Neutral by design
The best-value callout is whichever platform has the lowest total at your inputs. We have no affiliate relationship with Snowflake, Databricks, or Google.
ABOUT
Built for data engineers who need real numbers.
dwcost.com is a free, workload-based cost calculator for the three dominant cloud data warehouse platforms: Snowflake, Databricks, and BigQuery. No login. No vendor affiliation. No black-box estimates.
WHY WE BUILT THIS
The problem with vendor pricing pages.
Every platform publishes a rate card. None of them tell you what you'll actually pay. The real bill depends on your query volume, scan patterns, warehouse size, dbt strategy, and storage growth — variables that only you know.
dwcost.com puts those variables in your hands. Adjust the sliders to match your actual workload and see a side-by-side monthly estimate update in real time. The "Best Value" badge follows the math, not a sales pitch.
All math runs in your browser
No workload data is ever sent to a server. The calculator is pure client-side TypeScript — open the source on GitHub to verify every formula.
One config file controls the rates
All pricing defaults live in src/config/pricing.ts.
When vendors change their rates, one file update keeps the calculator accurate.
You can also override any rate directly on the page.
HOW IT WORKS
The calculation model.
Each platform is modelled from first principles using publicly available pricing:
Snowflake
Compute cost = active warehouse hours × credits per hour (by size XS–L) × credit price. dbt pipeline hours are added to active hours. Storage = TB stored × $23/TB-month.
Databricks
Compute cost = active hours × DBU per hour (by cluster size) × Jobs Compute DBU rate. Storage = GB stored × $0.023/GB-month (object storage).
BigQuery
BigQuery has two pricing models. The calculator compares: (1) on-demand at $6.25/TB scanned (best for variable, unpredictable workloads) and (2) slot reservations at $2,000/month for 100 slots (best for high-utilization, consistent workloads where per-TB cost becomes negligible). The calculator shows which is cheaper at your current scale. Storage = GB stored × $0.02/GB-month.
All rates are editable on the main calculator page. The break-even chart shows where each platform becomes cheaper as scan volume grows from 0 to 1,000 TB/month. Note on BigQuery: The calculator always compares on-demand and slot-based pricing simultaneously and picks the cheaper option—so the recommendation updates in real time as your workload inputs change.
CONTACT
Get in touch.
Found a pricing error? Have a feature request? Want to report a bug or suggest a new platform? We'd love to hear from you.