries, continuous ingestion, instant API publication without BigQuery's batch architecture limitations.

For infrastructure control, ClickHouse® provides columnar OLAP you operate. For specialized real-time OLAP, Druid and Pinot optimize differently than BigQuery. For federated querying, Trino accesses data across systems.

The right BigQuery alternative isn't the cheapest warehouse or most similar serverless platform. It's matching your actual workload—batch exploration, real-time serving, lakehouse analytics, federated queries—with platforms purpose-built for those patterns.

Choose based on what you're actually building, not which vendor has the most impressive scale claims.