vioscaleAI
Comparison

DuckDB vs Google BigQuery

No clear leader: Google BigQuery (61.1) and DuckDB (59.1) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

DuckDB full profile →Google BigQuery full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
DuckDB59
Google BigQuery61
Score
vioscaleAI score
DuckDB59 / 100medium · 51%
Google BigQuery61 / 100low · 40%
Pricing
Free tier
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✓
Model
DuckDBopen_source
Google BigQuerycommercial
Price level
DuckDBfree
Google BigQueryunknown
Transparent
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✗
Integrations
Count
DuckDB27
Google BigQuery2
Security
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Sla pct
DuckDB–
Google BigQuery99.99
Status page
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
DuckDB1
Google BigQuery–
Github stars
DuckDB42,154
Google BigQuery–
Package downloads weekly
DuckDB15,285,415
Google BigQuery–
Activity
Commits last 30d
DuckDB100
Google BigQuery–
Release
Cadence days
DuckDB33
Google BigQuery–
History
DuckDB20 items
Google BigQuery–
License
Spdx
DuckDBMIT
Google BigQuery–
Language
Primary
DuckDBC++
Google BigQuery–
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
DuckDB7 items
Google BigQuery5 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for data warehouse software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Deployment
Deployment
DuckDBEmbedded
Google BigQueryManaged cloud
Architecture
Architecture
DuckDB-
Google BigQueryServerless
Compute model
DuckDB-
Google BigQueryServerless
Query
SQL dialect
DuckDBVendor-specific
Google BigQueryVendor-specific
Federation / lakehouse query-in-place
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✓
Interoperability
Table-format support
DuckDBParquet, CSV, JSON, Iceberg, Delta Lake, Vortex, DuckLake, Lance, Arrow, Avro, E
Google BigQuery-
Scale
Concurrency scaling
DuckDB-
Google BigQuery-
Ingestion
Streaming ingest
DuckDB-
Google BigQuery✓
Data model
Semi-structured (JSON/VARIANT)
DuckDBFunctional
Google BigQueryFirst-class
Analytics
ML / in-DB functions
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✓
Sharing
Data sharing / marketplace
DuckDB-
Google BigQuery✓
Licensing
Licence class
DuckDBPermissive OSS
Google BigQueryProprietary

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

DuckDB

A portable analytical database that runs locally or embedded in applications, with PostgreSQL-like SQL and APIs for major programming languages, supporting popular data formats including CSV, JSON, Parquet, and Apache Iceberg.

Independently observed

Google BigQuery

A cloud-based data platform that automates the complete data lifecycle from ingestion through AI analysis, enabling organizations to analyze data and derive AI-driven insights at scale.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

DuckDB

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open source under MIT license

as of verify ↗

Google BigQuery

Usage-basedFree tier

Free tier with 10 GiB storage and 1 TiB monthly queries. New customers receive $300 in free credits.

  • Free tierFree
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
DuckDB✗
Google BigQuery✓
macOS
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✗
Windows
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✗
Linux
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✗
CLI
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
DuckDB✗
Google BigQuery✓
Self-hosted
DuckDB✓
Google BigQuery✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

DuckDB

30 total
  • Postgres
  • AWS
  • S3
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud
  • Hugging Face
  • SQLite
  • MySQL
  • Iceberg
  • Delta Lake
  • Parquet
  • JSON
  • Arrow
  • Avro
  • Pandas
  • dplyr
  • Jupyter
  • Marimo
  • Claude
  • Cloudflare
  • ODBC
  • HTTP
  • Excel
  • Vortex
  • +6 more
Independently observed

Google BigQuery

6 total
  • Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform
  • Data Engineering Agent
  • Data Science Agent
  • Conversational Analytics Agent
  • Gemini
  • Dataflow
Independently observed
Still deciding?

DuckDB or Google BigQuery: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.