Snowflake is a software that provides a specialized program for startups, called Snowflake for Startups. This program equips startups with essential resources - financial, technical, and marketing - to develop successful applications or products using the data cloud. It's designed to foster startup growth and innovation, making it a valuable tool for emerging businesses.

  • 01Pros and cons from reviewers
  • 02Main features
  • 03What is Snowflake?
  • 04How Snowflake compare to similar software?
  • 05Who is Snowflake best for according to our reviewers?
  • 06Snowflake Reviews

What is Snowflake?

Snowflake is a program designed to support startups in their development phase by providing free access to its cloud-based data applications. The program offers professional guidance from Snowflake's application architecture experts, helping startups optimize their products. Additionally, Snowflake extends its marketing channels to these startups, promoting them at various events and user groups. This allows for a deep integration into the ecosystem of leaders who develop and share their applications and products via the Snowflake data cloud. In essence, Snowflake for Startups provides consistent support to help startups leverage cloud technologies and achieve their business goals.

Pros from reviewers

  • Quick and cost-effective performance: Snowflake's speed and cost-effectiveness allow for the creation of new architectures, eliminating many maintenance tasks that were previously troublesome

  • Stability and ease of setup: Snowflake is incredibly stable and easy to set up, requiring little cloud knowledge to manage, making it a user-friendly tool

  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Snowflake's detailed RBAC allows for extensive customization and security governance, providing team access to Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

  • Time travel feature: Snowflake has a time travel feature that allows users to back up all deleted data within a 90-day period, providing an additional layer of data security.

  • Pay-per-use pricing model: Snowflake's pricing model scales perfectly with the cyclical workloads common in data warehouse applications, making it a cost-effective solution

Cons from reviewers

  • High cost for non-US dollar revenue businesses: If your revenue isn't in US dollars, Snowflake can be costly, making it a less attractive option for businesses operating in other currencies

  • Difficulty in loading unstructured data: Snowflake does not support unstructured data loading, only structured and semi-structured data, making it less versatile for certain data management tasks

  • High default pricing and challenging user configuration: The default pricing for Snowflake is high, and user configuration can be more challenging than it should be, potentially creating barriers for new users

  • Hidden costs and difficulty in monitoring expenditure: Snowflake can occasionally feel overpriced due to additional computing time for certain operations or hidden costs that are difficult to track, making expenditure monitoring challenging.

  • Lack of inherent support for features like uniqueness or referential integrity: Snowflake does not inherently support features like uniqueness or referential integrity, requiring users to verify these things through stored procedures

Main features

Starting Price

N/A

Free Plan

No

Build a product for the future

Join the data cloud community

Empower your data with Snowflake’s AI-powered capabilities

Collaborate across multiple platforms

Benefit from full support

When evaluating Snowflake and Azure, it's crucial to understand their key differences to make an informed decision for your data management and analytics needs. The primary distinction between these two cloud data platforms lies in their use cases and offerings.


Snowflake is primarily known for its robust and cloud-native data warehousing capabilities. It is designed to handle data storage, processing, and analytics in a scalable and flexible manner. Snowflake excels in providing a platform that can accommodate a wide range of data workloads and use cases, making it suitable for organizations looking to modernize their data infrastructure and harness the power of cloud analytics. Its architecture allows for seamless scaling and efficient data sharing among users and partners.


On the other hand, Azure is a comprehensive cloud ecosystem offered by Microsoft. Within Azure, you'll find various data services, including Azure Synapse Analytics (formerly known as Azure SQL Data Warehouse),...

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Confluent and Snowflake are prominent data management solutions with distinct focuses, designed to cater to different aspects of data handling and analysis. As you consider which platform is best for your business needs, it's important to understand the key differences between them.


Confluent is built around Apache Kafka and excels in real-time data streaming capabilities. It allows organizations to process and analyze data as it arrives, which is crucial for scenarios where immediate data utilization can drive significant business value. Confluent’s platform facilitates continuous data ingestion, processing, and re-distribution across company systems, making it a powerful tool for businesses that rely on timely data for operational decision-making. This makes Confluent particularly suitable for industries such as financial services, telecommunications, and online services, where real-time data stream processing is essential.


In contrast, Snowflake focuses on cloud-based data...

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Snowflake and AWS (Amazon Web Services) are both formidable players in the world of cloud data warehousing and analytics. While they share common ground in providing data solutions, they have distinct differences that make them suitable for various business needs.


One fundamental difference lies in their offerings. Snowflake is renowned for its specialization in cloud data warehousing. It provides a comprehensive platform solely focused on data storage, processing, and analytics. Snowflake's architecture is designed with a multi-cluster, multi-cloud approach, offering unique features such as data sharing and a separation of storage and compute resources.


On the other hand, AWS is a comprehensive cloud computing provider that encompasses a vast array of services beyond data warehousing. Amazon Redshift, AWS's data warehousing solution, is just one piece of its extensive cloud ecosystem. AWS caters to businesses seeking not only data warehousing but also compute, storage, machine...

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Who is Snowflake best for according to our reviewers?

  • Data Warehouse Users: These users appreciate Snowflake's quick and cost-effective performance, eliminating many maintenance tasks. They find the pay-per-use pricing model scales perfectly with the cyclical workloads common in data warehouse applications

  • Data Governance and Compliance Officers: These users find Snowflake's dynamic Roles feature helpful in implementing good data governance and compliance practices. They also appreciate the user security options that Snowflake offers right out of the box

  • Business Decision Makers: These users use Snowflake to monitor and analyze large amounts of data for business decisions. They appreciate its cloud-based warehouse system, which provides faster performance and is cost-effective

  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Users: These users find Snowflake's well-managed Terraform package useful as it provides team access to Infrastructure as Code. They also appreciate the detailed Role-Based Access Control for extensive customization and security governance

  • Database Administrators: These users find Snowflake to be a reliable and excellent tool. They appreciate its simplicity and clarity, although configuring Roles and Policies can be a bit tough. They believe it's the simplest data warehousing tool available and it performs exceptionally well.

  • Snowflake Reviews

    4.6

    Snowflake rating

    4.5

    Ease of use

    4.2

    Customer service

    4.2

    Value for money

    4.4

    Likelihood to recommend

    4.4

    Features

    19 Snowflake Reviews

    4.6 (19 reviews)
    Leave a review
    • Justin

      Commitment and Cost-Effectiveness: A Snowflake Review

      it's clear that the team behind it is committed to providing a superior product. Lastly, the cost-effectiveness of Snowflake is noteworthy

      August 12, 2024

    • Bruce R

      Snowflake: Boosting Productivity with Seamless Integration and Constant Innovation

      we've been able to integrate it with various other tools we use, enhancing our overall productivity. The continuous updates and improvements in Snowflake keep it at the forefront of data warehousing solutions

      August 4, 2024

    • Roger

      Efficient Issue Resolution and Impressive Integration Capabilities: A Snowflake Review

      they have promptly addressed any issues or queries we've had. The integration capabilities of Snowflake are commendable

      July 29, 2024

    • Althea G

      Unleashing the Potential of a Cloud-Based Data Platform: Snowflake

      I use Snowflake to consolidate hundreds of diverse databases across various clouds and platforms into a single data warehouse. This gives us the ability to provide our customers with visibility of all their data across all our products for the first time. The concept of Snowflake is brilliant, with its massive amounts of micro-partitions of data, and the separation of storage and compute. It's a clever product that offers a lot of functionality and capability. It's more than just a cloud database, it's a feature-rich platform. I particularly value the role-based access and its excellent data sharing features. However, some aspects, like row-level policies and data masking, can be a bit challenging to understand. It lacks triggers, and its scheduled tasks and stored procedures could be simpler. I chose Snowflake because it provides a superior user experience with richer functionality.

      July 23, 2024

    • Diane J

      Setting Up a Warehouse Has Never Been Easier

      In my view, Snowflake serves our needs well. We utilize it to operate our KPI dashboards and it's the simplest platform for warehousing data from diverse sources. However, unless dealing with "big" data, standard databases like postgres are advancing at warehousing faster than Snowflake is at being a database, which makes the decision to buy it less straightforward. It's quick, easy to set up, and the pricing is high but predictable. It employs SQL, making it easy for new engineers to learn. It also has numerous integrated connections from Stitch and Fivetran. On the downside, the default pricing is high, the query language is hard to learn for advanced data analysis, and user configuration is more challenging than it should be. The Node development API is also difficult to handle, making app development tough.

      July 16, 2024

    • Ivan

      Effortless Utilization of Top-Notch Security Features in Snowflake

      even those with minimal technical knowledge have been able to utilize it effectively. The security features of Snowflake are top-notch

      July 6, 2024

    • Russell S

      Flexible and User-Friendly: Snowflake's Benefits

      it has allowed us to scale up or down based on our needs, providing flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The user-friendly interface of Snowflake has made it easy for our team to navigate and use

      June 30, 2024

    • Beckham S

      Unpacking Snowflake's Unique Edge in the Data Warehouse Market

      I use Snowflake to monitor and analyze large amounts of data for business decisions. I appreciate its cloud-based warehouse system, based on a shared-nothing architecture, which provides faster performance. I only pay for the time I use the main warehouse, making it cost-effective. Snowflake also has a time travel feature that allows me to back up all deleted data within a 90-day period. However, I don't like that it doesn't support unstructured data loading, only structured and semi-structured data. It also only supports bulk loading files, making it difficult to load small files or add a few columns. I switched to Snowflake from Teradata because I needed a faster and more cost-effective warehouse for managing and analyzing data.

      June 25, 2024

    • Willie Williams

      Seamless Real-Time Data Sharing and Responsive Support: A Snowflake Review

      we have been able to share real-time data with our partners seamlessly. The support team for Snowflake is responsive and knowledgeable

      June 18, 2024

    • Esme M

      Snowflake's Impressive Scalability and Query Speed

      I have been able to execute complex queries in a fraction of the time it used to take with other platforms. The scalability of Snowflake is truly impressive

      June 10, 2024

    • Zoe J

      Effortless Cloud Data Management with Snowflake

      I consider Snowflake to be a reliable and excellent tool. I appreciate its simplicity and clarity, although configuring Roles and Policies can be a bit tough. I believe it's the simplest data warehousing tool available and it performs exceptionally well. However, it's somewhat pricey and I occasionally feel overcharged due to additional computing time for certain operations or hidden costs that are difficult to track. Monitoring expenditure is challenging, and it seems like Snowflake doesn't promote tracking of billing. I switched to Snowflake from Oracle because it's outdated, costly, and not a cloud data warehouse.

      June 2, 2024

    • Juan

      Snowflake: The Ultimate Cloud Database for Building Your Data Warehouse

      I would give Snowflake a perfect score of 10 out of 10. As someone with an ORACLE background, I truly value this product. It removes the need for database management tasks as Snowflake takes care of it. The I/O operations within the database are well handled. It even caches repeated queries to prevent unnecessary I/O operations, which is amazing! However, I believe the task functionality could be enhanced with a separate UI for managing scheduled tasks and the Web workbook could use more features. I chose Snowflake because it excellently manages I/O operations within the database.

      May 25, 2024

    • Megan Garcia

      Essential Data Warehouse Solution for Businesses

      I find Snowflake to be feature-rich and user-friendly. Its well-managed Terraform package provides team access to Infrastructure as Code (IaC). The detailed Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) allows for extensive customization and security governance. However, the cost can be high if warehouse expenses are not tracked and alerts are not set.

      May 18, 2024

    • Brenda

      Snowflake: A Superior Data Warehouse Solution that Tackled All Our Challenges

      My experience with Snowflake has been excellent. It outperforms our previous Data Warehouse solution in every way, except for the cost. I feel confident using it as the foundation for all our data needs and have had a positive experience with Snowflake's sales and account managers, who were supportive without being intrusive. Snowflake is incredibly stable and easy to set up, requiring little cloud knowledge to manage. The database administration UI is intuitive, and the dynamic Roles feature helps in implementing good data governance and compliance practices. Snowflake also offers user security options right out of the box, a significant upgrade for us. The documentation is well-written, and SnowSQL provides many useful functions. A significant improvement is how Snowflake manages JSON, which has been very beneficial. However, if your revenue isn't in US dollars, Snowflake can be costly. Despite this, it's a high-quality service that charges accordingly. We're using the smallest possible cluster, which required some internal persuasion to fit into our budget.

      May 12, 2024

    • Samantha G

      Efficient Data Management with Improved Software

      its ability to handle large volumes of data with ease has significantly improved our data management processes. The speed and efficiency of the software are commendable

      May 6, 2024

    • Diana M

      Snowflake: Uniquely Tailored to Our Needs

      My overall experience with Snowflake has been enjoyable, despite some occasional frustrations. These challenges have helped me grow as a programmer and SQL developer. I now see Snowflake as an old friend. What I value most about this software is its versatility - if you can think it, you can do it with Snowflake, as long as it involves data. I initially used Oracle at my company, but we soon switched to Snowflake, which significantly improved my SQL knowledge. I started using more advanced features like CTEs and partitions, which Snowflake made easy to understand and learn. I'm impressed by its ability to handle a large number of columns. There is a slight learning curve, but fundamentally, it's like any other SQL language with its own unique quirks. I wish it could provide data instantly and intuitively understand my needs, but that's virtually impossible. I switched to Snowflake because my company did, and I had to adapt or risk being left behind.

      April 30, 2024

    • Charles D

      Snowflake: Exceptional Data Warehousing Tool

      I have found Snowflake to be an exceptional tool for data warehousing

      April 21, 2024

    • Larry M

      Snowflake: Excellent Data Sharing for Peace of Mind

      it has given us peace of mind knowing that our sensitive data is well-protected. The data sharing capabilities of Snowflake are excellent

      April 13, 2024

    • Kenneth Rodriguez

      Snowflake: A Revolutionary Game Changer

      Snowflake has been a game changer for me. It has allowed for new architectures due to its quick and cost-effective performance, eliminating many maintenance tasks that were previously troublesome. It's incredibly fast, requires almost no maintenance, and its pay-per-use pricing model scales perfectly with the cyclical workloads common in data warehouse applications. However, it doesn't inherently support features like uniqueness or referential integrity, requiring me to verify these things through stored procedures. The SQL worksheet GUI could be better, and brief outages are not rare, but they're usually resolved within a few hours. I chose Snowflake over Synapse because the latter's performance wasn't as good and its pricing model didn't scale as well. I switched to Snowflake because SQL was too slow and didn't scale with my business.

      April 13, 2024