Google BigQuery vs. Google Cloud Storage

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google BigQuery
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Google's BigQuery is part of the Google Cloud Platform, a database-as-a-service (DBaaS) supporting the querying and rapid analysis of enterprise data.
$6.25
per TiB (after the 1st 1 TiB per month, which is free)
Google Cloud Storage
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Google Cloud Storage is unified object storage for developers and enterprises.N/A
Pricing
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud Storage
Editions & Modules
Standard edition
$0.04 / slot hour
Enterprise edition
$0.06 / slot hour
Enterprise Plus edition
$0.10 / slot hour
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud Storage
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud Storage
Considered Both Products
Google BigQuery
Chose Google BigQuery
BigQuery is better at storing and handling large amounts of data than Knime. Knime is locally run and does not have the ability to handle massive databases like BigQuery and importing from multiple sources for multiple teams would be impossible, that is not really the function …
Chose Google BigQuery
We liked BQ because the cost of it is only dependent on the amount of data you store (and there are tiers of data access) and how much you search. For us, it is significantly less expensive to run BQ than an equivalent hosted RDBMS. Because most of our data pipelines are …
Chose Google BigQuery
BigQuery by far the best solution in all angles compared to other ones: Especially scalability, ease of use, performance and there is no need to manage any cluster of servers. Also it's ABSOLUTELY pay as you go! No one in market currently provide such service that can compete …
Chose Google BigQuery
Spinning up, provisioning, maintaining and debugging a Hadoop solution can be non-trivial, painful. I'm talking about both GCE based or HDInsight clusters. It requires expertise (+ employee hire, costs). With BigQuery if someone has a good SQL knowledge (and maybe a little …
Google Cloud Storage
Chose Google Cloud Storage
The two services are very comparable, but we have many different services that all run on the Google Cloud Platform and therefore Google Cloud Storage made more sense as our storage solution rather than looking to an outside service like S3. Either one of these options would …
Chose Google Cloud Storage
The big difference against other competitors that offer a Cloud storage solution, is the fact that Google Cloud Storage and other Google Cloud Platform products are billed in the local currency. This fact saves a lot of money because in some countries we have to pay for …
Chose Google Cloud Storage
Aside from Google Cloud Storage, we've used AWS S3 and have found the two comparable. In fact, GCS is one of a large number of object storage systems that are compatible with S3 (including DigitalOcean Spaces, IBM Cloud Storage, and Azure Blog Storage). When it comes to these …
Chose Google Cloud Storage
Google Cloud Storage is really a different application. It does not have the data parsing capabilities and it is simply a cold storage option in our use case. This means it is less flexible and has limited uses, but the uses it does have it, performs very well. There is a very …
Chose Google Cloud Storage
We selected GCS vs. others because we decided to use other Google Cloud services. Since we integrated GCS into our tools, we're still using GCS today, even though we've largely transitioned away from Google Compute services. GCS is still a very solid choice, even if your server …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud Storage
Database-as-a-Service
Comparison of Database-as-a-Service features of Product A and Product B
Google BigQuery
8.4
53 Ratings
4% below category average
Google Cloud Storage
-
Ratings
Automatic software patching8.117 Ratings00 Ratings
Database scalability8.853 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated backups8.524 Ratings00 Ratings
Database security provisions8.746 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring and metrics8.448 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic host deployment8.113 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud Storage
Small Businesses
SingleStore
SingleStore
Score 9.8 out of 10
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Score 9.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SingleStore
SingleStore
Score 9.8 out of 10
Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprises
SingleStore
SingleStore
Score 9.8 out of 10
Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud Storage
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(53 ratings)
9.1
(35 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
9.4
(3 ratings)
8.0
(13 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(9 ratings)
7.8
(13 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
8.2
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud Storage
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
Google BigQuery really shines in scenarios requiring real-time analytics on large data streams and predictive analytics with its machine learning integration. Teams have been using it extensively all over. However, it may not be the best fit for organizations dealing with small datasets because of the higher costs. And also, it might not be the best fit for highly complex data transformations, where simpler or more specialized solutions could be more appropriate.
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Google
[Google Cloud Storage is] great for storing and playing large video files, and even sharing them securely with others, whether or not they are part of your organization. No need to download video files before watching, and can also be used to store any other kinds of files.
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Pros
Google
  • Its serverless architecture and underlying Dremel technology are incredibly fast even on complex datasets. I can get answers to my questions almost instantly, without waiting hours for traditional data warehouses to churn through the data.
  • Previously, our data was scattered across various databases and spreadsheets and getting a holistic view was pretty difficult. Google BigQuery acts as a central repository and consolidates everything in one place to join data sets and find hidden patterns.
  • Running reports on our old systems used to take forever. Google BigQuery's crazy fast query speed lets us get insights from massive datasets in seconds.
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Google
  • Perhaps the strongest advantage of Google Cloud Storage is that they seem to update files quicker than competing cloud storage providers. The software rarely runs into sharing violations or access issues.
  • Google Cloud Storage has a unified API, which is nice when authorizing others to access data.
  • The software rarely fails and handles large volumes of data well.
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Cons
Google
  • It is challenging to predict costs due to BigQuery's pay-per-query pricing model. User-friendly cost estimation tools, along with improved budget alerting features, could help users better manage and predict expenses.
  • The BigQuery interface is less intuitive. A more user-friendly interface, enhanced documentation, and built-in tutorial systems could make BigQuery more accessible to a broader audience.
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Google
  • Currently can't delete folders which means there are cluttered folders on my cloud.
  • Easier upload options would be nice. The ability to upload and store other file types with an easier interface.
  • Managing files and storage could be improved a little for easier access and editing.
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Likelihood to Renew
Google
We have to use this product as its a 3rd party supplier choice to utilise this product for their data side backend so will not be likely we will move away from this product in the future unless the 3rd party supplier decides to change data vendors.
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Google
after all of the investment made in the tool and considering how many teams use it I think we would not be likely to move away from this tool. A lot of our information including historical is already here and we are happy with the capabilities of the tool currently
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Usability
Google
web UI is easy and convenient. Many RDBMS clients such as aqua data studio, Dbeaver data grid, and others connect. Range of well-documented APIs available. The range of features keeps expanding, increasing similar features to traditional RDBMS such as Oracle and DB2
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Google
Very easy to use. I love having my data backed up. I love that Google Cloud Storage provides me with the peace of mind that I no longer need to worry about my data being lost. I can now sleep better at night. Google Cloud Storage is very easy to use. Overall, you save time and have less stress by using Google Cloud Storage.
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Performance
Google
No answers on this topic
Google
Excellent upload and download performance, excellent UI and a robust set of tools make GCS a must-have tool in our overall technical stack. Since we use so many data processes, GCS is a clutch player to help us orchestrate both input, intermediate storage, and output of all of these data processes. Because it's one tool for all of these processes, our applications get the benefit of having to need only one SDK to work against.
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Support Rating
Google
BigQuery can be difficult to support because it is so solid as a product. Many of the issues you will see are related to your own data sets, however you may see issues importing data and managing jobs. If this occurs, it can be a challenge to get to speak to the correct person who can help you.
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Google
We have never used official support from Google for our Google Cloud Storage, but there is plenty of documentation in place already. With a small amount of work, anybody should be able to get started. Once needs get more complicated, there is still documentation from Google, but also plenty of community support for common use cases around the internet.
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Implementation Rating
Google
No answers on this topic
Google
overall I was not directly involved but hears the teams were satisfied with the implementation. the teams that used the tool did not encounter major issues, it was as expected with minor issues and bugs that were resolved later. The more significant learning curve was actually starting to use the tool
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Alternatives Considered
Google
I have used Snowflake and DataGrip for data retrieval as well as Google BigQuery and can say that all these tools compete for head to head. It is very difficult to say which is better than the other but some features provided by Google BigQuery give it an edge over the others. For example, the reliability of Google is unmatchable by others. One thing that I really like is the ability to integrate Data Studio so easily with Google BigQuery.
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Google
We prefer Google Cloud Storage over Amazon Web Services because of the tools and code integration offered by Google Cloud Storage. We found the Google Cloud Storage toolset to be highly usable and give us the fine-grained control we need for managing digital assets. Ultimately, we chose Google Cloud Storage because we found the API and suitability for code integration with our Java codebase to be impeccable and because we had excellent direct support from the Google Cloud Storage team
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Google
None so far. Very satisfied with the transparency on contract terms and pricing model.
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Google
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Google
Google Support has kindly provide individual support and consultants to assist with the integration work. In the circumstance where the consultants are not present to support with the work, Google Support Helpline will always be available to answer to the queries without having to wait for more than 3 days.
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Google
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Google
  • Pricing has been very reasonable for us. The first 10 GB of storage is free each month and costs start at 2 cents per GB per month after that. For example, if you store 1 terabyte (TB) for a month, then the cost would be $20. Streaming data inserts start at 1 cent per 200 megabytes (MBs). The first 1 TB of queries is free, with additional analysis at $5 per TB thereafter. Meta data operations are free.
  • Big Query helps reduce the bar for data analytics, ML and AI. BQ takes care of mundane tasks and streamlines for easy data processing, consumption. The most impressive thing is the ML and AI integration as SQL functions, so the need for moving data around is minimized.
  • The visuals of ML models is very helpful to fine tune training, model building and prediction, etc.
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Google
  • It has assisted greatly with our ability to share documents/information cross functionally. Especially within our advertising team, we store a large amount of information to assist new hires and refresh current employees.
  • Something that could improve is employees' understanding of how to best utilize Google Cloud Storage. This could improve by implementing a potential training video or tutorial.
  • Overall, Google Storage has been great. I have not used a similar storage product that had the same enterprise level capabilities.
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ScreenShots

Google BigQuery Screenshots

Screenshot of Migrating data warehouses to BigQuery - Features a streamlined migration path from Netezza, Oracle, Redshift, Teradata, or Snowflake to BigQuery using the fully managed BigQuery Migration Service.Screenshot of bringing any data into BigQuery - Data files can be uploaded from local sources, Google Drive, or Cloud Storage buckets, using BigQuery Data Transfer Service (DTS), Cloud Data Fusion plugins, by replicating data from relational databases with Datastream for BigQuery, or by leveraging Google's data integration partnerships.Screenshot of generative AI use cases with BigQuery and Gemini models - Data pipelines that blend structured data, unstructured data and generative AI models together can be built to create a new class of analytical applications. BigQuery integrates with Gemini 1.0 Pro using Vertex AI. The Gemini 1.0 Pro model is designed for higher input/output scale and better result quality across a wide range of tasks like text summarization and sentiment analysis. It can be accessed using simple SQL statements or BigQuery’s embedded DataFrame API from right inside the BigQuery console.Screenshot of insights derived from images, documents, and audio files, combined with structured data - Unstructured data represents a large portion of untapped enterprise data. However, it can be challenging to interpret, making it difficult to extract meaningful insights from it. Leveraging the power of BigLake, users can derive insights from images, documents, and audio files using a broad range of AI models including Vertex AI’s vision, document processing, and speech-to-text APIs, open-source TensorFlow Hub models, or custom models.Screenshot of event-driven analysis - Built-in streaming capabilities automatically ingest streaming data and make it immediately available to query. This allows users to make business decisions based on the freshest data. Or Dataflow can be used to enable simplified streaming data pipelines.Screenshot of predicting business outcomes AI/ML - Predictive analytics can be used to streamline operations, boost revenue, and mitigate risk. BigQuery ML democratizes the use of ML by empowering data analysts to build and run models using existing business intelligence tools and spreadsheets.