# Data virtualization for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "data virtualization platform" and as "data fabric for federated queries", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/it-data/data-virtualization/2026-11/smb

**Standing:** Starburst Galaxy leads with 25% of first choices; verdict contested. 55 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Starburst Galaxy](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/starburst-galaxy/index.md) | 25% | 2% | 41 |
| 2 | [Trino](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/trino/index.md) | 18% | 15% | 34 |
| 3 | [Dremio](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/dremio/index.md) | 16% | 11% | 44 |
| 4 | [CData Connect Cloud](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cdata-connect-cloud/index.md) | 9% | 0% | 26 |
| 5 | Popdock | 7% | 6% | 16 |
| 6 | [Starburst](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/starburst/index.md) | 4% | 5% | 20 |
| 7 | [CData Virtuality](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cdata-virtuality/index.md) | 4% | 0% | 10 |
| 11 | [AWS Glue](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/aws-glue/index.md) | 2% | 14% | 14 |
| 27 | [Teiid](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/teiid/index.md) | 0% | 30% | 10 |
| 89 | [SAP HANA](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sap-hana/index.md) | 0% | 45% | 11 |
| 94 | [IBM Data Virtualization](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/ibm-data-virtualization/index.md) | 0% | 80% | 10 |
| 95 | [Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/informatica-intelligent-data-management-cloud/index.md) | 0% | 80% | 20 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 97 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: CData Virtuality, Dremio; alternatives CData Connect Cloud
- GPT-5.4 mini: Dremio; alternatives Denodo, Starburst
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: CData Connect Cloud, Dremio Cloud; alternatives Cube, Denodo Express, Hasura, Starburst Galaxy
- Perplexity Sonar: CData Virtuality; alternatives CData Connect Cloud, Starburst Galaxy
- Grok 4.20: Dremio; alternatives Denodo, Popdock, Starburst Galaxy, Trino
- Mistral Small: CData Connect Cloud, Starburst Galaxy; alternatives Denodo
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Starburst Galaxy; alternatives CData Connect Cloud, Popdock
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Dremio; alternatives Looker Studio, Matillion, Starburst
- Kimi K2: Starburst Galaxy; alternatives CData Connect Cloud
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Popdock, Starburst Galaxy; alternatives Dremio
- MiniMax M2.5: Popdock; alternatives AWS Glue, Dremio
- GPT-6 Luna: Starburst Galaxy; alternatives Denodo, Dremio Cloud
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Starburst Galaxy; alternatives Accelario, CData Connect Cloud, Popdock

## Sources the answers cite

76 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- g2.com: 50 answers, 87 citations
- scmgalaxy.com: 37 answers, 37 citations
- gane.ai/index: 33 answers, 40 citations
- thectoclub.com: 29 answers, 29 citations
- sourceforge.net: 27 answers, 39 citations
- starburst.io: 22 answers, 46 citations
- airbyte.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- slashdot.org: 19 answers, 20 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://scmgalaxy.com/tutorials/top-10-data-virtualization-platforms-features-pros-cons-comparison (37 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/data-virtualization/small-business (36 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/it-data/data-virtualization/smb (32 answers)
- https://thectoclub.com/tools/best-data-virtualization-software (28 answers)
- https://airbyte.com/top-etl-tools-for-sources/data-virtualization-tools (21 answers)
- https://etlclub.net/best-data-virtualization-platforms (18 answers)
- https://sourceforge.net/software/data-virtualization (17 answers)
- https://slashdot.org/software/data-virtualization/f-small-business (13 answers)
- https://sourceforge.net/software/data-virtualization/for-small-business (13 answers)
- https://starburst.io/pricing (12 answers)

## Warned against

- Denodo: 49 of 67 labels negative. "notably high negative sentiment among small business buyers... criticized for being complex, expensive, and more suited to large enterprises" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- TIBCO Data Virtualization: 26 of 30 labels negative. "Enterprise-heavy options like Informatica, TIBCO, or IBM are generally too complex/expensive for small teams and were excluded." (Grok 4.20, comparative prompt)
- Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud: 16 of 20 labels negative. "Enterprise-heavy options like Informatica, TIBCO, or IBM are generally too complex/expensive for small teams and were excluded." (Grok 4.20, comparative prompt)
- IBM Data Virtualization: 8 of 10 labels negative. "Avoid ... IBM Data Virtualization if your priority is low cost, quick deployment, and simplicity." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Starburst Galaxy at 25%.

- Dremio: 4% to 16%, +12. Cleared the floor by 1 point · rank 7 → 3 of 97.
- Denodo: 11% to 0%, −11. Cleared the floor by 0 points · rank 4 → 97 of 97.
- Starburst Galaxy: 17% to 25%, +8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 1 of 97, unchanged.
- Teiid: 8% to 0%, −8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 6 → 27 of 97.
- Trino: 11% to 18%, +7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 3 → 2 of 97.
- Popdock: 0% to 7%, +7. New · not ranked in October 2026 · rank 5 of 97.
- CData Connect Cloud: 13% to 9%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 2 → 4 of 97.
- CData Virtuality: 8% to 4%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 5 → 7 of 97.
- Starburst: 4% to 4%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 → 6 of 97.
- AWS Glue: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 → 11 of 97.
- SAP HANA: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 86 → 89 of 97.
- IBM Data Virtualization: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 74 → 94 of 97.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.