Google Cloud Lakehouse for Apache Iceberg vs OpenLake
Google Cloud Lakehouse for Apache Iceberg
cloud.google.com
OpenLake
openlake.coSide by side
| Figure | Google Cloud Lakehouse for Apache Iceberg | OpenLake |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.04/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 11 | 1 |
| Spec score · Data Lakehouse Platforms | 9.0 (#2) | 7.6 (#10) |
| AI features | BigQuery ObjectRefs combine structured Iceberg data with unstructured objects for multimodal, vector and graph analytics. | OpenLake offers AI-assisted data cataloging, natural-language querying, and an incident-triage agent that can propose fixes. |
| Compliance | Google Cloud lists ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 27701, SOC 1/2/3, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, GDPR and HIPAA offerings or alignments. | OpenLake says it is not a HIPAA-certified product and places compliance configuration and evidence within the customer's own boundary. |
Plans
Google Cloud Lakehouse for Apache Iceberg
- Metadata storage free tierPriced on request
- Metadata storagePriced on request
- Table managementPriced on request
- Class A metadata accessPriced on request
- Class B metadata accessPriced on request
- Catalog federation metadata refreshPriced on request
- Metadata storage included tierFree
- Metadata storage overage$0.04 a month
- Lakehouse table management$0.12 a month
- Class B metadata access$0.90 a month
In their own words
Google Cloud Lakehouse for Apache Iceberg
Google Cloud Lakehouse for Apache Iceberg is a web service for working with Apache Iceberg tables. Its listed capabilities include SQL analytics, ACID transactions, streaming ingestion, and a governance catalog, with both listed storage models and table-format categories supported. Charges are organized by metadata storage, table management, metadata access, and catalog federation refresh rather than a single stated plan price. Metadata storage includes 1 GiB free each month; additional storage starts at $0.04 per GiB per month. Table management starts at $0.12 per DCU-hour and includes storage optimization, adaptive file sizing, automatic clustering, garbage collection, and BigQuery metadata generation. Class A metadata access includes 5,000 free operations monthly, and Class B includes 50,000. Catalog federation metadata refresh lists 0 to 5,001 free operations per account each month. The service is paid overall and has no free plan, despite those component-level free allowances. Listed billing thresholds are above 5,001 operations for Class A and catalog refresh, and above 50,001 for Class B. Google was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
OpenLake
OpenLake is a managed data lakehouse platform deployed in a customer’s cloud account, with API, self-hosted, and web access. It combines Trino, Apache Spark, Apache Iceberg, Apache Polaris, Apache Superset, PostgreSQL, Neo4j, Elasticsearch, and Polars. Its browser SQL workbench uses Trino and can draft queries from natural-language prompts grounded in readable catalogs. Teams can schedule and monitor ETL jobs written in Spark, Polars, Python, or Bash, including work on temporary Spark clusters. Analysts can launch preconfigured cloud workstations through a browser or native client over a secure tunnel without public exposure. OpenLake connects Tableau, Power BI, databases, APIs, S3 feeds, and files. It describes SSO with enforced MFA, role-based permissions, managed secrets, network isolation, and audit logs. Deployments can use customer-owned buckets, open Iceberg tables, streaming ingestion, governance catalogs, and offline artifacts in networks without internet egress. AI cataloging, natural-language querying, and incident-triage proposals are included. Pricing is on request.