Amazon Redshift vs Greenplum Database
Amazon Redshift
aws.amazon.comGreenplum Database
greenplum.orgSide by side
| Figure | Amazon Redshift | Greenplum Database |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.54/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 2 |
| Spec score · Data Warehouse Software | 8.2 (#6) | 8.1 (#7) |
| Spec score · OLAP Software | 8.3 (#8) | 8.1 (#14) |
| Spec score · OLAP Databases | 8.2 (#8) | 8.1 (#11) |
| Spec score · Analytical Data Store Software | 8.2 (#8) | 8.1 (#10) |
| Spec score · Analytics Databases | 8.3 (#9) | 8.2 (#12) |
| Spec score · Analytics Data | 8.3 (#9) | 8.2 (#11) |
| Deployment | It offers provisioned and serverless deployment options. | The maker lists deployment on public clouds including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, as well as VCF, OpenStack private clouds, and on-premises. |
| Scale | AWS says Redshift options scale to petabytes of data and support thousands of concurrent users. | The project describes Greenplum as providing analytics on petabyte-scale data volumes. |
| Security | Redshift supports encryption in transit and at rest, row- and column-level access controls, and dynamic data masking. | The maker states Tanzu Greenplum uses STIG hardening and FIPS 140-3 cryptographic modules for encryption at rest and in transit. |
Plans
Amazon Redshift
- Provisioned$0.54 a month
- Serverless$1.50 a month
- Provisioned on-demand$0.54 a month
- Redshift Serverless on-demand$1.50 a month
Greenplum Database
- Greenplum Database (open source)Free
- VMware Tanzu GreenplumPriced on request
In their own words
Amazon Redshift
Amazon Redshift is a cloud data warehouse for SQL analytics across data warehouses and data lakes. It offers provisioned and serverless deployments, with options AWS says can scale to petabytes and support thousands of concurrent users. Redshift runs read-only SQL queries on Apache Iceberg, Apache Hudi, and Delta Lake tables, plus open file formats in Amazon S3. Zero-ETL integrations connect with Amazon Aurora, Amazon RDS, Amazon DynamoDB, and enterprise applications. Streaming ingestion connects with Amazon Kinesis Data Streams and Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka. Listed integrations include QuickSight, Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, Alteryx, Jupyter Notebook, Informatica, dbt, MicroStrategy, and Looker. The Data API supports AWS SDK languages including Python, Go, Java, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, and C++. Security includes encryption, row- and column-level controls, and dynamic masking. It is paid, has no free plan, offers a free trial, and starts at $0.54 per month for Provisioned or $1.50 per month for Serverless.
Greenplum Database
Greenplum Database is a PostgreSQL-based, open-source data warehouse for analytics, machine learning, and AI. Its architecture spreads data and query work across a cluster: a coordinator divides queries among segment servers. The project describes it for large analytical warehouses and business intelligence, including petabyte-scale data. Query planning can use GPORCA alongside the PostgreSQL-based planner. Storage options include append-optimized row and column formats, with compression for column storage. PXF connectors connect to Hadoop, object stores including Azure, Google Cloud Storage, MinIO, and S3, and SQL databases through JDBC. External tables can be queried or used to load outside data; PXF also supports querying Apache Iceberg foreign tables. Clients can connect through psql, ODBC, or JDBC. Greenplum is available as a free open-source project under Apache 2, while the commercial VMware Tanzu Greenplum offering is priced on request. It supports on-premises deployment and data lakes. Documented access control covers object privileges; row-level and column-level access controls are not supported.