Side by side
Qubole vs Starburst Galaxy
Both stand on ai data platforms. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free trial APIWeb
Choose Qubole if you need a cloud data lake platform for multiple data workloads and cloud providers, with pipeline building and query tools. Look elsewhere if you need a free plan, support for open table formats, or pricing without additional user fees.
Visit Qubole Free plan APILinuxWeb
Galaxy brings federated SQL queries, ingestion, and Iceberg maintenance together in a managed cloud service. The free tier has a three-cluster limit, and usage is billed according to plan and billable activity.
Visit Starburst GalaxyThe facts
| Qubole | Starburst Galaxy | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | A free trial | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Web | API, Linux, Web |
| Lowest paid plan | See the plans | See the plans |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | qubole.com | starburst.io |
| On ai data platforms | #10 of 17 | #6 of 17 |
Qubole: what it does well
- Supports AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
- Supports Spark, Presto, Hive/Hadoop, TensorFlow, and Airflow.
- Workbench supports sharing reports and queries.
- Combines batch or streaming sources into streaming pipelines.
- Includes encryption, role-based access, and directory integrations.
What to know first
- There is no free plan; the trial lasts 30 days.
- Both paid plans exclude user fees.
- Enterprise Edition requires an annual contract.
- Open table formats are not supported.
Starburst Galaxy: what it does well
- Federates queries across data lakes and warehouses.
- Lists more than 50 data sources and connectors.
- Supports Kafka streaming and batch ingestion into Iceberg.
- Free tier includes up to three clusters.
- 30-day trial includes Enterprise features and $500 in compute resources.
What to know first
- Usage billing varies by plan.
- Free tier uses standard execution mode for ad hoc queries.
- API authentication tokens expire after 10 minutes.
Alternatives to Qubole Alternatives to Starburst Galaxy The whole list

