Denodo vs Starburst: Which Data Platform is Right for You?

Data Integration Platform Comparison

Choosing the right data platform can make all the difference in your organization’s analytics success. Denodo and Starburst both offer unique advantages for enterprise data integration.

This guide will help you decide which platform is the best fit for your specific situation.

What Makes These Platforms Unique?

Denodo – Virtualization Environment Excellence

Denodo gives you complete control over your data landscape through virtualization. This makes it the perfect choice for organizations who like knowing exactly what they’re working with.

Key benefits of Denodo:

• Real-time data access

• Minimal data movement

• Enhanced security and compliance

• Comprehensive data governance

The Denodo platform excels in creating a semantic layer that provides unified access to various data sources without physically migrating data. As a leading data virtualization platform, Denodo allows businesses to manage data more effectively while maintaining data integrity and data privacy. It provides a unified data access layer, simplifying data integration processes and offering real-time views of enterprise data.

Starburst – Distributed Query Power

Using Starburst in its natural distributed environment can be very rewarding. Starburst performs powerfully across data sources, giving you robust, high-performance analytics that blend seamlessly with your existing infrastructure.

Key benefits of Starburst:

• High-performance querying

• Optimized for big data analytics

• Scalable infrastructure

• Open-source foundation (Trino)

Built on open source Trino, Starburst has become a go-to solution for organizations dealing with massive amounts of data across multiple sources. Its architecture is specifically designed to handle big data with impressive speed and low latency, making it ideal for companies focused on extracting insights from data lakes and other large repositories. Starburst primarily offers a SQL-based engine that facilitates high-performance data queries across distributed data infrastructure.

Denodo vs. Starburst: What’s the Difference?

Deployment Flexibility

• Denodo: Complete control over on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments

• Starburst: Natural scaling across distributed systems and data lakes

Denodo offers more traditional deployment options, supporting organizations that need to integrate on premises systems with cloud resources. This flexibility makes it attractive to businesses with legacy infrastructure or specific compliance requirements.

Starburst, meanwhile, thrives in multi cloud environments where data is distributed across various platforms. Its architecture allows for seamless scaling to match analytical demands across the enterprise.

Data Integration

• Denodo: Focuses on virtualization with minimal data movement

• Starburst: Excels at distributed queries across multiple sources

The Denodo platform creates a unified view of enterprise data through data virtualization tools, allowing users to access, transform, and deliver data without complex ETL processes. This approach is particularly valuable for master data management and situations where data movement is restricted. Denodo is also known for its capabilities in data governance, security, and real-time performance.

Starburst takes a different approach, focusing on bringing powerful query capabilities to where data resides. This technology company has optimized its platform to handle complex queries across structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data stored in various systems. Starburst excels in running SQL queries across various data sources such as databases, data lakes, and cloud storage systems.

Performance Characteristics

• Denodo: Optimized for real-time access and operational use cases

• Starburst: Built for high-performance analytics and big data workloads

When it comes to operational efficiency, Denodo delivers consistent performance for business intelligence and routine reporting needs. Its caching capabilities help optimize frequent queries while maintaining data quality.

Starburst’s distributed architecture shines when analyzing massive datasets. The platform enables data scientists and analysts to run complex queries with impressive speed, making it ideal for machine learning pipelines and intensive analytical workloads.

What Experienced Users Say

Denodo Enthusiasts Love:

✅ Comprehensive data governance

✅ Protection from data silos

✅ Virtualization potential

Organizations in highly regulated industries particularly appreciate Denodo’s robust security features and data masking capabilities. A financial services company using Denodo reported: “The ability to maintain data lineage and govern access across our enterprise data landscape has transformed our compliance operations.”

Starburst Advocates Love:

✅ Natural query performance

✅ Lower data engineering needs

✅ Dramatic analytical impact

Businesses with data-intensive operations find Starburst’s performance advantages compelling. A technology company using Starburst for their analytical needs noted: “The platform’s ability to scale resources dynamically based on query complexity has dramatically improved our analytical capabilities while optimizing costs.” Starburst has strong community support due to its open-source origins (Presto), along with paid support options.

Implementation Requirements Overview

• Denodo: Regular attention to data modeling, security configurations, and access patterns

• Starburst: Cluster optimization with natural distributed computing support

Both require proper data source connections and well-designed queries.

Implementing Denodo successfully involves careful planning around virtual view design and integration with existing security systems. Organizations need to invest time in creating an effective semantic layer that translates technical data structures into business meaning.

Starburst implementation focuses more on infrastructure optimization, ensuring that cluster resources are appropriately sized and managed. This requires expertise in distributed systems and an understanding of workload patterns to balance performance and cost.

Which Data Platform is Right for You?

Choose Denodo if you want:

✔ Total control over data access and governance

✔ Consistent performance for operational use cases

✔ Minimal data movement across sources

Denodo is the ideal solution for organizations with strict governance requirements or those managing sensitive data across various systems. Its data virtualization capabilities create a unified view without the risks associated with data movement, making it perfect for companies focused on compliance and operational reliability.

Choose Starburst if you want:

✔ High-performance analytical queries

✔ Scalable big data processing

✔ Large, distributed data lake support

Starburst delivers exceptional value for organizations with data-intensive analytical needs. If your company is investing in cloud data strategies, managing large data lakes, or requires fast insights from massive datasets, Starburst’s architecture provides the performance and scalability you need.

Both platforms can deliver powerful data integration. If you want total control and unified governance, choose Denodo. If you want analytical performance and data lake optimization, Starburst is the better choice.

Note: Make sure to consider your existing infrastructure and data management expertise when choosing your platform!

Making the Final Decision

Selecting between Denodo and Starburst ultimately depends on your organization’s specific requirements and long-term data strategy. Here are some final considerations to help guide your decision:

Business Priorities

• Focus on governance: Denodo’s comprehensive governance features make it ideal for highly regulated industries

• Focus on analytics: Starburst’s query performance advantages support data-intensive analytical operations

Technical Environment

• Legacy systems integration: Denodo’s flexibility works well with existing enterprise applications

• Cloud-native architecture: Starburst integrates seamlessly with modern cloud data lakes

Implementation Resources

• Data modeling expertise: Denodo requires strong data modeling skills to create effective virtual views

• Distributed systems knowledge: Starburst benefits from team members familiar with cluster management

Many organizations find that their needs evolve over time. Some businesses start with Denodo to establish governance controls, then add Starburst for specific analytical use cases. Others begin with Starburst for high-performance analytics, then integrate Denodo to improve data access for operational systems.

Factory Thread – Operational Virtualization for Real-Time Manufacturing Data

If your enterprise operates in the industrial or manufacturing space and requires both unified data access and edge-ready execution, Factory Thread offers a third path—purpose-built for real-time operational intelligence. Unlike Denodo and Starburst, Factory Thread focuses specifically on unifying manufacturing data from MES, ERP, SQL, APIs, and flat files without data replication.

Key benefits of Factory Thread:

• Real-Time Virtualization Across OT and IT Systems: Connect and access live data from legacy and modern systems alike.

• Low-Code and AI-Driven Flows: Create and automate integrations via drag-and-drop UI or AI prompts.

• On-Prem + Edge Runtime Support: Deploy flows at the edge or on cloud with zero downtime—ideal for plant operations.

• No-Code Catalog for Self-Service Access: Non-technical users can query, monitor, and act on operational data via intuitive interfaces.

• Secure, Scalable, and Compliant: Enterprise-grade encryption, audit trails, and role-based access built in.

Factory Thread excels in environments where data cannot leave source systems due to performance or compliance constraints. Its unique ability to publish real-time OData and REST endpoints from federated flows means dashboards and analytics tools always pull from fresh, synchronized data—without complex pipelines.

Choose Factory Thread if you want:

✔ Real-time manufacturing data federation
✔ No-code/low-code automation for engineers
✔ AI-assisted integration design
✔ Unified operational and business visibility
✔ Secure and compliant plant-to-cloud orchestration

Where Denodo emphasizes governance and Starburst focuses on query performance, Factory Thread bridges them both with a pragmatic approach designed for manufacturing operations. It brings agility, visibility, and control to operational data—right where decisions are made.

By carefully evaluating your organization’s needs against each platform’s capabilities, you can select the solution that will best support your data integration success today and scale with your requirements in the future.