The Problem
Why teams leave Snowflake
Credit-based pricing is extremely hard to predict
Compute costs can spike from single queries
Storage and compute are billed separately
Auto-scaling can lead to runaway costs
No cost caps or circuit breakers by default
Data sharing/marketplace features drive additional spend
What We Build Instead
Your custom devops & engineering tool
Data warehouse with predictable infrastructure costs
Query optimization and resource management
Cost monitoring and alerting dashboards
Data pipeline orchestration and scheduling
Role-based access and data governance
Pay for compute instances, not credits
The Math
Snowflake vs. custom build
Based on 15 seats at $300/seat/month, with ~10% annual SaaS price increases.
Keep paying Snowflake
Build with 86 SaaS
3-year savings with 15 seats
$94,825
53% less than Snowflake
Pricing Breakdown
Snowflake tier pricing vs. one-time custom build
Compare what you pay per seat across Snowflake's tiers against a single investment in software you own forever.
| Tier | Monthly/Seat | Annual/Seat | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $200/mo | $170/mo | Standard warehouses, Basic security, Community support, 90-day time travel |
| Enterprise | $350/mo | $295/mo | Multi-cluster warehouses, Failover, Customer-managed keys, Annual support |
| Business Critical | $500/mo | $420/mo | HIPAA/PCI compliance, Private Link, Tri-Secret Secure, 24/7 premium support |
| Custom Build by 86 SaaS | $40,000–$75,000 one-time | $0/seat | Unlimited users, full ownership, no recurring fees |
Migration Timeline
From Snowflake to ownership — week by week
A structured migration plan to move off Snowflake in 10-16 weeks with zero downtime.
Discovery & Audit
2 weeksAudit data sources, query patterns, compute usage, and storage requirements
Architecture & Design
2-3 weeksDesign data warehouse schema, compute clusters, and access control policies
Core Development
4-8 weeksBuild data warehouse with ingestion pipelines, query engine, and analytics layer
Data Migration & Testing
2-3 weeksMigrate tables, views, stored procedures, and validate query performance
Deployment & Training
1-2 weeksDeploy warehouse and train data teams on query optimization
Total build time
10-16 weeks
Feature Comparison
What you keep, what you skip, and why
A transparent comparison of Snowflake features vs. your custom-built alternative.
| Feature | Snowflake | Custom Build | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columnar Storage | |||
| Auto-scaling Compute | Kubernetes-based auto-scaling on your infrastructure | ||
| Time Travel | |||
| Data Sharing | Share via APIs and direct database access | ||
| Semi-structured Data | |||
| Concurrency Handling | |||
| Query Optimization | |||
| Cross-cloud Replication | Single cloud deployment — simpler and cheaper | ||
| Marketplace | Not needed — query your own data directly | ||
| Predictable Costs | Fixed infrastructure costs — no credit surprises |
Your custom build focuses on the features your team actually uses — typically 15-20% of what Snowflake offers — built exactly for your workflow.
How It Works
From Snowflake to ownership in 10-16 weeks
Free Audit
We analyze your Snowflake usage and identify exactly which features your team actually uses.
Scope & Build
We build your custom devops & engineering tool with only the features you need. 10-16 weeks.
Deploy & Migrate
We deploy to your infrastructure, migrate your data from Snowflake, and train your team.
You Own It
Full source code, documentation, and optional maintenance retainer. No vendor lock-in. Ever.
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