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Head-to-head · Query Engine Software

Databricks SQL Warehouse vs Dremio

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 1 check side by side
Higher score Databricks SQL Warehouse #2 in Query Engine Software 9.1/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Databricks
Dremio #14 in Query Engine Software 7.9/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Dremio

Databricks SQL Warehouse leads on 0 checks, Dremio on 1, and 0 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 1 yes/no, price and count check where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreDatabricks SQL Warehouse · 9.1/10
  • Free planonly Dremio
  • Free trialonly Dremio

Databricks SQL Warehouse scores higher on our rubric for query engine software: 9.1 against 7.9 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #14.

Dremio offers free plan; Databricks SQL Warehouse doesn't.

Databricks SQL Warehouse is the better fit for enterprise lakehouse SQL and BI. Dremio is the better fit for federated lakehouse querying with a free plan.

  • Databricks SQL Warehouse fits best

    Enterprise lakehouse SQL and BI

  • Dremio fits best

    Federated lakehouse querying with a free plan

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Databricks SQL Warehouse 9.1/10 Visit ↗ Dremio 7.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.1 7.9
Ranking #2 in Query Engine Software #14 in Query Engine Software
Best for Enterprise lakehouse SQL and BI Federated lakehouse querying with a free plan
Pricing model Paid Free plan + paid
Starting price — —
Free plan — ✓ (best)
Free trial — 30 days
Deployment Cloud Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms Web Web
Support Community, Docs Email, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7
Compliance SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SSO/SAML SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR
Integrations 15 integrations 15 integrations
Built for Mid-market, Enterprise Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Databricks SQL Warehouse 0/4 · Dremio 0/4
Federated queries Not checked yet Not checked yet
Heterogeneous sources Not checked yet Not checked yet
Result caching Not checked yet Not checked yet
Streaming sources Not checked yet Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment Not checked yet Not checked yet
SQL support Not checked yet Not checked yet
Source connectors Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Elastic serverless SQL warehouses with usage-based compute
  • AI-assisted SQL, dashboards, alerts, and scheduled jobs
  • Broad BI, database, ETL, and federation integrations
  • Forever-free Standard tier with SQL, Iceberg, and Delta Lake support
  • Federates queries across databases, warehouses, object storage, and NoSQL
  • Connects with major catalogs, engines, BI tools, and notebooks
Cons
  • No free plan for lightweight or occasional experimentation
  • Usage-based billing can make spend vary with workloads
  • Cloud deployment may not suit teams needing self-hosted software
  • Cloud pricing is consumption-based and measured in DCUs
  • Enterprise deployment and support require a contact-sales process
  • Customer cloud infrastructure costs may apply to the free cloud tier
Our verdict

Databricks SQL Warehouse is a cloud data warehousing service built on the Databricks lakehouse. It lets analysts and data teams query cloud data lakes with SQL while adding AI-assisted authoring, interactive AI/BI dashboards, scheduled…

Read the review →

Dremio is an open data lakehouse platform for organizations that need governed analytics across object storage, databases, and lakehouse catalogs. Its distributed SQL query engine supports federated access across databases, warehouses,…

Read the review →
  1. Databricks SQL WarehouseQuery Engine Software 9.1Paid
  2. DremioQuery Engine Software 7.9Free plan · 30-day trial

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Databricks SQL Warehouse — where it wins

    • Elastic serverless SQL warehouses with usage-based compute
    • AI-assisted SQL, dashboards, alerts, and scheduled jobs
    • Broad BI, database, ETL, and federation integrations

    Where it doesn't

    • No free plan for lightweight or occasional experimentation
    • Usage-based billing can make spend vary with workloads
    • Cloud deployment may not suit teams needing self-hosted software

  • Dremio — where it wins

    • Forever-free Standard tier with SQL, Iceberg, and Delta Lake support
    • Federates queries across databases, warehouses, object storage, and NoSQL
    • Connects with major catalogs, engines, BI tools, and notebooks

    Where it doesn't

    • Cloud pricing is consumption-based and measured in DCUs
    • Enterprise deployment and support require a contact-sales process
    • Customer cloud infrastructure costs may apply to the free cloud tier
  • Databricks SQL Warehouse9.1/10 · Paid

    A flexible SQL warehouse for enterprise lakehouse analytics, BI, and governed data access.

    Visit DatabricksFull verdict →
  • Dremio7.9/10 · Free plan · 30-day trial

    A flexible federated query engine with a free tier and broad lakehouse support.

    Visit DremioFull verdict →

More comparisons

All query engine software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update