LangflowOpen-source visual builder for AI agents, RAG flows and MCP servers, where every flow yo…DatabaseIn its code · source ↗
BigQuery
Google Cloud's serverless data warehouse for running SQL over large datasets, billed by the data your queries scan or by reserved compute.
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BigQuery is Google Cloud's analytics warehouse: you load or stream data into tables and query it with SQL or Python, with no servers or clusters to size. It is where many teams send product events, billing exports and logs once those no longer fit comfortably in the app database.
The model to understand: storage and compute are separate. Tables live in a managed storage layer, and each query borrows compute from Google's shared pool. By default you pay for the bytes each query reads; alternatively you buy compute capacity in slots, billed per slot-hour through the Standard, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus editions. Storage is billed separately by how much you keep.
For a small team: a free tier of 10 GiB storage and 1 TiB of queries a month, a sandbox that needs no credit card, client libraries for Python, Java, JavaScript and Go plus JDBC and ODBC drivers, built-in machine learning in SQL, support for Iceberg, Delta and Hudi tables, and federated queries against Cloud SQL MySQL and PostgreSQL without copying the data.
Limits: it is an analytics engine, not a backend for your app's reads and writes. On-demand pricing follows bytes scanned, so a SELECT * over a large table costs the same with or without LIMIT; dry runs, a maximum-bytes-billed setting and daily quotas keep that in check. It requires a Google Cloud project, and the sandbox expires tables after 60 days.
Where it fits
Who uses it
7 makers' products, each linked to the source that shows it, and 31 open-source projects that declare it in their code.
LangflowOpen-source visual builder for AI agents, RAG flows and MCP servers, where every flow yo…DatabaseIn its code · source ↗
GrowthBookOpen-source feature flagging and A/B testing platform with built-in statistical analysis…DatabaseIn its code · source ↗
omiOpen-source AI wearable with mobile and desktop apps that records conversations and meet…DatabaseIn its code · source ↗
PostHogProduct analytics with session replay, feature flags, A/B tests and surveys in one open-…DatabaseIn its code · source ↗
OpenReplaySession replay and product analytics suite with network, console, and state capture, bui…DatabaseIn its code · source ↗
klavisKlavis AI: MCP integration platforms that let AI agents use tools reliably at any scaleDatabaseIn its code · source ↗Open source: a project that declares BigQuery as a dependency in its public code — verifiable, but not necessarily a live product.
Alternatives to BigQuery
All alternatives by situation →
Supabase
Convex
Firebase
Neon
PlanetScale
Turso
MongoDB
PostgreSQL
ClickHouseQuestions makers ask about BigQuery
Can I try BigQuery for free?
Yes. The sandbox needs no credit card and gives 10 GiB of storage and 1 TiB of queries a month, but tables expire after 60 days and streaming, DML and the Data Transfer Service are unavailable. With billing enabled, the same 10 GiB and 1 TiB stay free every month. source ↗
How is BigQuery priced?
Queries are billed on demand per TiB of data processed, with the first 1 TiB each month free, or by capacity in slot-hours through BigQuery editions. Storage is billed separately, with the first 10 GiB free each month. source ↗
Does adding LIMIT make a query cheaper?
Not on non-clustered tables, where you are billed for every byte the query reads regardless of LIMIT. Google recommends previewing cost with a dry run, setting a maximum bytes billed per query, and setting custom daily quotas per project or user. source ↗
Can BigQuery query my Postgres database directly?
If it runs on Cloud SQL, yes. Cloud SQL federation queries MySQL and PostgreSQL instances in real time without copying the data; to replicate the data into BigQuery instead, Google points to Datastream or Cloud Data Fusion. source ↗
How do I use it from my app's code?
Through client libraries for Python, Java, JavaScript and Go, the REST and RPC APIs, or ODBC and JDBC drivers for existing tools. source ↗
Is BigQuery free?
Yes — there is a free tier a small product can run on; paid use starts at $6.25 per TiB queried (on-demand, first 1 TiB/month free). source ↗
Is BigQuery open source or self-hostable?
Not open source, and hosted only.
Can AI coding agents work with BigQuery?
No llms.txt, official MCP server or CLI found yet.
Who uses BigQuery?
7 makers' products we track, each with a source, and 31 open-source projects declare it in their code. source ↗