Which is cheaper, Azure Synapse Analytics or Google BigQuery?

GCP is cheaper in 3 of 4 comparable categories, with an average price difference of 76.5%.

How do Azure Synapse Analytics and Google BigQuery compare for general purpose workloads?

Both providers offer competitive pricing for general purpose workloads.

Updated Apr 4, 2026AzureGCP

Overall Winner

GCP

Azure Wins

GCP Wins

Ties

GCP wins 3 of 4 price comparisons, averaging 76.5% lower prices in categories where it leads.

Prices range from $0.000050/hr to $9.47/hr across comparable tiers.

Choose GCP

Best for Analytics workloads

Comparing Azure Synapse Analytics and Google BigQuery across 4 equivalent tiers. On-demand hourly rates are shown in USD for the default region.

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Category	Azure Azure Synapse Analytics	GCP Google BigQuery	Diff	Cheapest
Analytics - Self Hosted IR - Self Hosted IR External Pipeline Activity	$0.0001/hr Self Hosted IR - Self Hosted IR External Pipeline Activity ($0.07/mo)	$0.0001/hr A4CC-2606-6E45 ($0.04/mo)	+50.0%	Tie
Analytics - D4 v3 - D4 v3 AHB	$0.5790/hr D4 v3 - D4 v3 AHB ($422.67/mo)	$0.2040/hr 0BE7-161C-00B1 ($148.92/mo)	+64.8%	GCP
Analytics - D8 v3 - D8 v3 License Included	$1.9380/hr D8 v3 - D8 v3 License Included ($1,414.74/mo)	$0.1500/hr DD2A-D86F-7010 ($109.50/mo)	+92.3%	GCP
Analytics - E32 v3 - E32 v3 License Included	$9.4710/hr E32 v3 - E32 v3 License Included ($6,913.83/mo)	$0.1100/hr 2693-D53C-9E18 ($80.30/mo)	+98.8%	GCP

✓Analytics - D4 v3 - D4 v3 AHB - saves $273.75/mo (64.8% cheaper)
✓Analytics - D8 v3 - D8 v3 License Included - saves $1,305.24/mo (92.3% cheaper)
✓Analytics - E32 v3 - E32 v3 License Included - saves $6,833.53/mo (98.8% cheaper)