Go beyond warehouse-era tradeoffs
Keep Snowflake where it works. Add open storage economics, live federation, fast queries, and governed agent access in one operational lakehouse.
4×
Cost-efficient
Up to 10×
Faster
Unlimited
Queries
Federated
SQL
One platform for humans and agents
Snowflake was founded in 2012 for the cloud warehouse era, when BI and reporting were the center of gravity. AI has changed that. Data now needs to serve dashboards, applications, automations, copilots, and agents, with many more queries, lower-latency expectations, and shared context across tools. That requires a layer designed technically and financially for this new workload: open storage economics, live federation, governed context, and composable execution.
Use open formats
Keep data portable with open table formats and external catalogs.
Query data in place
Join Snowflake, object storage, databases, and lakehouse tables through one governed runtime.
Share governed context
Give every interface the same metrics, permissions, search, orchestration, and business definitions.
Build through any interface
Serve analysts with SQL, builders with APIs and CLIs, and agents with MCP.
Start beside Snowflake. Move on your terms.
Federate existing Snowflake data first. Move new workloads to Altertable as their needs for speed, openness, or agent access grow.
Federate first
Query Snowflake, object storage, databases, and lakehouse tables through one governed runtime.
Launch new workloads
Start new applications, automations, agent workflows, and orchestration in Altertable.
Migrate selectively
Move proven workloads when the economics and operational fit make sense.
Keep tools connected
Preserve existing BI and data workflows while teams adopt Altertable at their own pace.
Choose by workload
Choose Snowflake for managed enterprise analytics and BI. Choose Altertable for open, low-latency, federated data work across applications, automations, and agents.
Architecture
Snowflake: A proprietary cloud warehouse with virtual compute clusters over persisted cloud storage.Altertable: An open lakehouse with DuckDB-powered execution, federation, search, orchestration, and governed context.Scale and cost
Snowflake: Warehouse sizing, concurrency, serverless services, and feature meters add planning overhead as usage grows.Altertable: Storage-first pricing with compressed storage, ACUs, and AI Units. SQL queries, seats, APIs, MCP access, and external connections are included.Workload fit
Snowflake: Strong for reporting, BI, and large analytical warehouse workloads.Altertable: Built for analytics, applications, automations, agents, and interactive workloads that need live context.External data
Snowflake: External tables and stages support cloud storage, with metadata and refresh patterns to manage.Altertable: Query Snowflake, object storage, Iceberg, DuckDB files, databases, and warehouses through one governed runtime.AI work
Snowflake: AI workflows run inside Snowflake through Cortex, Snowpark, and Snowflake-governed services.Altertable: Use APIs, SDKs, MCP, or your own harness with shared metrics, permissions, search, and orchestration.Frequently asked questions
When is Altertable a better Snowflake alternative?
When open storage economics, live federation, developer tooling, and governed agent access matter more than keeping every workload inside one warehouse.
Does choosing Altertable require replacing Snowflake immediately?
No. Altertable can federate Snowflake and other systems first, so teams can prove value, keep existing tools connected, and move workloads progressively.
Where should teams start?
Start with a new data product, application, automation, or agent workflow where latency, cost, and openness matter.
Build your next workload on Altertable
Query data in place, keep existing tools connected, and give every team and agent the same governed context.
Snowflake is a trademark of Snowflake Inc. This comparison is not affiliated with Snowflake.