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Compare cloud analytics and data platforms: Teradata, Snowflake, and Databricks

A key step in identifying the best performance is to analyze platforms side by side. Workload comparison evaluations illustrate how well different platforms handle specific workloads and how efficiently they do them. Unlike many benchmark studies that rely on idealized scenarios, this comparison used a real-world workload mix. By combining industry-standard TPC-H queries with custom queries designed to simulate the diverse demands of modern data-driven organizations, the study offered a glimpse into how these two platforms perform under pressure. Our comparison examined two critical elements: query performance and cost per query.

Highest query performance throughput

The analysis included 50 queries spanning multiple query types to simulate a modern, data-driven workload. We tested them over a two-hour period designed to gauge each platform's ability to handle complex analytical queries, operational reporting, and tactical queries that reflect the demands of data-driven organizations.

The analysis showed a massive difference between platforms:

  • Teradata: 197,366 queries
  • Snowflake: 3,144 queries
  • Databricks: 23,825 queries

That means VantageCloud Lake was able to handle 62 times more queries than Snowflake and 8 times more queries than Databricks in the same amount of time, under similar circumstances.

Teradata vs. Snowflake vs. DataBricks: Query Performance

Lowest average per-query cost

The operational cost per query for each platform was analyzed using a base unit of $70 per compute hour. That represented the hourly cost of running each cloud-based platform under the following conditions:

  • Generally available software versions
  • Mid-tier platform offering
  • One-year service pricing commitment 

Each system was configured to maximize value within this budget constraint, utilizing the best publicly available knowledge for configuration and setup. The analysis demonstrated a stark contrast:

  • Teradata: $0.0009 per query
  • Snowflake: $0.0686 per query
  • Databricks: $0.0108 per query

Teradata was found to be more than 20x cheaper than Snowflake and 12x cheaper than Databricks.

Teradata vs. Snowflake vs. DataBricks: Per Query Cost

Claims above are based on real-world mixed analytical workloads on competitive systems of comparable configurations. For more information on the Teradata competitive workload comparison methodology and process, contact John.Myers@Teradata.com.

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