walkerOS vs. Snowplow
Snowplow is a behavioral data platform founded in 2012, offering both open-source and enterprise solutions for event data collection. Here's how it compares to walkerOS.
Quick comparison
| Feature | Snowplow | walkerOS |
|---|---|---|
| Open-source | Partially (SLULA license) | Yes (MIT) |
| Pricing | From $800/month (BDP Cloud) | Free (paid support available) |
| Self-hosted option | Yes | Yes |
| Complexity | High (enterprise-grade) | Low to medium |
| Setup time | Days to weeks | Hours |
| Target audience | Data teams at scale | Developers and small teams |
| Composable tagging | No | Yes (tag once, use everywhere) |
| Data warehouse focus | Primary destination | One of many destinations |
| Real-time streaming | Yes (enterprise) | Yes |
| Trackers | 35+ SDKs | Web, server, flexible sources |
Who should use what?
Choose Snowplow if
- You have a dedicated data engineering team
- You need enterprise-grade data infrastructure at scale
- Your primary goal is feeding data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks)
- You want 35+ pre-built trackers across platforms
- Budget allows for $800+/month or self-hosting resources
Choose walkerOS if
- You want something lightweight and quick to set up
- You're a developer or small team without dedicated data engineers
- You need flexibility beyond just data warehouse destinations
- You prefer truly open-source (MIT license) over restricted licenses
- You want to start free and scale as needed
Key differences
Complexity and setup
Snowplow: Enterprise-grade infrastructure designed for large-scale data operations. Requires significant setup time and often dedicated data engineering resources. The open-source version needs self-hosting expertise; the managed BDP starts at $800/month.
walkerOS: Lightweight and developer-friendly. Get started in hours, not weeks. Designed for teams that want tracking infrastructure without the complexity of enterprise data platforms.
Licensing
Snowplow: The open-source version uses the Snowplow Limited Use License Agreement (SLULA), which restricts commercial use. Full commercial use requires their enterprise offering.
walkerOS: MIT licensed. Use it however you want: commercially, modify it, fork it. No restrictions.
Cost
Snowplow: BDP Cloud starts at $800/month. Self-hosted open-source is "free" but requires significant infrastructure and engineering investment. Enterprise tiers (Basecamp, Ascent, Summit) scale up with custom pricing.
walkerOS: The software is free and open-source. You pay for your own infrastructure costs. Optional paid services include implementation support (setup fees) and SLAs for teams that want help getting started or need guaranteed support.
Focus and philosophy
Snowplow: Built as comprehensive customer data infrastructure (CDI) for feeding data warehouses and powering analytics at scale. Designed for data teams building sophisticated data products.
walkerOS: Built as flexible event collection and routing. Send data anywhere: analytics tools, data warehouses, marketing platforms, or your own APIs. Designed for developers who want control without complexity.
When they overlap
Both solutions can:
- Collect behavioral event data
- Self-host on your infrastructure
- Send data to warehouses and other destinations
- Handle consent management
The difference is scale and complexity. Snowplow is a full data platform; walkerOS is focused event infrastructure.
Can they work together?
Yes! You can use walkerOS for event collection and send data to Snowplow as a destination. This gives you walkerOS's composable tagging and consent handling on the frontend, with Snowplow's data infrastructure on the backend.
Getting started
Ready to try walkerOS? Check out the quickstart guide to set up lightweight event collection without enterprise complexity.