{"id":855,"date":"2023-05-27T18:29:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T18:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/?p=855"},"modified":"2023-05-27T18:29:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T18:29:42","slug":"snowflake-free-tier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Snowflake Have A Free Tier? (Explained)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Some of Snowflake\u2019s competitors offer a free tier through restricted, community, or developer editions. Snowflake doesn\u2019t do so for reasons I discuss later in this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Snowflake offers a free trial for 30 days or until you use up $400 of free credits. It\u2019s possible to use sequential free trials to continue working on the platform. However, you will need to export and re-import your data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This article has plenty of tips on how to make the most of the free aspects of the trial. We also look at how likely it is that Snowflake will provide a free version in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6601b78b8dcf6\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6601b78b8dcf6\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#Does_Snowflake_Have_A_Free_Tier\" title=\"Does Snowflake Have A Free Tier?\">Does Snowflake Have A Free Tier?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#What_Happens_When_A_Snowflake_Free_Trial_Ends\" title=\"What Happens When A Snowflake Free Trial Ends?\">What Happens When A Snowflake Free Trial Ends?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#How_To_Extend_The_Free_Trial\" title=\"How To Extend The Free Trial\">How To Extend The Free Trial<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#Does_Snowflake_Have_A_Free_Community_Edition\" title=\"Does Snowflake Have A Free Community Edition?\">Does Snowflake Have A Free Community Edition?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#Does_Snowflake_Have_A_Free_Developer_Edition\" title=\"Does Snowflake Have A Free Developer Edition?\">Does Snowflake Have A Free Developer Edition?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#Is_Snowflake_Free_For_Students\" title=\"Is Snowflake Free For Students?\">Is Snowflake Free For Students?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#How_To_Look_At_Your_Costs\" title=\"How To Look At Your Costs\">How To Look At Your Costs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#How_To_Ensure_The_Lowest_Price_For_Your_Snowflake_Usage\" title=\"How To Ensure The Lowest Price For Your Snowflake Usage\">How To Ensure The Lowest Price For Your Snowflake Usage<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#How_To_Estimate_Your_Costs_In_Advance\" title=\"How To Estimate Your Costs In Advance\">How To Estimate Your Costs In Advance<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/#Does_Snowflake_Have_Free_Datasets\" title=\"Does Snowflake Have Free Datasets?\">Does Snowflake Have Free Datasets?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Snowflake_Have_A_Free_Tier\"><\/span>Does Snowflake Have A Free Tier?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-free-trial.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-free-trial.jpg 600w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-free-trial-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The only free option for using Snowflake is their 30-day trial. You can sign up without a credit card as long as you provide a valid email address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trial sign-up asks for a company name, but this is not enforced. You can enter \u201cstudent\u201d or \u201cnot applicable\u201d without a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trial is also limited by a $400 maximum usage of resources. If you reach that threshold before your month is over, your trial will be ended. However, I\u2019ve never heard of anyone reaching the cost limit before the thirty days if they choose the standard edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow these steps to access the free trial:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>Go to the <a href=\"https:\/\/signup.snowflake.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">trial sign-up page<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enter the mandatory detail. The email address must be valid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose the Standard edition unless you want to try the advanced features.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose one of Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose the region nearest you.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-trial-signup.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-trial-signup.jpg 400w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-trial-signup-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll be asked several questions as to your reasons and preferences when using Snowflake. I don\u2019t think the choices matter much to your usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you get the email to confirm your sign-up, the link will take you to the Snowflake interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Happens_When_A_Snowflake_Free_Trial_Ends\"><\/span>What Happens When A Snowflake Free Trial Ends?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When your Snowflake trial ends and you haven\u2019t already upgraded to a paid account, your account will be suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can log into Snowflake but you won\u2019t be able to perform any actions except to enter credit card details for an upgrade. If you do so, all functionality will be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to download data you\u2019ve worked with in Snowflake, be sure to do so before the 30 days are up or you\u2019ve used up the free credits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Extend_The_Free_Trial\"><\/span>How To Extend The Free Trial<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-extend-trial.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-extend-trial.jpg 600w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-extend-trial-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Snowflake has previously offered an extended free trial of 120 days for users taking part in data competitions. Keep an eye out on their website for any such offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If there isn\u2019t one available when you start your 30-day trial, then you can take advantage of the fact that the company doesn\u2019t require a credit card for sign-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can register for another trial with a different (but valid) email after your trial period ends. The drawback is if you need to repeat data loading and transformation activities. This can be tiresome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it\u2019s less tedious if you export transformed data to local or separate cloud-based storage before your trial is about to end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take copies of your table creation statement so you can recreate the data model under a new account. Then you can load in the data and keep working with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Snowflake_Have_A_Free_Community_Edition\"><\/span>Does Snowflake Have A Free Community Edition?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The term &#8220;Community Edition&#8221; typically refers to a version of a product that is made available for free to a community of users. It\u2019s usually the lowest tier in a pricing structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, Snowflake doesn\u2019t offer a Community Edition of the platform. The <a href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/who-founded-snowflake\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"843\">founders <\/a>are unlikely to change that policy any time soon for two reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first reason is that Snowflake is for large-volume data warehouses. That means significant infrastructure resources for each client. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second reason is that Snowflake has positioned itself to target enterprise-level customers. That kind of company focuses on functionality instead of the least cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Snowflake_Have_A_Free_Developer_Edition\"><\/span>Does Snowflake Have A Free Developer Edition?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With software and SAAS offerings, developer editions typically come with additional tools and features for programmers and testers. That can be advanced debugging tools, code editors, and extra APIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Microsoft and Oracle both offer developer editions of their database systems that provide almost full functionality at a low cost (or free). The key is that these editions aren\u2019t allowed to be run on production servers with external users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, Snowflake doesn\u2019t offer a developer edition. This is unlikely to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main reason is that their pricing model is primarily based on the resources consumed by the enterprise users. Creating a separate developer edition could require significant adjustments to their pricing approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_Snowflake_Free_For_Students\"><\/span>Is Snowflake Free For Students?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/students.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/students.jpg 600w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/students-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Snowflake does not offer a free tier for students. However, any student can sign up without a credit card for a 30-day trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my opinion, the company won\u2019t offer a free student tier in the near future. They target enterprise-level customers and organizations instead of students or academic users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Look_At_Your_Costs\"><\/span>How To Look At Your Costs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To see your costs to date, go to the Usage tab in the Admin section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You may see a message telling you that there is no data. That\u2019s probably because you\u2019re using the SYSADMIN role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use the drop-down menu under your account name (top left) to switch to the ACCOUNTADMIN role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t be surprised if you see zero costs. Just loading several MB of data and running a few queries against a table won\u2019t incur much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Ensure_The_Lowest_Price_For_Your_Snowflake_Usage\"><\/span>How To Ensure The Lowest Price For Your Snowflake Usage<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Snowflake costs are based on your usage. After the free trial credits are up, here are my tips for getting the lowest price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip 1<\/strong>: Use the X-SMALL warehouse, which is the smallest option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tip 2:<\/strong> When you create the warehouse, be sure that it is set to auto-suspend after a short period of inactivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to check this setting, edit the warehouse and check the suspend options as shown in the picture below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-edit-warehouse.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-edit-warehouse.jpg 600w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-edit-warehouse-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest mistake you can make is to leave a warehouse running continuously by not checking this option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_To_Estimate_Your_Costs_In_Advance\"><\/span>How To Estimate Your Costs In Advance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, it\u2019s very difficult to estimate Snowflake costs before you\u2019ve actually started using it under the normal workload for your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the Snowflake sales department can provide some help. If you speak to them in advance, they\u2019ll ask a series of questions and give you some ballpark estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company can be particularly helpful if you\u2019re migrating from a traditional database or data warehouse. Because their technical teams have assisted in plenty of migrations, they can advise on similar costings to yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_Snowflake_Have_Free_Datasets\"><\/span>Does Snowflake Have Free Datasets?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Snowflake has a range of free datasets that you can load into tables and run queries against. Follow these steps to find free data of interest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>Log into the Snowflake web interface.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose \u201cMarketplace\u201d in the left sidebar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click on \u201cFree Data\u201d in the strip across the top of the main window.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-free-datasets.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-free-datasets.jpg 600w, https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/snowflake-free-datasets-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also search for keywords such as \u201ccensus\u201d or \u201cmedical\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some of Snowflake\u2019s competitors offer a free tier through restricted, community, or developer editions. Snowflake doesn\u2019t do so for reasons I discuss later in this article. Snowflake offers a free trial for 30 days or until you use up $400 of free credits. It\u2019s possible to use sequential free trials to continue working on the &#8230; <a title=\"Does Snowflake Have A Free Tier? (Explained)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/snowflake-free-tier\/\" aria-label=\"More on Does Snowflake Have A Free Tier? (Explained)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":862,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions\/862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandittracker.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}