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What's the Difference Between Amazon EMR and Amazon Redshift?

Compare Amazon EMR and Amazon Redshift side by side — features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right product.

Compare side-by-side

Comparisons
Amazon EMR
Amazon Redshift
Category

Analytics, Big data processing

Analytics, Data warehouse

Description

Easily run big data frameworks

Fast, simple, cost-effective data warehousing

Best for
  • Big data processing
  • Machine learning
  • ETL
  • Clickstream analysis
  • Genomics
  • Data warehousing
  • Business intelligence
  • Log analysis
  • Big data analytics
Key features
  • Apache Spark
  • Apache Hive
  • Presto
  • EMR Serverless
  • EMR on EKS
  • Columnar storage
  • Massively parallel processing
  • Redshift Serverless
  • Data sharing
  • ML integration
Pricing model

Pay per instance hour + EBS storage

On-Demand, Reserved, or Serverless

Free tier

No

Yes

Expert take

“EMR is the go-to for teams already invested in Spark, Hive, or Presto. EMR Serverless removes cluster sizing decisions entirely; you submit jobs and pay per vCPU-second. For teams that want SQL-only without Spark expertise, Athena or Redshift are simpler paths.”
— Didier Durand, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]

“Redshift is optimized for analytical workloads; it uses columnar storage and massively parallel processing to scan terabytes in seconds. Use it when your queries involve aggregations, joins across large tables, and complex calculations that power dashboards and reports.”
— Didier Durand, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]

Product page

When to use Amazon EMR or Amazon Redshift

Use Amazon EMR when:

  • Big data processing
  • Machine learning
  • ETL
  • Clickstream analysis
  • Genomics

Learn more about Amazon EMR »

Use Amazon Redshift when:

  • Data warehousing
  • Business intelligence
  • Log analysis
  • Big data analytics

Learn more about Amazon Redshift »

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