Head-to-Head Specification Audit
Snowflake vs AWS
Enterprise Analytics & Data Science Teams · Global
Specification Matrix
| Metric | Snowflake | AWS |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $0/moTie | $0/moTie |
| API Rate Limit | 500 req/min | Not confirmed |
| Target Country | Global | Global |
| Category | Data Engineering | Cloud Hosting & Edge |
| Compliance (vendor-stated) | SOC2, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, ISO27001 | GDPR, CCPA, POPIA, SOC2, ISO27001, HIPAA, FedRAMP |
| Hosting Regions | US-East, US-West, EU-West, EU-Central, AP-Southeast, AP-Northeast, AU-East | US-East, US-West, EU-West, AP-Southeast, AU-East, AF-South-ZA |
| Native Integrations | 8 listedBetter | 7 listed |
Snowflake — Key Specs
Vendor-stated- ✓Separate compute and storage scaling — pay only for queries you run
- ✓Data Sharing enables live data sharing across organizations without copying data
- ✓Snowpark supports Python, Java, and Scala for ML workloads directly in Snowflake
- ✓Marketplace has 2,000+ live data sets from commercial providers
AWS — Key Specs
Vendor-stated- ✓Cape Town region (af-south-1) provides local ZA data residency for POPIA compliance
- ✓200+ cloud services covering compute, storage, AI, databases, and IoT
- ✓99.99% uptime SLA on core services including S3, RDS, and EC2
- ✓Spot Instances reduce compute costs by up to 90% for fault-tolerant workloads
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is lower-priced, Snowflake or AWS?+
Both tools start at Free plan available on their entry plans.
Which compliance frameworks do Snowflake and AWS list?+
Both list SOC2, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, ISO27001 in their vendor documentation. AWS additionally lists POPIA, FedRAMP. These are vendor-stated frameworks. VektorIndex has not independently audited these claims.
Does Snowflake or AWS list POPIA as a supported compliance framework?+
AWS lists POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) as a supported compliance framework per its vendor documentation. VektorIndex has not independently verified this claim. South African organisations should request the vendor's current Data Processing Agreement and confirm data residency settings before processing personal information. Snowflake does not list POPIA as a supported compliance framework in its public documentation. Contact the vendor to confirm their position before processing South African personal information.
Which has a higher documented API rate limit — Snowflake or AWS?+
Available information does not support a direct comparison of API rate limits for these tools. Check each vendor's developer documentation.
Which data hosting regions do Snowflake and AWS support?+
Snowflake lists hosting regions: US-East, US-West, EU-West, EU-Central, AP-Southeast, AP-Northeast, AU-East. AWS lists hosting regions: US-East, US-West, EU-West, AP-Southeast, AU-East, AF-South-ZA. For data residency requirements in Global, confirm exact region configuration directly with each vendor.
Data last updated: 29 August 2026 — Sourced from official vendor documentation. Not independently audited. Report incorrect information
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