Architecture comparison

Databricks vs Snowflake

Databricks runs closer to the foundational model (Native (own / self-hosted weights)) than Snowflake (Native (own / self-hosted weights)). Shared foundation: Meta · Llama (highlighted).

Databricks

Data Platform

Proximity

Native (own / self-hosted weights)

Models

proprietary / self-built modelsMeta · Llama

Cloud · datastore

Multi-CloudDelta Lake (Parquet on object storage)Apache Spark

Compliance

SOC 2HIPAAFedRAMPISO 27001

Architecture

Lakehouse deployed into the customer's own cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP), built on open Spark + Delta Lake. Ships its own open model DBRX and the Mosaic AI training/serving stack.

Snowflake

Data Platform

Proximity

Native (own / self-hosted weights)

Models

Meta · LlamaAnthropic · Claude

Cloud · datastore

Multi-Cloudproprietary columnar engine on object storage (S3/Blob/GCS)FoundationDB (metadata)

Compliance

SOC 2HIPAAFedRAMP (High)PCI DSS

Architecture

Cloud data warehouse that runs as a tenant across AWS, Azure and GCP, separating compute from storage on object stores; metadata in FoundationDB. Cortex serves hosted LLMs next to the data.

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