Editions overview
This page describes Bigtable editions and its key features.
Bigtable offers the following editions to support your business and application needs:
Enterprise edition: the standard Bigtable service for low-latency workloads that supports machine learning, time series, operational analytics, and user applications at scale. All instances created before the launch of editions are classified as the Enterprise edition automatically, with no changes to existing features or billing. This edition:
- Supports typical production analytics, machine learning, and time-series applications.
- Includes core features such as autoscaling, standard tiered storage (up to 32 TB per node), and automated backups.
- Offers up to 99.999% availability, depending on the replication and routing configuration, as defined in the Bigtable SLA.
Enterprise Plus edition: includes all Enterprise features as well as advanced capabilities. We recommend Enterprise Plus for multi-tenant workloads that require exceptional performance, scale, and global availability. This edition also offers advanced resource management and analytic query capabilities. We recommend Enterprise Plus for workloads that need:
- Sub-millisecond read latency provided by an integrated in-memory tier.
- Higher storage density per node, supporting enhanced tiered storage up to 64 TB.
- Advanced analytic query capabilities that include SQL support for Data Boost and Data Boost access to tiered storage data.
- High-performance hotspot mitigation and the ability to handle sudden spikes in read traffic without manual intervention, using a fully managed in-memory tier that automatically scales vertically alongside existing Bigtable autoscaling.
Editions features
The following table compares the features available for each edition.
| Enterprise | Enterprise Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance |
High performance, low-latency, and high throughput. An SSD node provides up to 17,000 reads and 14,000 writes per second, with less than 5 ms of latency. |
An SSD node provides up to 17,000 reads and 14,000 writes per second, with less than 5 ms of latency. In-memory tier (Preview) provides nodes that support up to 120,000 reads per second with sub-millisecond read latency. |
| Availability and disaster recovery |
This service is included, as defined in the Bigtable SLA. |
This service is included, as defined in the Bigtable SLA. |
| Resource management |
Tiered storage (up to 32 TB per node) (Preview) |
Tiered storage (up to 64 TB per node) (Preview) |
| Analytics and query capabilities |
Advanced Data Boost capabilities: query with SQL, and read data from HDD and tiered storage |
|
| Data protection | ||
| Committed use discounts (CUDs) | 20% for 1 year, 40% for 3 years | 20% for 1 year, 40% for 3 years |
Choose an edition
When you create or update an instance, you select an edition at the instance level. Selecting the edition for the instance impacts your cost and feature availability. While you can change the edition later to suit evolving workloads, understanding the specific capabilities of each edition ensures optimal resource allocation from the start.
Change the edition of your instance
You can change the edition of your instance at any time. Changes take effect immediately.
You can make the following changes to your instance:
- Upgrade: upgrade from Enterprise to Enterprise Plus.
- Downgrade: after you deactivate all Enterprise Plus features, downgrade from Enterprise Plus to Enterprise.
After you create an Enterprise Plus instance or upgrade an existing instance to Enterprise Plus, you can't downgrade it to the Enterprise edition for 48 hours.
Pricing
The edition that you choose for your instance affects your costs for nodes and storage. For more information about pricing for Bigtable editions, see Bigtable pricing.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a free trial for Enterprise Plus?
- No, Enterprise Plus instances aren't supported in the free trial version of Bigtable.
- How do you know whether your instance is Enterprise or Enterprise Plus?
- By default, all Bigtable instances that are created before April 2026 are the Enterprise edition. To view the edition for instances that are created on or after April 2026, you can check the instance details.
- Is there a new billing model with Enterprise Plus?
- No. The model that includes billing for node hours, storage, and networking remains the same, but Enterprise Plus has its own Bigtable node SKU. For more information, see Bigtable pricing.
Limitations
The following limitations apply to editions:
- After you create an Enterprise Plus instance or upgrade an existing instance to Enterprise Plus, you can't downgrade it to the Enterprise edition for 48 hours.
- Enterprise Plus instances and Enterprise Plus features aren't available in the free trial version of Bigtable.
What's next
- Learn how to create an instance