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Head-to-head · OLAP Databases

Databricks SQL Warehouse vs Exasol

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 1 check side by side
Higher score Databricks SQL Warehouse #3 in OLAP Databases 9.1/10 Paid ✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Databricks
Exasol #8 in OLAP Databases 8.6/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Exasol

Databricks SQL Warehouse leads on 0 checks, Exasol 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 Exasol
  • Free trialonly Exasol

Databricks SQL Warehouse scores higher on our rubric for olap databases: 9.1 against 8.6 out of 10; our editors rank them #3 and #8.

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

Databricks SQL Warehouse is the better fit for lakehouse SQL and governed BI workloads. Exasol is the better fit for high-concurrency analytical warehousing.

  • Databricks SQL Warehouse fits best

    Lakehouse SQL and governed BI workloads

  • Exasol fits best

    High-concurrency analytical warehousing

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Side by side

Feature Databricks SQL Warehouse 9.1/10 Visit ↗ Exasol 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.1 8.6
Ranking #3 in OLAP Databases #8 in OLAP Databases
Best for Lakehouse SQL and governed BI workloads High-concurrency analytical warehousing
Pricing model Paid Free plan + paid
Starting price — $25/GB/mo
Free plan — ✓ (best)
Free trial — 30 days
Deployment Cloud Cloud, Self-hosted, Desktop
Platforms Web Web, macOS, Linux
Support Community, Docs Email, Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7
Compliance SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, SSO/SAML ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS
Integrations 15 integrations 14 integrations
Built for Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Databricks SQL Warehouse 0/4 · Exasol 0/4
Separate compute and storage Not checked yet Not checked yet
Data lake querying Not checked yet Not checked yet
Real-time ingestion Not checked yet Not checked yet
Materialized views Not checked yet Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment model Cloud Not checked yet
Query concurrency Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Serverless warehouses with elastic compute
  • Unity Catalog governance and access controls
  • Broad BI connectivity and external-system federation
  • In-memory MPP processing supports concurrent analytical queries
  • Separate storage and compute with vertical and horizontal scaling
  • Broad BI, lakehouse, streaming, and machine-learning integrations
Cons
  • Paid service with no free plan
  • Usage-based billing requires cost monitoring
  • Cloud deployment may not suit local-only workloads
  • Storage is charged separately at $25 per TB per month
  • Pre-purchase pricing requires a sales quote
  • No open-source edition is available
Our verdict

Databricks SQL Warehouse is a cloud data warehousing service for analysts and data teams working with SQL, cloud data lakes, and governed business intelligence. It combines serverless SQL warehouses with elastic compute, AI-assisted query…

Read the review →

Exasol is an in-memory, massively parallel analytics database for data teams, developers, and enterprises running demanding analytical workloads. It supports SQL analytics, business intelligence, data warehousing, lakehouse acceleration,…

Read the review →
  1. Databricks SQL WarehouseOLAP Databases 9.1Paid
  2. ExasolOLAP Databases 8.6Free plan · 30-day trial

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Databricks SQL Warehouse — where it wins

    • Serverless warehouses with elastic compute
    • Unity Catalog governance and access controls
    • Broad BI connectivity and external-system federation

    Where it doesn't

    • Paid service with no free plan
    • Usage-based billing requires cost monitoring
    • Cloud deployment may not suit local-only workloads

  • Exasol — where it wins

    • In-memory MPP processing supports concurrent analytical queries
    • Separate storage and compute with vertical and horizontal scaling
    • Broad BI, lakehouse, streaming, and machine-learning integrations

    Where it doesn't

    • Storage is charged separately at $25 per TB per month
    • Pre-purchase pricing requires a sales quote
    • No open-source edition is available
  • Databricks SQL Warehouse9.1/10 · Paid

    A governed, cloud-based SQL warehouse for lakehouse analytics and BI teams.

    Visit DatabricksFull verdict →
  • Exasol8.6/10 · Free plan · 30-day trial

    A scalable OLAP database for demanding analytical workloads and mixed deployment needs.

    Visit ExasolFull verdict →

More comparisons

All OLAP databases comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update