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AWS Lake Formation vs Azure Data Factory comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Lake Formation
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Azure Data Factory
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of AWS Lake Formation is 4.1%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Data Factory is 5.3%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure Data Factory5.3%
AWS Lake Formation4.1%
Other90.6%
Cloud Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

Ciro Baldim Guerra - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Analytics Engineer at Itau Unibanco S.A.
Has improved data governance by enabling clear ownership and structured access across teams
In my company, Itaú, we don't utilize all AWS offerings due to rigorous security measures. We operate approximately six to eight months behind other available services. I'm uncertain if gaps exist because of this limitation, though the system functions effectively for us. AWS Lake Formation offers column-level access control for databases, but we haven't implemented this feature either because it hasn't been approved by our compliance, governance, or security areas. In our current setup, everyone from my business unit uses the same consumer account. When access is requested for a table, everyone using that business unit account receives access. This could present a security concern, though it benefits new team members who automatically receive all necessary access permissions. However, I struggle to identify specific improvements needed in AWS Lake Formation.
KandaswamyMuthukrishnan - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Integrates diverse data sources and streamlines ETL processes effectively
Regarding potential areas of improvement for Azure Data Factory, there is a need for better data transformation, especially since many people are now depending on DataBricks more for connectivity and data integration. Azure Data Factory should consider how to enhance integration or filtering for more transformations, such as integrating with Spark clusters. I am satisfied with Azure Data Factory so far, but I suggest integrating some AI functionality to analyze data during the transition itself, providing insights such as null records, common records, and duplicates without running a separate pipeline or job. The monitoring tools in Azure Data Factory are helpful for optimizing data pipelines; while the current feature is adequate, they can improve by creating a live dashboard to see the online process, including how much percentage has been completed, which will be very helpful for people who are monitoring the pipeline.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"In the shortest form, what I appreciated about AWS Lake Formation was that the schema definition and data cataloging were quite good."
"The most important advantage of using AWS Lake Formation is its ability to connect the data lake to the other technologies in AWS."
"AWS Lake Formation significantly improves the structure of the data mesh, making it superior to previous structures we used."
"The LF-Tag system with granular permissions was key to the project as a functionality of AWS Lake Formation."
"We use this to reduce latency from minutes to seconds, as we aim for real-time visibility into patient healthcare monitoring."
"The most valuable features of AWS Lake Formation were the access model itself, as it allows implementation of filters, Blueprints, and row-level and column-level security to mask data that shouldn't be accessed by certain entities, enabling granular control without exposing PII data."
"We have observed measurable benefits in terms of cost savings, time savings, resource savings, and efficiency improvements in our workflows."
"A favorite feature of AWS Lake Formation is that it provides us with visibility into who has access to a particular table or database in Glue."
"The data flows were beneficial, allowing us to perform multiple transformations."
"The most valuable features are data transformations."
"Instead of individual people reviewing these files, we were able to automate the ingestion process, which saved a bunch of time and hours of repeated manual work."
"I can do everything I want with SSIS and Azure Data Factory."
"The solution includes a feature that increases the number of processors used which makes it very powerful and adds to the scalability."
"Azure Data Factory became more user-friendly when data-flows were introduced."
"The data factory agent is quite good and programming or defining the value of jobs, processes, and activities is easy."
"The data pipeline and the orchestration functionality are the most valuable aspects of the solution, and the interface is very good, as it seeks to be very responsive and intuitive."
 

Cons

"I think AWS Lake Formation could improve by enforcing the least privilege by design, moving from ad hoc grants to role-based access controls."
"I would appreciate online support, which I don't have access to in my corporation at the bank, so that is important."
"For the end-users, it's not as user-friendly as it could be."
"Rather than creating an additional hundred tools, optimizing a tool to have a centralized location to do governance would be beneficial."
"AWS Lake Formation's pricing could be cheaper."
"You need to have data experience to use the product."
"I haven't seen any measurable benefits from using AWS Lake Formation, such as time saving, resource saving, or efficiency improvements."
"Information about the pricing, cost, and setup cost of the AWS solutions would be beneficial."
"The need to work more on developing out-of-the-box connectors for other products like Oracle, AWS, and others."
"The number of standard adaptors could be extended further."
"DataStage is easier to learn than Data Factory because it's more visual."
"In the next release, it's important that some sort of scheduler for running tasks is added."
"The product integration with advanced coding options could cater to users needing more customization."
"On the UI side, they could make it a little more intuitive in terms of how to add the radius components."
"Azure Data Factory can improve the transformation features. You have to do a lot of transformation activities."
"The user interface could use improvement. It's not a major issue but it's something that can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"AWS Lake Formation is a bit expensive."
"I rate the product price as six on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"I am aware of the pricing of Azure Data Factory, but I prefer not to disclose specific details."
"The solution's pricing is competitive."
"The pricing model is based on usage and is not cheap."
"The licensing is a pay-as-you-go model, where you pay for what you consume."
"There's no licensing for Azure Data Factory, they have a consumption payment model. How often you are running the service and how long that service takes to run. The price can be approximately $500 to $1,000 per month but depends on the scaling."
"Our licensing fees are approximately 15,000 ($150 USD) per month."
"I would not say that this product is overly expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
6%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise63
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Lake Formation?
I don't understand much about the pricing of AWS Lake Formation, but I know how to search for the cost of Glue jobs, and I use the calculator in Amazon. I use a tool to preview the cost based on th...
What needs improvement with AWS Lake Formation?
Regarding areas of AWS Lake Formation that could be improved or enhanced, I prefer not to answer, mainly because I do not believe that I would be the most valuable person to ask, as I have not used...
What is your primary use case for AWS Lake Formation?
My usual use cases for AWS Lake Formation involved securing and governing the data resources that we configured in AWS, but we did not use the analytics or machine learning capabilities specificall...
How do you select the right cloud ETL tool?
AWS Glue and Azure Data factory for ELT best performance cloud services.
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica PowerCenter?
Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stability and reliability I am looking for, good scalability, and is easy to set up an...
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

bp, Cerner, Expedia, Finra, HESS, intuit, Kellog's, Philips, TIME, workday
1. Adobe 2. BMW 3. Coca-Cola 4. General Electric 5. Johnson & Johnson 6. LinkedIn 7. Mastercard 8. Nestle 9. Pfizer 10. Samsung 11. Siemens 12. Toyota 13. Unilever 14. Verizon 15. Walmart 16. Accenture 17. American Express 18. AT&T 19. Bank of America 20. Cisco 21. Deloitte 22. ExxonMobil 23. Ford 24. General Motors 25. IBM 26. JPMorgan Chase 27. Microsoft (Azure Data Factory is developed by Microsoft) 28. Oracle 29. Procter & Gamble 30. Salesforce 31. Shell 32. Visa
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Lake Formation vs. Azure Data Factory and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.