# Use partitioning and bucketing Partitioning and bucketing are two ways to reduce the amount of data Athena must scan when you run a query. Partitioning and bucketing are complementary and can be used together. Reducing the amount of data scanned leads to improved performance and lower cost. For general guidelines about Athena query performance, see [Top 10 performance tuning tips for Amazon Athena](https://amazonaws-china.com/blogs/big-data/top-10-performance-tuning-tips-for-amazon-athena/). **Topics** + [What is partitioning?](ctas-partitioning-and-bucketing-what-is-partitioning.md) + [What is bucketing?](ctas-partitioning-and-bucketing-what-is-bucketing.md) + [Additional resources](ctas-partitioning-and-bucketing-additional-resources.md)