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AWS Snowball vs Palantir Foundry comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 11, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Snowball
Ranking in Data Migration Appliances
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Migration (11th)
Palantir Foundry
Ranking in Data Migration Appliances
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (12th), IT Operations Analytics (10th), Supply Chain Analytics (1st), Cloud Data Integration (11th), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (1st), Data and Analytics Service Providers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Migration Appliances category, the mindshare of AWS Snowball is 33.5%, down from 41.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palantir Foundry is 5.6%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Migration Appliances Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
AWS Snowball33.5%
Palantir Foundry5.6%
Other60.9%
Data Migration Appliances
 

Featured Reviews

Kevin-Davis - PeerSpot reviewer
Global CTO AWS Business Group at Eviden
Seamless data transfer and efficient migration with customizable storage sizes
I like that I can take data and send it straight to S3 when it loads in. The interface for getting my data onto the Snowball is so streamlined. I don't know if you've ever seen it before. It's really cool. I connect them to the backplane of our existing network. I'm able to address it quickly and move the data quickly inside my customers' data centers. There's a little screen on it, which changes the UPS codes and all that stuff. The label and everything AWS electronic, so I don't have to deal with shipping issues. It makes it super simple and easy to use from end to end.
SR
Architect at L&T Technology Services
Finds security and customization features impressive, although cost concerns persist
My experience with Palantir Foundry and Azure has been good. Palantir Foundry is costly, but Azure is open, which allows for easier experimentation. Being a closed product, Palantir Foundry is difficult to practice offline unless we have an enterprise edition. However, it is very secure compared to other platforms. Palantir Foundry's best features include security, built-in features, low-code, no-code platform, and ease of use. The collaborative workspaces within Palantir Foundry contribute to team efficiency and project outcomes through seamless operation. The ease of customization is particularly notable. I have worked with the data lineage feature in Palantir Foundry, which comes by default. We simply need to tick the checkbox and make necessary configuration changes within the system itself. We do not need to procure another lineage platform as Palantir Foundry has its own built-in features for data lineage, data governance, and data security. The lineage feature helps enhance our data management practices by allowing us to understand the origin of data, track all activities happening on the data, identify users and consumers, and monitor how it flows across the system. This makes it easier to generate reports based on the lineage database. The predictive analytics capability within Palantir Foundry impacts financial forecasting strategies through its AIP functionality, which includes numerous pre-built models, LLMs, and data science application libraries. Using the AIP library within Palantir Foundry helps us develop quick resolutions for predictive models and analytics.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The flexibility of AWS Snowball is valuable. Its security allows for the ability to move and secure data without concern if the device is lost and the option to trace it back to AWS data centers."
"The features I like best are the tool's high capacity, scalability, end-to-end encryption for data security, ease of use, durability, and cost-effectiveness. It's particularly cost-effective for transferring large amounts of data compared to high-speed internet transfers."
"I like that I can take data and send it straight to S3 when it loads in."
"The solution is elastic."
"AWS helps save time and costs, being a managed cloud provider with evolving services."
"The most valuable features of AWS Snowball for me are its security measures and its flexibility."
"The support team's awesome, and they've always been very responsive."
"It's a nice way of shipping a lot of data without using a network."
"I like the data onboarding to Palantir Foundry and ETL creation."
"The data lineage is great."
"It's scalable."
"The AI engine that comes with Palantir Foundry is quite interesting."
"The security is also excellent. It's highly granular, so the admins have a high degree of control, and there are many levels of security. That worked well. You won't have an EDC unless you put everything onto the platform because it is its own isolated thing."
"Palantir Foundry is a robust platform that has really strong plugin connectors and provides features for real-time integration."
"It is easy to map out a workflow and run trigger-based scripts without having to deploy to another server."
"Encapsulates all the components without the requirement to integrate or check compatibility."
 

Cons

"It's not an easy product to start using for a beginner, but If you're a professional, it's easy to understand."
"There's always room for improvement as you use the service more and gain expertise. Some challenges I've faced include the time factor (data transfer can be time-consuming), data validation after the transfer, risks associated with physical handling and shipping of the device, and ensuring data security during transit."
"If AWS Snowball is intercepted, there is a potential risk of unauthorized access to the data."
"I think AWS Snowball could improve by expanding its availability to more countries."
"AWS support could be more responsive."
"It's not cheap."
"The stability of the solution isn't ideal and should be improved."
"It would be helpful if Snowball provided more kinds of connectivity. That will make it easier to add and move data."
"Cost of this solution is quite high."
"The startup pricing is high, causing concern despite being cost-effective in terms of total cost of ownership."
"The frontend capabilities of Palantir Foundry could be improved."
"The data lineage was challenging. It's hard to track data from the sources as it moves through stages. Informatica EDC can easily capture and report it because it talks to the metadata. This is generated across those various staging points."
"The solution’s data security could be improved."
"The workflow could be improved."
"Difficult to receive data from external sources."
"There is not a wide user base for the solution's online documentation so it is sometimes difficult to find answers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's pricing depends on the type of Snowball device you choose, the amount of data you need to transfer, and the service fees involved. There’s a standard price for larger data transfers and a flat job fee, which includes the first ten days of on-site usage. Typically, there are no additional data transfer fees."
"It's not a cheap solution, but the price is right for the product."
"The solution’s pricing is high."
"Palantir Foundry has different pricing models that can be negotiated."
"It's expensive."
"Palantir Foundry is an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Microsoft Azure Data Box or AWS Snowball?
Microsoft Azure Databox is a 45-pound, super rugged, tamper-resistant, human-managed hardware appliance that can transfer up to 100TB of data capacity to copy, store, then send to the Azure cloud. ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Snowball?
Depending of what is your priority; UseAWS Snowball if you are heavily invested in AWS or need edge computing features Choose Azure Data Box for smooth integration with Azure and potentially lower ...
What needs improvement with AWS Snowball?
It's difficult to make a comparison and it depends on the customer. When analyzing costs, I must see how the customer uses AWS, Azure, or Google. Google is particularly interesting, for example, fo...
What needs improvement with Palantir Foundry?
Apart from the pricing and offline availability issues, improvements are needed in Palantir Foundry's costing factor. Cost-wise, it is not open for everybody, and they are not exposing anything out...
What is your primary use case for Palantir Foundry?
One of the leading European manufacturing plants uses Palantir Foundry for manufacturing interior parts of various car brands such as Honda, Hyundai, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. This involves hig...
What advice do you have for others considering Palantir Foundry?
Palantir Foundry is an excellent product for data engineering. On a scale of one to 10, I would rate Palantir Foundry a 9.
 

Also Known As

Amazon AWS Snowball, Amazon Snowball, Snowball
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Wazee Digital, Craftsy, Live Nation, Essess
Merck KGaA, Airbus, Ferrari,United States Intelligence Community, United States Department of Defense
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Snowball vs. Palantir Foundry and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.