Domain 5.3 — Snowflake Marketplace and Native Apps
Explore the Snowflake Marketplace ecosystem — public and private data listings, how to publish and consume data products, and the Native App Framework.
Domain 5.3 — Snowflake Marketplace and Native Apps
Exam Domain 5.3 — Snowflake Marketplace and Data Exchange contributes to the Data Collaboration domain, which is 10% of the COF-C03 exam.
The Data Collaboration Ecosystem
1. What Is the Snowflake Marketplace?
The Snowflake Marketplace is a global catalogue of live, ready-to-query data products accessible directly within Snowflake. Consumers can discover, trial, and attach datasets without any ETL — the data lives in the provider's account and is served via Secure Data Sharing.
Key Characteristics
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Data movement | Zero — no copy, no pipeline |
| Freshness | Live — always the provider's latest data |
| Onboarding | Seconds — "Get" → database mounted instantly |
| Trial data | Providers can offer free sample datasets |
| Paid listings | Billed through Snowflake; provider sets price |
2. Listing Types
Public Listings
Open to any Snowflake customer. Consumers search the Marketplace, click Get, and receive an imported database — no approval step required for free listings.
Private Listings
Targeted at specific consumer accounts. The provider sends an invitation; the consumer claims the listing. Ideal for:
- B2B data partnerships
- Distributing proprietary data to a controlled audience
- Beta programmes
-- Provider: create a private listing (done via Snowsight UI or SQL)
-- Check existing listings
SHOW LISTINGS;Freemium/Trial Data
Providers can attach a sample dataset to any listing. Consumers try the sample for free, then upgrade to the paid full dataset.
3. Publishing a Listing (Provider Workflow)
Requirements for providers:
- Must be on Business Critical edition for HIPAA-compliant data products.
- Provider and consumer must be on the same cloud/region for direct sharing, or replication must be configured for cross-region.
- Listing metadata: title, description, sample queries, documentation, data dictionary.
4. Consuming a Listing (Consumer Workflow)
-- After clicking "Get" in the Snowsight Marketplace UI,
-- a database is automatically created. You can also reference it immediately:
USE DATABASE my_marketplace_data;
SHOW TABLES;
-- Query — no warehouse cost for provider, consumer pays their own compute
SELECT * FROM my_marketplace_data.public.weather_observations
WHERE date >= CURRENT_DATE - 7;The consumer pays compute (virtual warehouse credits) to query marketplace data. The provider pays storage for the underlying data. There are no per-query royalty charges at the infrastructure level — licensing/pricing is handled at the listing level.
5. Data Exchange
A Data Exchange is a private, invitation-only marketplace that an organisation sets up for a defined group of providers and consumers — for example, a consortium of industry partners.
| Marketplace | Data Exchange | |
|---|---|---|
| Open to | All Snowflake customers | Invited members only |
| Run by | Snowflake | Customer organisation |
| Use case | Public data products | Industry consortium, internal org |
6. Native App Framework
The Snowflake Native App Framework enables providers to bundle application logic (stored procedures, UDFs, Streamlit UI) together with data into a single installable app — delivered via the Marketplace.
Architecture
Key Properties
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Runs in | Consumer's account — provider code executes there |
| Data access | App can access consumer's data (with permission) |
| Provider visibility | Provider cannot see consumer's data |
| Versioning | Provider pushes updates; consumer upgrades |
| UI | Can include a Streamlit front-end |
-- Provider: create an application package
CREATE APPLICATION PACKAGE my_app_pkg;
-- Add a version from a stage containing the app manifest
ALTER APPLICATION PACKAGE my_app_pkg
ADD VERSION v1_0 USING @my_app_stage;
-- Release the version
ALTER APPLICATION PACKAGE my_app_pkg
SET DEFAULT RELEASE DIRECTIVE VERSION = v1_0 PATCH = 0;
-- Consumer: install the app
CREATE APPLICATION my_installed_app
FROM APPLICATION PACKAGE provider_org.my_app_pkg
USING VERSION v1_0;Native App vs. Traditional Sharing
| Secure Data Share | Native App | |
|---|---|---|
| What is delivered | Data only | Data + code + UI |
| Runs in consumer account? | No — consumer queries provider storage | Yes |
| Consumer data access | None | App can request access |
| Streamlit UI | No | Yes |
| Versioning | Not applicable | Yes |
7. Monetisation and Billing
- Free listings: no charge to consumer.
- Paid listings: consumer billed through Snowflake; provider receives a revenue share.
- Usage-based: some listings charge per-query or per-row accessed.
- Providers set pricing; Snowflake handles billing and payment infrastructure.
Summary
Key Takeaways for the Exam
- Marketplace listings are zero-copy and live — same sharing mechanism as Secure Data Sharing.
- Public listings: open to all; Private listings: invite-only; Native App listings: code + data.
- Data Exchange: private marketplace run by an organisation for a controlled group.
- Native Apps: provider bundles code + data into an installable app that runs in the consumer's account.
- Consumer pays compute; provider pays storage.
- Cross-region/cross-cloud marketplace access requires replication.
Practice Questions
1. A consumer clicks "Get" on a free Marketplace listing. What happens to the data?
- A) A full copy is transferred to the consumer's account
- B) A nightly ETL pipeline is configured
- C) A read-only database is mounted — no data is copied ✅
- D) The consumer downloads a CSV export
2. Which listing type is visible only to specific Snowflake accounts that have been explicitly invited?
- A) Public listing
- B) Private listing ✅
- C) Freemium listing
- D) Native App listing
3. An organisation wants to create a private data hub for 20 industry partners — not open to all Snowflake customers. Which feature should they use?
- A) Snowflake Marketplace
- B) Data Exchange ✅
- C) Replication Group
- D) Private Share
4. A Native App is installed by a consumer. Where does the application code execute?
- A) In the provider's account
- B) In Snowflake's neutral hosting environment
- C) In the consumer's account ✅
- D) In an external compute environment
5. Which is a capability of the Native App Framework that standard Secure Data Sharing does NOT support?
- A) Zero data copy
- B) Live data access
- C) Streamlit-based UI included in the delivered product ✅
- D) Cross-account data access
6. Who pays the compute cost when a consumer queries data from a Marketplace listing?
- A) The provider
- B) Snowflake subsidises it
- C) The consumer ✅
- D) Split equally between provider and consumer
7. A provider wants to share a dataset with paying customers through the Snowflake Marketplace. Which billing model is available?
- A) Snowflake does not support paid listings
- B) Only annual flat-fee subscriptions
- C) Free, flat-fee, or usage-based pricing — billed through Snowflake ✅
- D) Providers must manage billing outside of Snowflake