Databricks Data Intelligence Platform vs Starburst Galaxy

Databricks Data Intelligence Platform9.4Visit Starburst Galaxy8.8Visit

Higher score Databricks Data Intelligence Platform #1 in Data Lakehouse Platforms 9.4/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Databricks

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Starburst Galaxy #4 in Data Lakehouse Platforms 8.8/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 4 of 4 features Try Starburst Galaxy

• Databricks Data Intelligence Platform fits best

  Broad enterprise lakehouse and AI workloads

• Starburst Galaxy fits best

  Managed federated SQL with enterprise identity controls

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Side by side

Feature	Databricks Data Intelligence Platform 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Starburst Galaxy 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.8
Ranking	#1 in Data Lakehouse Platforms	#4 in Data Lakehouse Platforms
Best for	Broad enterprise lakehouse and AI workloads	Managed federated SQL with enterprise identity controls
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	Free plan · 14-day trial	$0.50/unit usage-based
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	14 days	30 days
Free trial length	14 days · no card needed	30 days · no card needed
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Docs, Community	Live chat, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7
Compliance	GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SSO/SAML, 2FA	SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, SSO/SAML
Integrations	8 integrations	50+ integrations
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Databricks Data Intelligence Platform 4/4 · Starburst Galaxy 4/4
SQL analytics	✓	✓
ACID transactions	✓	✓
Streaming ingestion	✓	✓
Governance catalog	✓	✓
Specs
Storage model	Both	Both
Table format support	Both	Open
Our review
Pros	Combines Delta Lake storage, SQL, batch, streaming, and ETL Unity Catalog supports data and AI governance Connects with Power BI, Tableau, Kafka, dbt Cloud, and Fivetran	Federated SQL across lakes, warehouses, databases, and streaming systems Iceberg tables with snapshots, time travel, and Kafka streaming ingestion SAML SSO, SCIM, row filters, column masking, and REST automation
Cons	Usage-based pricing varies by cloud, region, product, and contract Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of narrow workloads Paid costs are not represented by a single fixed monthly plan	Usage-based pricing is charged per compute credit Cloud-only coverage may not fit self-hosted deployment requirements Advanced capabilities are reserved for higher paid tiers
Our verdict	Databricks Data Intelligence Platform brings data engineering, SQL analytics, machine learning, AI applications, and governance into a cloud platform. It is designed for organizations that need to ingest and transform data, query lakehouse… Read the review →	Starburst Galaxy is a fully managed cloud data lake analytics platform built on Trino. It is designed for data teams and enterprises that need interactive, batch, federated, and lakehouse analytics without copying data between systems.… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Databricks Data Intelligence Platform — where it wins

  • Combines Delta Lake storage, SQL, batch, streaming, and ETL
  • Unity Catalog supports data and AI governance
  • Connects with Power BI, Tableau, Kafka, dbt Cloud, and Fivetran

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing varies by cloud, region, product, and contract
  • Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of narrow workloads
  • Paid costs are not represented by a single fixed monthly plan

• Starburst Galaxy — where it wins

  • Federated SQL across lakes, warehouses, databases, and streaming systems
  • Iceberg tables with snapshots, time travel, and Kafka streaming ingestion
  • SAML SSO, SCIM, row filters, column masking, and REST automation

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing is charged per compute credit
  • Cloud-only coverage may not fit self-hosted deployment requirements
  • Advanced capabilities are reserved for higher paid tiers

• Databricks Data Intelligence Platform9.4/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  A broad lakehouse platform for engineering, analytics, streaming, machine learning, and AI.

  Visit DatabricksFull verdict →
• Starburst Galaxy8.8/10 · Free plan · 30-day trial

  A managed Trino-based lakehouse platform for federated SQL and governed analytics.

  Try Starburst GalaxyFull verdict →