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Azure Data Factory vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 11, 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

Azure Data Factory
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Data Integration (1st)
Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Azure Data Factory is 12.7%, down from 13.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is 8.7%, down from 13.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Data Warehouse
 

Q&A Highlights

PS
Aug 03, 2023
 

Featured Reviews

Joy Maitra - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates seamless data pipeline creation with good analytics and and thorough monitoring
Azure Data Factory is a low code, no code platform, which is helpful. It provides many prebuilt functionalities that assist in building data pipelines. Also, it facilitates easy transformation with all required functionalities for analytics. Furthermore, it connects to different sources out-of-the-box, making integration much easier. The monitoring is very thorough, though a more readable version would be appreciable.
Matthew Spieth - PeerSpot reviewer
Beneficial real-time analytics, simple setup, and useful tutorials
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics could improve its compatibility with Visual Studio. One of the challenges for people moving from an on-premise to a cloud solution, such as Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, is that you're constantly working in a browser. There are people that have been working for decades on desktop applications. For them to start working in a browser, it's quite a change. Allowing people to work and do their work inside Visual Studio than in the browser, would be a large advantage.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"On the tool itself, we've never experienced any bugs or glitches. There haven't been crashes. Stability has been good."
"I think it makes it very easy to understand what data flow is and so on. You can leverage the user interface to do the different data flows, and it's great. I like it a lot."
"We haven't had any issues connecting it to other products."
"An excellent tool for pipeline orchestration."
"Data Factory's best features include its data source connections, GUI for building data pipelines, and target loading within Azure."
"It has built-in connectors for more than 100 sources and onboarding data from many different sources to the cloud environment."
"The feature I found most helpful in Azure Data Factory is the pipeline feature, including being able to connect to different sources. Azure Data Factory also has built-in security, which is another valuable feature."
"We have been using drivers to connect to various data sets and consume data."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is its integration with the new legacy systems. Whatever application we want to integrate, we receive the reports based on the objects. The solution is easy to purchase from the cloud."
"The speed is great and the architecture is excellent."
"The integrated workspace in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics where everything comes together, such as Power BI and Data Factory, is very good. Additionally, the ability to do dedicated SQL pooling is a benefit."
"Very interactive and provides flexibility."
"The solution's scalability is very, very good. It's one of the most important aspects for us."
"We also like governance. It looks at what the requirements are for the company to identify the best way to ensure compliance is met when you move to the cloud."
"Synapse Analytics' best feature is its ability to process large files."
"I think the most valuable component is that pipelines are built into it and then the feature that you can mirror a cosmos BB for analytics."
 

Cons

"In the next release, it's important that some sort of scheduler for running tasks is added."
"One area for improvement is documentation. At present, there isn't enough documentation on how to use Azure Data Factory in certain conditions. It would be good to have documentation on the various use cases."
"Customer service is not satisfactory. Third-party personnel handle support and rely on a knowledge repository."
"Some of the optimization techniques are not scalable."
"It would be better if it had machine learning capabilities."
"Azure Data Factory uses many resources and has issues with parallel workflows."
"Azure Data Factory can improve the transformation features. You have to do a lot of transformation activities. This is something that is just not fully covered. Additionally, the integration could improve for other tools, such as Azure Data Catalog."
"I have not found any real shortcomings within the product."
"I would like to see them provide the ingestion of images."
"Unfortunately, we have had some issues with the dashboard reporting. Sometimes, the data for specific periods would just appear blank on the dashboard. To investigate this, we worked with a Microsoft incident agent and it turned out to be a result of bugs in the platform when dealing with specific types of queries in Azure Data Factory."
"One potential area for improvement could be the availability of an on-premises data lake implementation, as the product is currently only implemented in a cloud environment."
"The configuration for things like high-availability could be more user-friendly for non-technical users."
"I would like my team to be able to build pipelines that integrate with the Azure Data Factory."
"Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics could improve its compatibility with Visual Studio. One of the challenges for people moving from an on-premise to a cloud solution, such as Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, is that you're constantly working in a browser. There are people that have been working for decades on desktop applications. For them to start working in a browser, it's quite a change. Allowing people to work and do their work inside Visual Studio than in the browser, would be a large advantage."
"The only concern for us is the cost part. When it comes to the implementation and the support and maintenance, we see high-cost implications."
"If I'm looking for something good in the cloud, I would want it to have better standard connectors."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure products generally offer competitive pricing, suitable for diverse budget considerations."
"I would rate Data Factory's pricing nine out of ten."
"Product is priced at the market standard."
"For our use case, it is not expensive. We take into the picture everything: resources, learning curve, and maintenance."
"Data Factory is expensive."
"Our licensing fees are approximately 15,000 ($150 USD) per month."
"The price is fair."
"I am aware of the pricing of Azure Data Factory, but I prefer not to disclose specific details."
"The solution is very expensive because it often requires the purchase of additional storage."
"The costs are billed such that we pay for what we use, which is a good thing."
"We normally pay between $300 and $500 per month, which is quite expensive for how much we actually use it, performance- and usage-wise. They have a cheap version and an expensive version, and our usage usually falls in the middle ground, which makes it not as cost-effective as it could be."
"I think Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is priced well, and I would rate the price at eight out of ten."
"Very costly solution and other products are available for less."
"It requires a less expensive version because currently, not every customer is able to buy it. If it could have a smaller setup that doesn't require so many resources, it would be helpful, and we would be able to use it in more cases. We are a small country, and most of our customers are quite small businesses."
"This is an expensive solution."
"Price varies by use-case. You pay for the database itself in addition to any consumed data within Serverless plus other fees if you use the Data Factory that is inside."
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Answers from the Community

PS
Aug 3, 2023
Aug 3, 2023
I know you're looking for someone who's done research for you but realize that's actually something people get paid to do. That said, what you're asking about is a mix of quite different tools when you throw KNIME in the mix. I don't know that tool but sounds like its for specific purpose and it's not an Azure tool. Realize there's endless ETL tools out there. I've used about 1/2 dozen in ...
2 out of 4 answers
reviewer2009835 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 27, 2023
A couple of questions before starting the feature comparison:  i. Are you fine with an open-source solution? ii. Any specific reason you have listed ADF? iii. Who will be using these tools and how much learning curve is involved within the team? iv. What kind of data you are dealing with? v. Is data privacy an important factor? vi. Are you looking for only a cloud-based solution or open to a hybrid solution also? vii. What is the maturity level of the team when it comes to working on the cloud ........ These are just a few of the many questions basis which we do self-assessment or measure our preparedness. Let me know if you need more insights. Happy to help!!
BA
Apr 27, 2023
I believe Synapse is not an ETL tool.  ADF is one optional ETL tool for a Synapse Data warehouse.. What Are the Top ETL Tools for Azure Data Warehouse? | Integrate.ioI'd like to step back and pose a bigger option. You see, ETL means making a copy of data you have already. Have you considered a data fabric or mesh, where the data is used where it lies now?  Consider this if your data is already used by some systems, but you need to do a more comprehensive analysis of it.I always want to reduce the replication of databases. The concept of build yet another database to "replace" all the others rarely works out that way.  I'd rather beef up the origination system, or use a replica than build a huge portfolio of ETL programs and an army of ops, data governance, and system support to keep them in sync. Finally, if you really need an ETL tool, i.e. copies of all that data... look for existing talent in your staff. Otherwise, expect to hire some people experienced with the new tool that can advise on design and development and mentor existing staff.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Educational Organization
48%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
How does Amazon Redshift compare with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
Amazon Redshift is very fast, has a very good response time, and is very user-friendly. The initial setup is very straightforward. This solution can merge and integrate well with many different dat...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
The product is easy to use, and anybody can easily migrate to advanced DB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
The financial aspect, including pricing and cost reduction, is not something I focus on.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Microsoft Azure SQL DW, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, MS Azure Synapse Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Toshiba, Carnival, LG Electronics, Jet.com, Adobe, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Data Factory vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,265 professionals have used our research since 2012.