Databricks Clean Rooms: how it works, pricing and alternatives

Databricks built its clean room for teams that need more than SQL. Collaborators can run notebooks in SQL, Python, R, Scala or Java, share private code libraries, and train machine learning models on the combined data (Databricks, Clean Rooms product page). That makes it a natural fit for joint fraud models, credit risk work and clinical research, not only advertising overlap.

The product went GA on AWS and Azure on 5 February 2025, with Mastercard, Intuit and AppsFlyer among the early names (Databricks, 5 February 2025). On 9 June 2025 Databricks added Google Cloud and rooms with up to 10 organisations. It also announced identity resolution inside rooms with Epsilon, Deloitte, LiveRamp and Acxiom (Databricks, 9 June 2025). A partner does not need Databricks for its data to take part. Databricks says collaborators can bring data from non-Databricks locations without copying it in (product page).

For media companies the main draw is reuse. A retail media network that already runs its data on Databricks can publish clean room templates through the Databricks Marketplace and onboard brands from there.

Creating a room creates three things: a securable object in your Unity Catalog, the same object in each collaborator's catalog, and a "central" clean room. The central room is an isolated, short-lived environment on Databricks-managed serverless compute, in a region the creator picks (Databricks docs). Each party shares assets into that central room only, never directly with the others.

Databricks calls this a "no-trust" model: every collaborator has equal rights, including the creator. Safeguards include notebook version control, so only the latest approved version runs. Serverless egress control can block calls to unapproved storage. A room is locked once created, and if any party deletes it, it stops working for everyone (Databricks docs). Two newer formats, packaged clean rooms and Genie Clean Rooms (Beta), use a provider and consumer model instead of equal rights.

What Databricks does not document is a built-in statistical privacy layer. We found no minimum group sizes or differential privacy setting in the clean room documentation we read. Output protection therefore depends on the approved code. Each party reviews the notebook and decides whether its output is safe.

Databricks has a Clean Rooms pricing page, but it shows no rates. It says only: "Pay as you go with a 14-day free trial or contact us for committed-use discounts or custom requirements" (Databricks pricing, accessed 9 November 2026). The documentation's billing section links to that page and adds nothing (Databricks docs). Rooms run on serverless compute, but the unit, the rate and the paying party are n/d.

Strengths

• Full programming languages. Notebooks in five languages and private libraries go beyond SQL templates.
• Multi-cloud and multi-party. Up to 10 organisations can join one room across AWS, Azure and Google Cloud (Databricks, 9 June 2025).
• Strong audit trail. Every action lands in system tables and account audit logs.
• Neutral identity choice. Epsilon, LiveRamp, Acxiom and Deloitte can all resolve identity inside the room.

Limits

• No built-in output thresholds documented. Privacy rests on reviewing code, which takes skill and time from every party.
• Unpublished rates. Buyers cannot model cost from public figures, unlike AWS Clean Rooms.
• Fixed membership. Rooms are locked after creation, so adding a partner means a new room.
• Workspace prerequisites. Each Databricks collaborator needs Unity Catalog, serverless compute and OpenSharing enabled (Databricks docs).

• Clean Rooms rates, billing units and which collaborator pays for the central room's compute.
• Whether any built-in aggregation threshold or differential privacy option exists outside the documents read.
• The general availability date for packaged clean rooms; Genie Clean Rooms is marked Beta.
• Support for the IAB Tech Lab PAIR or ADMaP protocols.

1. Databricks, "Databricks Clean Rooms: now generally available on AWS and Azure" (5 February 2025). https://www.databricks.com/blog/databricks-clean-rooms-now-generally-available-aws-and-azure
2. Databricks, "What's new with Databricks Clean Rooms" (9 June 2025). https://www.databricks.com/blog/whats-new-databricks-clean-rooms
3. Databricks documentation, "What is Databricks Clean Rooms?" (Databricks on AWS; accessed 9 November 2026). https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/clean-rooms/
4. Databricks, "Databricks Clean Rooms" pricing page (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.databricks.com/product/pricing/clean-rooms
5. Databricks, "Clean Rooms" product page (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.databricks.com/product/clean-room
6. Databricks, "About us" (accessed 9 November 2026). https://www.databricks.com/company/about-us