whichdb
vs

Exasol vs Snowflake

Exasol: In-memory MPP columnar analytics database from Germany, tuned for fast BI with little tuning. Snowflake: Fully managed cloud data warehouse with separate storage and compute, now spanning AI and apps.

key differences

  • Snowflake is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Exasol (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only Exasol has in-memory.
  • Only Snowflake has full-text search, vector search, change data capture, materialized views, time travel.
  • Snowflake has a serverless option; Exasol does not.

choose exasol for

  • +BI acceleration layer for Tableau or Power BI
  • +EU data-sovereign analytics
  • +Replacing slow legacy warehouses
  • +In-database data science

best at · Warehouse, OLAP

choose snowflake for

  • +Enterprise data warehouse
  • +ELT pipelines with dbt
  • +Cross-company data sharing
  • +BI and reporting at scale

best at · Warehouse, OLAP, Lakehouse

ExasolIn-memory MPP columnar analytics database from Germany, tuned for fast BI with little tuning.
SnowflakeFully managed cloud data warehouse with separate storage and compute, now spanning AI and apps.
overview
Primary model
Columnar / OLAP
Columnar / OLAP
Also supports
Relational, Spatial
Relational, Document, Vector, Spatial
Type
Database engine
Managed service
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Exasol AG
Snowflake Inc.
First release
2000
2014
Latest version
2026.1.0 (May 26, 2026)
–
License
ProprietaryProprietary
ProprietaryProprietary
Free tier
✓
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
31.0
74.4
Rank
#83
#7
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
89
12.2K
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Massive (Multi-PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Strict
Flexible
Architecture
Distributed, In memory, Client server
Distributed, Shared storage, Serverless
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
—
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
—
✓
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Azure, Google Cloud
AWS, Azure, Google Cloud
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
—
—
Full-text search
—
✓
Vector search
—
✓
Geospatial
✓
✓
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
—
✓
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
✓
✓
Materialized views
—
✓
TTL / expiry
—
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
✓
✓
In-memory
✓
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
✓
✓
Encryption at rest
✓
✓
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
✓
Branching
—
✓
Online schema changes
—
✓
Streaming ingest
—
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
SQL, Lua, Python UDFs, R UDFs, Java UDFs
SQL, Snowflake Scripting, Python (Snowpark), JavaScript
Client languages
Python, Java, .NET, Go, JavaScript
Python, Java, JavaScript, Go, .NET, C, PHP
Best for
Warehouse, OLAP
Warehouse, OLAP, Lakehouse
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Exasol vs Snowflake: FAQ

What is the difference between Exasol and Snowflake?

Exasol: In-memory MPP columnar analytics database from Germany, tuned for fast BI with little tuning. Snowflake: Fully managed cloud data warehouse with separate storage and compute, now spanning AI and apps. Snowflake is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than Exasol (≤ 1 PB). Only Exasol has in-memory. Only Snowflake has full-text search, vector search, change data capture, materialized views, time travel.

When should I choose Exasol over Snowflake?

Choose Exasol for BI acceleration layer for Tableau or Power BI, EU data-sovereign analytics and replacing slow legacy warehouses. Choose Snowflake for enterprise data warehouse, ELT pipelines with dbt and cross-company data sharing.

Is Exasol or Snowflake more popular?

Snowflake ranks #7 on the WhichDB Score (74.4/100) and Exasol ranks #83 (31.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Exasol and Snowflake open source?

No. Exasol is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Snowflake is proprietary, closed-source software.