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Cloudera DataFlow vs Databricks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 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

Cloudera DataFlow
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
14th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Databricks
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Cloudera DataFlow is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Databricks is 14.6%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics
 

Featured Reviews

Júlio César Gomes Fonseca - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution that helps develop quality modules but needs to improve its programming language
The initial setup was not so difficult. The deployment took so long, at least one or two years, because the team has a project that aims to be exceptional in the future. It's good to say because the company is very good. It's a self-confirmation technical integration company. We have numerous reasons why reducing staff workload is beneficial. However, it is important to note that this does not directly apply to the application used. They will only do the service.
Parag Bhosale - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrating engineering and learning, but cost challenges arise with cluster management
We often use a single cluster to ingest Databricks, which Databricks doesn't recommend. They suggest using a no-cluster solution like job clusters. This can be overwhelming for us because we started smaller. We prefer using a small to mid-sized cluster for many jobs to keep costs low, but this sometimes doesn't support our operations properly. We need to stay in sync with the DVR versions, and migrations can pose challenges. For example, issues arose when we moved a cluster from a previous version to the latest one. We could use their job clusters, however, that increases costs, which is challenging for us as a startup. Maintaining this infrastructure can be a headache.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"DataFlow's performance is okay."
"This solution is very scalable and robust."
"The initial setup was not so difficult"
"The most effective features are data management and analytics."
"Easy to use and requires minimal coding and customizations."
"Databricks is based on a Spark cluster and it is fast. Performance-wise, it is great."
"The simplicity of development is the most valuable feature."
"Databricks is hosted on the cloud. It is very easy to collaborate with other team members who are working on it. It is production-ready code, and scheduling the jobs is easy."
"Databricks' Lakehouse architecture has been most useful for us. The data governance has been absolutely efficient in between other kinds of solutions."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"I work in the data science field and I found Databricks to be very useful."
"The built-in optimization recommendations halved the speed of queries and allowed us to reach decision points and deliver insights very quickly."
 

Cons

"It's an outdated legacy product that doesn't meet the needs of modern data analysts and scientists."
"Although their workflow is pretty neat, it still requires a lot of transformation coding; especially when it comes to Python and other demanding programming languages."
"It is not easy to use the R language. Though I don't know if it's possible, I believe it is possible, but it is not the best language for machine learning."
"There should be better integration with other platforms."
"Some of the error messages that we receive are too vague, saying things like "unknown exception", and these should be improved to make it easier for developers to debug problems."
"We often use a single cluster to ingest Databricks, which Databricks doesn't recommend. They suggest using a no-cluster solution like job clusters. This can be overwhelming for us because we started smaller."
"Databricks may not be as easy to use as other tools, but if you simplify a tool too much, it won't have the flexibility to go in-depth. Databricks is completely in the programmer's hands. I prefer flexibility rather than simplicity."
"I would like it if Databricks adopted an interface more like R Studio. When I create a data frame or a table, R Studio provides a preview of the data. In R Studio, I can see that it created a table with so many columns or rows. Then I can click on it and open a preview of that data."
"The product needs samples and templates to help invite users to see results and understand what the product can do."
"I believe that this product could be improved by becoming more user-friendly."
"Databricks is not geared towards the end-user, but rather it is for data engineers or data scientists."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"DataFlow isn't expensive, but its value for money isn't great."
"We have only incurred the cost of our AWS cloud services. This is because during this period, Databricks provided us with an extended evaluation period, and we have not spent much money yet. We are just starting to incur costs this month, I will know more later on the full cost perspective."
"It is an expensive tool. The licensing model is a pay-as-you-go one."
"I would rate Databricks' pricing seven out of ten."
"The cost for Databricks depends on the use case. I work on it as a consultant, so I'm using the client's Databricks, so it depends on how big the client is."
"Databricks are not costly when compared with other solutions' prices."
"I am based in South Africa, where it is expensive adapting to the cloud, and then there is the price for the tool itself."
"The product pricing is moderate."
"The solution is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
16%
University
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cloudera DataFlow?
The most effective features are data management and analytics.
What is your primary use case for Cloudera DataFlow?
We use Cloudera DataFlow for stream analytics.
Which do you prefer - Databricks or Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Databricks gives you the option of working with several different languages, such as SQL, R, Scala, Apache Spark, or Python. It offers many different cluster choices and excellent integration with ...
How would you compare Databricks vs Amazon SageMaker?
We researched AWS SageMaker, but in the end, we chose Databricks. Databricks is a Unified Analytics Platform designed to accelerate innovation projects. It is based on Spark so it is very fast. It...
Which would you choose - Databricks or Azure Stream Analytics?
Databricks is an easy-to-set-up and versatile tool for data management, analysis, and business analytics. For analytics teams that have to interpret data to further the business goals of their orga...
 

Also Known As

CDF, Hortonworks DataFlow, HDF
Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Clearsense
Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
Find out what your peers are saying about Cloudera DataFlow vs. Databricks and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.