Data warehouses · October 2026 Edition
Snowflake vs Google BigQuery
Eleven of fourteen models named Snowflake first on the direct prompt; three named Google BigQuery. Both were named by all fourteen models and Snowflake carries 78 labels and Google BigQuery 80, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in eight categories this edition.
Named in five categories this edition.
First-choice share49%47%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate22%16%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#2A position in a field of 8; printed, not drawn.
Labels7880A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Snowflake reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Amazon Redshift was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Snowflake vs Amazon Redshift · Snowflake vs ClickHouse Cloud · Google BigQuery vs Amazon Redshift
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the data warehouses page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
SnowflakeFirst choices, of fourteen modelsGoogle BigQuery
Direct113
Paraphrase96
Comparative43
Budget-constrained0126 against Snowflake
Scale-constrained53
Negative0011 against Snowflake · 13 against Google BigQuery
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Snowflake and Google BigQuery were named in the same answer 235 times, of the 265 answers naming Snowflake and the 258 naming Google BigQuery. In those answers Google BigQuery took the first choice fifty-five times and Snowflake fifty-four.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Snowflake and Google BigQuery stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | ||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | | |
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | | |
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | |||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | | ||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | | | |
Snowflake Google BigQuery first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Snowflake on the left and Google BigQuery on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Snowflake and Google BigQuery stood in it.
Both were the first choice
1 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.DeepSeek V4 FlashGoogle BigQuery, Snowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift
Snowflake first, Google BigQuery an alternative
10 of 14 modelsGoogle BigQuery was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Snowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Azure Synapse Analytics, Databricks SQL, Google BigQuery
GPT-5.4 miniSnowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse
Gemini 3.5 FlashSnowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse, MotherDuck
Perplexity SonarSnowflake alternatives: Azure SQL Database, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse
Mistral SmallSnowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Fabric Data Warehouse
Qwen 3.7 FlashSnowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Databricks SQL, Google BigQuery
GLM 4.7 FlashXSnowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery
MiniMax M2.5Snowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery
GPT-6 LunaSnowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Databricks SQL, Google BigQuery
Muse Glimmer 30BSnowflake alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Azure SQL Database, Google BigQuery
Google BigQuery first, Snowflake an alternative
2 of 14 modelsSnowflake was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Grok 4.20Google BigQuery alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Snowflake
Kimi K2Google BigQuery alternatives: Amazon Redshift, Snowflake
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Google BigQuery leads by thirty-nine points.
Google BigQuery63%#1 of 8Snowflake24%#2 of 8Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Snowflake leads at mid-market.
Snowflake49%#1 of 8Google BigQuery47%#2 of 8Enterprise
Snowflake leads by forty-four points.
Snowflake62%#1 of 7Google BigQuery19%#2 of 7What the models said about Snowflake
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“What to Avoid on a Tight Budget - Snowflake: ... It's typically the most expensive option.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“Avoid Snowflake on a tight budget.” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · hard negative
“For a typical mid-sized B2B company, I'd recommend Snowflake because: 1. It provides the best balance of features, scalability, and flexibility” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“If your team wants a platform that "just works" with almost zero database administration (DBA) overhead, Snowflake is the top recommendation.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“"Snowflake offers balance. Stable, reliable, and scalable, and with smart engine sizing and auto-suspend, it can be cost-effective too."” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about Google BigQuery
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“On-demand charges are based on data processed... configure controls—or compare capacity pricing—before opening it up to lots of users.” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“Exercise Caution on Billing Surprises... harder for engineers to predict exactly what a specific query will cost” Qwen 3.7 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“BigQuery is frequently cited as particularly risky for novices—people have reported massive unexpected bills” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Choose Google BigQuery if: Your workloads are unpredictable, you want to avoid "idle" costs, and you want safety against accidental massive bills.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“BigQuery is the most popular choice for budget-conscious companies because it requires zero server management and has a generous free tier.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Snowflake if you have the budget and want to scale smoothly, or BigQuery if cost efficiency and serverless simplicity matter most” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.