Google Cloud has announced an important update to BigQuery’s cost management for on-demand queries, effective September 1, 2025. This change is designed to help customers avoid unexpected cost overruns and gain better control over their BigQuery workloads.
If you rely on BigQuery’s on-demand pricing model, this update directly impacts you. Let’s break down what’s changing, who is affected, and what steps you should take to prepare.
What’s Changing in BigQuery
- Quota Changes
- The QueryUsagePerDay and QueryUsagePerUserPerDay quotas will now apply only to on-demand usage.
- These quotas will no longer apply to flat-rate billing customers.
- New Project Defaults
- For projects created after September 1, 2025, the default QueryUsagePerDay quota will be set to 200 TiB.
- Existing Projects Set to “Unlimited”
- Projects that currently have “unlimited” quotas will automatically be assigned a custom limit.
- This limit will be based on your peak usage over the past 30 days, with some extra headroom for growth.
- Google may still adjust these values if usage patterns shift.
- Audit Log Visibility
- You’ll be able to monitor these changes in Logs Explorer.
- Required role:
roles/logging.viewer.
What’s Not Changing
- If your existing projects already have custom quota limits set (not “unlimited”), no changes will be applied.
- You still retain full control: quotas can be adjusted any time via:
- Google Cloud Console
- Cloud Quotas API
- gcloud CLI (beta)
Who is Affected?
✅ Affected:
- Customers using on-demand query pricing.
- Projects currently set to “unlimited” query usage.
- Teams that run large, expensive, or unpredictable queries without limits.
❌ Not Affected:
- Customers on flat-rate or capacity-based billing models.
- Projects that already have custom limits configured.
Actions You Need to Take Before September 1, 2025
- Review Usage
- Check your daily on-demand query history in BigQuery Console to understand your typical workload.
- Set Limits
- Define appropriate QueryUsagePerDay and QueryUsagePerUserPerDay values that fit your workload.
- This ensures you don’t hit quota errors when running big queries.
- Plan for Errors
- Be aware that after September 1, hitting these limits could result in “quota exceeded” errors.
- Create Alerts
- Use Cloud Monitoring to set alerts when you approach your quota thresholds.
- This gives you time to optimize queries or adjust limits before issues occur.
- Explore Alternatives
- If your workloads consistently exceed limits, consider flat-rate pricing for more predictable costs.
Pros and Cons of the Change
Pros
- Prevents runaway query costs.
- Encourages better cost management practices.
- Provides visibility and control via Logs Explorer.
Cons
- May disrupt workloads if limits are not reviewed or adjusted.
- Adds extra planning for projects running large, ad-hoc queries.
- Teams may encounter unexpected “quota exceeded” errors if unprepared.
Conclusion
This update is part of Google Cloud’s effort to make BigQuery cost management more predictable. While it adds a layer of planning, it ultimately helps teams avoid unplanned spikes in spending.
👉 If you’re an on-demand BigQuery user, take time before September 1, 2025 to:
- Review your usage,
- Set appropriate limits,
- Create monitoring alerts.
At ITBIT Blog, we’ll continue covering updates like these so you can manage your cloud costs effectively while taking full advantage of Google Cloud Platform.
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