Wow I didn't know that snowflake charges on query level. Very good business idea to first create dependency and rip them off once their business grows.
It doesn't. You get charged "credits" for virtual data warehouse operation plus storage. A credit corresponds (approximately) to running a VM of a certain size for an hour. You can turn VDWs on and off more or less at will.
Not taking a position on whether that's good for users or not. Just pointing out how it works.