Google BigQuery vs Azure Synapse Analytics

Google BigQuery9.4Visit Azure Synapse Analytics8.7Visit

Higher score Google BigQuery #1 in Data Warehouse Software 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Try Google BigQuery

vs

Azure Synapse Analytics #5 in Data Warehouse Software 8.7/10 Pricing on request ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Azure Synapse

• Google BigQuery fits best

  Teams wanting a broad serverless warehouse

• Azure Synapse Analytics fits best

  Microsoft organizations needing an integrated warehouse

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Side by side

Feature	Google BigQuery 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Azure Synapse Analytics 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.7
Ranking	#1 in Data Warehouse Software	#5 in Data Warehouse Software
Best for	Teams wanting a broad serverless warehouse	Microsoft organizations needing an integrated warehouse
Pricing model	Free	Paid
Starting price	Free	—
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud
Platforms	Web	Web
Support	Docs, Live chat, Phone, Tickets, Community	Docs, Community
Integrations	10 integrations	90+ integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Google BigQuery 4/4 · Azure Synapse Analytics 4/4
Separate storage and compute	✓	✓
Data lake support	✓	✓
Streaming ingestion	✓	✓
In-database machine learning	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Cloud	Cloud
Pricing model	Hybrid	Hybrid
Our review
Pros	Serverless SQL with storage and compute that scale independently Supports lake queries, streaming ingestion, CDC, and federated sources Includes BigQuery ML, governance controls, and broad integrations	Combines dedicated and serverless SQL pools with Apache Spark Queries Azure data lakes and supports streaming ingestion Integrates with Power BI, Azure services, and CI/CD controls
Cons	Usage-based pricing can vary by region and operation Additional storage, ingestion, and extraction charges can apply Broad feature coverage may exceed the needs of narrow warehouse use cases	Requires contact with sales for pricing Broad scope may exceed focused warehouse requirements Cloud deployment is centered on the web and Azure ecosystem
Our verdict	Google BigQuery is a fully managed, serverless cloud data warehouse for organizations that need to store, query, and analyze large datasets. Its audience spans data engineering, business intelligence, data science, real-time analytics, and… Read the review →	Azure Synapse Analytics brings data warehousing, data lake exploration, big data processing, machine learning, and data integration into one Microsoft cloud analytics service. It is designed for enterprise teams that need dedicated or… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Google BigQuery — where it wins

  • Serverless SQL with storage and compute that scale independently
  • Supports lake queries, streaming ingestion, CDC, and federated sources
  • Includes BigQuery ML, governance controls, and broad integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing can vary by region and operation
  • Additional storage, ingestion, and extraction charges can apply
  • Broad feature coverage may exceed the needs of narrow warehouse use cases

• Azure Synapse Analytics — where it wins

  • Combines dedicated and serverless SQL pools with Apache Spark
  • Queries Azure data lakes and supports streaming ingestion
  • Integrates with Power BI, Azure services, and CI/CD controls

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires contact with sales for pricing
  • Broad scope may exceed focused warehouse requirements
  • Cloud deployment is centered on the web and Azure ecosystem

• Google BigQuery9.4/10 · Free plan

  A broad serverless warehouse with flexible analytics, lake, streaming, governance, and ML capabilities.

  Try Google BigQueryFull verdict →
• Azure Synapse Analytics8.7/10 · Pricing on request

  A broad Microsoft cloud analytics service for integrated warehousing and data lake workloads.

  Visit Azure SynapseFull verdict →