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Databricks vs Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
Organizations experience mixed returns from Databricks, with benefits from cost savings and efficiency, but challenges in initial migration.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio offers improved efficiency and dataset summarization, with varying ROI perspectives and a 7/10 rating.
When it comes to big data processing, I prefer Databricks over other solutions.
For a lot of different tasks, including machine learning, it is a nice solution.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Databricks customer service is generally effective with prompt responses, though some report issues mainly with third-party support channels.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio's customer service is praised for responsiveness but satisfaction varies, with larger clients receiving better support.
Whenever we reach out, they respond promptly.
Microsoft technical support is rated a seven out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Databricks is praised for efficient scalability and cloud compatibility, allowing easy resource adjustment across diverse projects and industries.
Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio offers efficient scalability for various user bases, with potential improvements for complex deployments.
The patches have sometimes caused issues leading to our jobs being paused for about six hours.
We are building Azure Machine Learning Studio as a scalable solution.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Databricks is stable and efficient for large data, with minor issues during updates and occasional connectivity challenges.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is stable and reliable, with minor issues and concerns about classic version retirement.
They release patches that sometimes break our code.
Cluster failure is one of the biggest weaknesses I notice in our Databricks.
 

Room For Improvement

Databricks users desire improved UI, enhanced data visualization, better integration, clearer error messages, robust support, and comprehensive documentation.
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio could enhance usability, expand features, improve integration, and provide clearer pricing with better support.
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 use MLflow for managing MLOps, however, further improvement would be beneficial, especially for large language models and related tools.
If I could right-click to copy absolute paths or to read files directly into a data frame, it would standardize and simplify the process.
In future updates, I would appreciate improvements in integration and more AI features.
I find the pricing to be not a good story in this case, as it is not affordable for everyone.
 

Setup Cost

Databricks pricing depends on usage, with flexibility in licensing, and can vary in competitiveness compared to other solutions.
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio offers flexible pricing from $20 monthly, but users find cost complexity challenging.
I rate the pricing as three or four on a scale of one to ten in terms of affordability.
 

Valuable Features

Databricks provides a unified platform for data engineering, machine learning, seamless cloud integration, and robust data management capabilities.
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio offers user-friendly features including AutoML, scalability, and integration for seamless team collaboration and deployment.
Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed.
Developers can share their notebooks. Git and Azure DevOps integration on the Databricks side is also very helpful.
Machine Learning Studio is easy to use, with a significant feature being the drag and drop interface that enhances workflow without any complaints.
Azure Machine Learning Studio provides a platform to integrate with large language models.
 

Categories and Ranking

Databricks
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
88
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (7th), Streaming Analytics (1st)
Microsoft Azure Machine Lea...
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
5th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
AI Development Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of Databricks is 18.8%, up from 18.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is 5.5%, down from 10.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
Sep 23, 2021
 

Featured Reviews

ShubhamSharma7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Capability to integrate diverse coding languages in a single notebook greatly enhances workflow
Databricks offers various courses that I can use, whether it's PySpark, Scala, or R. I can leverage all these courses in a single notebook, which is beneficial for clients as they can access various tools in one place whenever needed. This is quite significant. I usually work with PySpark based on client requirements. After coding, I feed the Databricks notebooks into the ADF pipeline for updates. Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed. Furthermore, I can connect our Databricks notebook directly with Power BI and other visualization tools like Qlik. Once we develop code, it allows us to transform raw data into visualizations for clients using analysis diagrams, which is very helpful.
Takayuki Umehara - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined workflows with drag and drop convenience but needs enhancements in AI
I use Machine Learning Studio for system reselling and integration Machine Learning Studio is easy to use, with a significant feature being the drag and drop interface that enhances workflow without any complaints. It provides a return on investment and cost savings, proving beneficial for…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
The learning curve is very low. Operationalizing the model is also very easy within the Azure ecosystem.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Pricing is considered to be top-segment and should be improved. I rate the pricing as three or four on a scale of one to ten in terms of affordability.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
The pricing policy should be improved. I find the pricing to be not a good story in this case, as it is not affordable for everyone.
 

Also Known As

Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
Azure Machine Learning, MS Azure Machine Learning Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Schneider Electric, BP
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks vs. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
839,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.