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Head-to-head · Data Lakehouse Platforms

Starburst Galaxy vs Apache Hudi

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score 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
Apache Hudi #5 in Data Lakehouse Platforms 8.6/10 Open source ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Apache Hudi

Starburst Galaxy leads on 0 checks, Apache Hudi on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreStarburst Galaxy · 8.8/10
  • Free planonly Starburst Galaxy
  • Free trialonly Starburst Galaxy

Starburst Galaxy scores higher on our rubric for data lakehouse platforms: 8.8 against 8.6 out of 10; our editors rank them #4 and #5.

On storage model, Starburst Galaxy gives you Both where Apache Hudi offers External. On table format support, Apache Hudi gives you Both where Starburst Galaxy offers Open.

Starburst Galaxy is the better fit for managed federated SQL with enterprise identity controls. Apache Hudi is the better fit for open-source streaming and CDC lakehouses.

  • Starburst Galaxy fits best

    Managed federated SQL with enterprise identity controls

  • Apache Hudi fits best

    Open-source streaming and CDC lakehouses

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Side by side

Feature Starburst Galaxy 8.8/10 Visit ↗ Apache Hudi 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.8 8.6
Ranking #4 in Data Lakehouse Platforms #5 in Data Lakehouse Platforms
Best for Managed federated SQL with enterprise identity controls Open-source streaming and CDC lakehouses
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free
Starting price $0.50/unit usage-based Open source
Free plan ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Free trial 30 days —
Deployment Cloud Self-hosted
Support Live chat, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7 Community, Docs
Integrations 50+ integrations 20 integrations
Built for Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Starburst Galaxy 4/4 · Apache Hudi 4/4
SQL analytics ✓ ✓
ACID transactions ✓ ✓
Streaming ingestion ✓ ✓
Governance catalog ✓ ✓
Specs
Storage model Both External
Table format support Open Both
Our review
Pros
  • 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
  • ACID tables with upserts, deletes, CDC, and time travel
  • Supports Spark SQL, Flink SQL, streaming, and batch pipelines
  • Integrates with Kafka, databases, cloud storage, and catalogs
Cons
  • 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
  • Requires self-hosted deployment and operational ownership
  • External storage architecture adds infrastructure decisions
  • Copy-on-Write and Merge-on-Read require table design choices
Our verdict

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 →

Apache Hudi is an open-source, self-hosted data lakehouse platform for teams building streaming, CDC, incremental, and batch data pipelines. It adds transactional tables with ACID guarantees, updates, deletes, change capture, indexing, and…

Read the review →
  1. Starburst GalaxyData Lakehouse Platforms 8.8Free plan · 30-day trial
  2. Apache HudiData Lakehouse Platforms 8.6Open source

Strengths and trade-offs

  • 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

  • Apache Hudi — where it wins

    • ACID tables with upserts, deletes, CDC, and time travel
    • Supports Spark SQL, Flink SQL, streaming, and batch pipelines
    • Integrates with Kafka, databases, cloud storage, and catalogs

    Where it doesn't

    • Requires self-hosted deployment and operational ownership
    • External storage architecture adds infrastructure decisions
    • Copy-on-Write and Merge-on-Read require table design choices

More comparisons

All data lakehouse platforms comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update