Databricks
Databricks · Analytics & Data
The Lakehouse Platform combining data warehouse + data lake + AI/ML in one Apache Spark-based system, founded 2013 by the creators of Spark. Positioned as the open, multi-cloud alternative to Snowflake for data teams that also do ML/AI (Mosaic AI, MLflow). Distinctive for Unity Catalog governance across data + AI plus native Delta Lake open-source format. Pricing is purely usage-based via DBUs (Databricks Units) across Standard/Premium/Enterprise tiers — no monthly subscription. Publicly discussed valuation $62B (2024 Series J). Serves 12,000+ organizations including 60% of Fortune 500.
In other words, Databricks is worth it for data teams (10-500 engineers/analysts) that need a unified platform for data engineering + analytics + ML at scale — particularly if you have big-data workloads (100GB+ daily) and want an alternative to Snowflake with better AI/ML support. Standard covers basic Spark + Delta Lake workloads; Premium adds security features (RBAC, SQL analytics); Enterprise adds compliance controls (HIPAA, PCI). Steep learning curve; requires data engineering expertise. Deep native integrations with AWS/Azure/GCP + dbt + Airflow + Tableau. Downside: pure usage-based pricing surprises finance teams (typical mid-size deployment $10K-$100K/month), and lightweight alternatives (BigQuery, ClickHouse, DuckDB) cover simpler needs at fraction of cost.
Pricing summary
No monthly fees
Pay as you go
Varies by usage
Added 2026-08-12 as G2 top-55 brand-gap batch (rank #42). Pure usage-based pricing (DBU consumption); no subscription tier. Standard/Premium/Enterprise differentiate on features (security, compliance) and DBU rates. Actual costs vary massively by workload: Jobs Compute cheapest, All-Purpose Compute for interactive notebooks 2-3x pricier, Serverless newest tier. Also bills through cloud provider marketplace (AWS/Azure/GCP) for underlying infra. Set Entry Price Monthly = $0 (no floor). Valuation $62B (2024 Series J). Databricks IPO widely anticipated 2026-2027.
No separate trial
Just data warehousing (no ML)? Pick Snowflake or BigQuery. Simple analytics for smaller data? DuckDB, ClickHouse, or Metabase + Postgres. ML/AI without lakehouse? SageMaker, Vertex AI, or Modal.
All plans
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
Standard | Free | Free | pay-as-you-go, from $0.15/DBU for Jobs Compute on AWS, from $0.40/DBU for All-Purpose Compute; no subscription, only usage |
Premium | Free | Free | pay-as-you-go, from $0.30/DBU Jobs, from $0.55/DBU All-Purpose; adds RBAC, SQL analytics, table ACL, credential passthrough |
Enterprise | Free | Free | pay-as-you-go, from $0.40/DBU Jobs, from $0.65/DBU All-Purpose; adds HIPAA, PCI, IP access lists, audit logging, customer-managed keys |
All tier prices verified August 12, 2026 · View source →
Price history
Price tracking is just getting started for Databricks. Full history will build as we log changes. See what we have so far →
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At a glance
- Key limit metric
- DBU (Databricks Units) consumed
- Pricing transparency
- Public
Integrates and connects
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