specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: Google BigQuery
providerId: google-bigquery
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Data Warehouse
  - Analytics
  - Google Cloud
  - SQL
  - Big Data
description: BigQuery is priced as separate compute and storage. Compute can be billed on-demand (per
  TB scanned) or via capacity reservations sold as Standard / Enterprise / Enterprise Plus slot-hour
  editions, with optional 1- or 3-year commitments for discounts. Storage is billed per GB-month with
  active vs long-term tiers. A monthly free tier is included for all customers.
sources:
  - https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/pricing
  - https://cloud.google.com/bigquery/docs/sandbox
plans:
  - id: google-bigquery-free-tier
    name: Free Tier
    type: freemium
    description: Monthly free quota included for every billing account. Sandbox is also available without
      a billing account, with restricted DML and 60-day table expiration.
    entries:
      - label: Free query (analysis) bytes
        description: Monthly free on-demand query data processed
        name: free_query_bytes
        type: quota
        metric: TB
        limit: 1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Free active storage
        description: Monthly free active logical storage
        name: free_storage
        type: quota
        metric: GB
        limit: 10
        timeFrame: month
        geo: global
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: '0.00'
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Sandbox (no billing account)
      - name: BigQuery API
      - name: BigQuery Storage Read API
      - name: BigQuery Connection API
  - id: google-bigquery-on-demand
    name: On-Demand Compute
    type: usage-based
    description: Pay per TB of data scanned by queries. Best for spiky or unpredictable workloads. List
      price posted on the pricing page; per-region variation applies.
    entries:
      - label: Query analysis
        description: On-demand bytes processed by queries
        name: on_demand_query
        type: metered
        metric: TB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: BigQuery API
      - name: BigQuery Storage Read API
      - name: BigQuery Connection API
      - name: BigQuery Reservation API (optional)
  - id: google-bigquery-capacity-standard
    name: Capacity - Standard Edition
    type: subscription
    description: Slot-hour pricing for the Standard edition. Entry tier for capacity-based compute, suitable
      for ad-hoc and standard SQL workloads. No commitment required; supports autoscaling.
    entries:
      - label: Standard slot-hour
        description: Per-slot-hour rate for the Standard edition
        name: slot_hour_standard
        type: metered
        metric: slot-hour
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Autoscaling slots
      - name: Materialized views
      - name: BigQuery Reservation API
  - id: google-bigquery-capacity-enterprise
    name: Capacity - Enterprise Edition
    type: subscription
    description: Higher-priced edition with additional governance, security, and DML/Data Manipulation
      features (column-level security, customer-managed encryption keys, BigQuery ML inference). 1- and
      3-year commitments offer discount.
    entries:
      - label: Enterprise slot-hour (on-demand)
        description: Per-slot-hour rate for the Enterprise edition
        name: slot_hour_enterprise
        type: metered
        metric: slot-hour
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Enterprise slot-hour (1y commit)
        description: Discounted slot-hour rate with 1-year commitment
        name: slot_hour_enterprise_1y
        type: subscription
        metric: slot-hour
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Enterprise slot-hour (3y commit)
        description: Discounted slot-hour rate with 3-year commitment
        name: slot_hour_enterprise_3y
        type: subscription
        metric: slot-hour
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: year
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: All Standard features
      - name: Column-level security
      - name: Customer-managed encryption keys
      - name: BigQuery ML inference
      - name: 1y / 3y commit discounts
  - id: google-bigquery-capacity-enterprise-plus
    name: Capacity - Enterprise Plus Edition
    type: enterprise
    description: Top-tier edition adding multi-region disaster recovery, fine-grained authorization, and
      cross-region replication. 1- and 3-year commitments available.
    entries:
      - label: Enterprise Plus slot-hour
        description: Per-slot-hour rate for the Enterprise Plus edition
        name: slot_hour_enterprise_plus
        type: metered
        metric: slot-hour
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: All Enterprise features
      - name: Cross-region disaster recovery
      - name: Customer-managed encryption + Cloud HSM
      - name: 1y / 3y commit discounts
  - id: google-bigquery-storage
    name: Storage
    type: usage-based
    description: Storage billed per GB-month, separately from compute. Active storage covers tables modified
      in the last 90 days; long-term storage applies a discounted rate to tables unmodified for 90+ days.
      Logical (uncompressed) and physical (compressed) billing models available.
    entries:
      - label: Active logical storage
        description: GB-month for tables modified in the last 90 days (logical billing)
        name: active_logical_storage
        type: metered
        metric: GB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Long-term logical storage
        description: GB-month for tables unmodified 90+ days (50% discount vs active)
        name: longterm_logical_storage
        type: metered
        metric: GB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Active physical storage
        description: GB-month for compressed table data (active)
        name: active_physical_storage
        type: metered
        metric: GB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Long-term physical storage
        description: GB-month for compressed table data (long-term)
        name: longterm_physical_storage
        type: metered
        metric: GB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: month
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Streaming inserts
        description: Per-row insert via the legacy streaming API
        name: streaming_inserts
        type: metered
        metric: GB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Storage Write API
        description: Per-byte ingest via the Storage Write API
        name: storage_write_api
        type: metered
        metric: GB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
      - label: Storage Read API
        description: Per-byte read via the Storage Read API
        name: storage_read_api
        type: metered
        metric: GB
        limit: -1
        timeFrame: usage
        geo: US
        domains:
          - https://bigquery.googleapis.com
        unit: 1
        price: see pricing page
        userMultiplied: false
    elements:
      - name: Logical or physical billing election (per dataset)
      - name: BigQuery Storage Read API
      - name: BigQuery Storage Write API
      - name: Streaming insert API (legacy)
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com
x-canonical:
  generated: '2026-10-08'
  vocabulary: all/0-working/economics/plans-canonical.yml
  models:
  - free
  - metered
  - subscription
  units:
  - compute
  - data
  plans:
  - name: Free Tier
    access: freemium
    model: free
    model_how: derived
    units:
    - data
    periods:
    - month
  - name: On-Demand Compute
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - data
    periods:
    - per-use
  - name: Capacity - Standard Edition
    access: other
    model: subscription
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - compute
    periods:
    - per-use
  - name: Capacity - Enterprise Edition
    access: other
    model: subscription
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - compute
    periods:
    - per-use
    - year
  - name: Capacity - Enterprise Plus Edition
    access: enterprise
    model: metered
    model_how: derived
    units:
    - compute
    periods:
    - per-use
  - name: Storage
    access: other
    model: metered
    model_how: stated
    units:
    - data
    periods:
    - month
    - per-use