Why Trino on Qubole Outruns Presto — And Why That Matters for Your Analytics
If you’re still running Presto 317 for your analytics workloads, you might be leaving serious performance — and money — on the table. We put Trino 447 head-to-head against Presto 317 on Qubole, using identical hardware and real-world TPC-DS benchmarks. The results were crystal clear: Trino on Qubole is faster, more efficient, and more capable across the board.
Test Environment
Both Trino and Presto clusters were identically configured:
- Master Node: m5.xlarge (4 CPU, 16 GiB memory)
- Worker Nodes: m5.xlarge (4 CPU, 16 GiB memory)
The Benchmarks & Results
| Test | Scenario | Trino Time | Presto Time | Gain |
| Q1 | Simple Aggregation | 2.73 min | 3.79 min | ~28% faster |
| Q2 | Complex Join + Aggregation | 3.20 min | 5.04 min | ~36% faster |
| Q3 | Window Functions | 3.18 min | 4.40 min | ~28% faster |
| Q4 | Complex Analytics (TPC-DS Q67 variant) | 3.34 min | Failed | Complete success |
| Q5 | Large Hash Join (Memory-intensive) | 3.35 min | 4.94 min | ~32% faster |
Key Takeaways
- Consistently Faster Execution – Trino beat Presto in every single completed test, often delivering 25–36% speed improvements.
- Handles Complexity Without Crashing – In our most demanding complex analytics query (Q4), Trino succeeded where Presto failed with “Insufficient resources.”
- Better Memory Management – Trino showed clear advantages on large joins and memory-heavy operations, keeping queries stable and performant.
- Immediate Impact on Productivity – Faster query execution means your analysts spend less time waiting and more time delivering insights.
Why Run Trino on Qubole?
- Seamless Migration – Upgrade from Presto to Trino without rethinking your entire data infrastructure.
- Optimized for Cloud Costs – Shorter runtimes reduce compute hours, directly cutting costs.
- Enterprise Reliability – Qubole’s managed platform ensures scaling, resource allocation, and stability, so you can focus on results, not firefighting.
The Bottom Line
Trino on Qubole isn’t just an upgrade — it’s a performance leap. Whether you’re running straightforward aggregations or complex, resource-hungry analytics, Trino delivers faster, more reliable, and more cost-effective queries.
If you want analytics that keep pace with your business, it’s time to move from Presto to Trino on Qubole.
