DuckHouse vs Snowflake.
For data that fits on one machine.
Snowflake bills compute in credits. An X-Small warehouse uses one credit an hour, and a credit costs $2.00 to $4.00 on demand, depending on the edition. DuckHouse bills each database by the second for the size you pick, from $0.0117 (512 MB) to $1.02 (16 GB) an hour.
Snowflake’s list prices for AWS US East (Northern Virginia), on demand, from its Service Consumption Table effective October 29, 2026, checked on November 1, 2026. Sources
Price list
Side by side.
Each service’s unit prices, in its own units. DuckHouse’s come from the code that bills it.
| Topic | DuckHouse | Snowflake |
|---|---|---|
| Unit of compute | An hour of the size you pick | A credit; an X-Small warehouse uses 1 an hour |
| Price of compute | $0.0117 (512 MB) to $1.02 (16 GB) an hour | $2.00 a credit on Standard, $3.00 on Enterprise, $4.00 on Business Critical |
| Billing increment | By the second while running | By the second, with at least a minute each time a warehouse resumes |
| Storage | $0.02 per GB-month in object storage (DuckLake), $0.225 for a DuckDB disk | $23.00 per TB-month on demand |
| Cloud services | Included | Free up to 10% of each day’s warehouse credits, then billed |
Worked examples
What a month costs.
The same workload on both sides, line by line, so you can check the arithmetic.
Four hours a working day
100 GB of data, queried for 4 hours each working day: 88 hours a month.
DuckHouse, performance-8x
- performance-8x (8 dedicated vCPUs, 16 GB), 88 hours × $1.0192
- $89.69
- 100 GB in object storage × $0.02
- $2.00
Snowflake Standard edition, X-Small warehouse
- X-Small warehouse, 88 hours × 1 credit × $2.00
- $176.00
- 0.1 TB storage × $23.00
- $2.30
Snowflake doesn’t publish the hardware behind an X-Small warehouse, so DuckHouse is priced at its largest size here, 8 dedicated vCPUs and 16 GB. A smaller size would cost less. On Enterprise edition, credits cost $3.00, half as much again.
Always on
The same 100 GB, with the warehouse running all month: 730 hours.
DuckHouse, performance-8x
- performance-8x (8 dedicated vCPUs, 16 GB), on all month
- $744.00
- 100 GB in object storage × $0.02
- $2.00
Snowflake Standard edition, X-Small warehouse
- X-Small warehouse, 730 hours × 1 credit × $2.00
- $1,460.00
- 0.1 TB storage × $23.00
- $2.30
Both sides can stop when idle; an always-on warehouse is the ceiling, not the usual bill.
Beyond price
Other differences.
| Topic | DuckHouse | Snowflake |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | Published for every size: 1 to 8 vCPUs, 512 MB to 16 GB | Not published; sizes run from X-Small to 6X-Large |
| Scale | One machine per database, up to 16 GB of memory | Warehouses up to 6X-Large, and multi-cluster warehouses for concurrency |
| SQL | DuckDB SQL; attach from any DuckDB client | Snowflake SQL, through Snowflake’s drivers |
| Connectors | 15 sources synced on a schedule, at no extra charge | Not compared here |
Which to choose
Which one fits.
When Snowflake fits better
- Your data or your concurrency outgrows one machine. Snowflake warehouses go up to 6X-Large and can run as multi-cluster warehouses.
- You need the platform around the warehouse, such as data sharing between Snowflake accounts or Snowpark.
- Your company already buys Snowflake capacity. Committed-capacity discounts aren’t in this comparison.
When DuckHouse fits better
- Your data fits in 16 GB of memory and you’d rather not pay by the credit. DuckHouse’s largest size is $1.02 an hour; an X-Small warehouse uses $2.00 of credits an hour on Standard edition.
- You want small sizes for small data, from 512 MB at $0.0117 an hour.
- You want DuckDB: its SQL, its file formats, and any DuckDB client attached over Quack.
- You want your sources synced for you. DuckHouse keeps 15 of them in step, including Postgres, MySQL, Stripe, Shopify, Square, QuickBooks, Google Analytics, Meta Ads, at no extra charge.
FAQ
About this comparison.
Where do these prices come from?
Does DuckHouse have a free tier?
Why is DuckHouse priced at its largest size?
Sources
Where the numbers come from.
Snowflake’s prices are its published list prices for AWS US East (Northern Virginia), on demand, from its Service Consumption Table effective October 29, 2026, checked on November 1, 2026, and may have changed since. Snowflake is a trademark of its owner. DuckHouse isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by Snowflake.
Try it on your own data.
No contracts and no minimums. Pick a size, connect your sources, and stop the database whenever you like.