Databricks vs Microsoft Power BI comparison

The compared Databricks and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Databricks is ranked #7 in CDW , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 8.8% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #1 in BIT , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 21.4% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Databricks users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Databricks

Read 89 Databricks reviews

2,343 Views
1,662 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Microsoft Power BI

Read 321 Microsoft Power BI reviews

20,047 Views
16,081 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Databricks

Microsoft Power BI

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Microsoft Power BI and Databricks are leading solutions in the business intelligence and data analytics sector. Microsoft Power BI stands out for its ease of use and integration capabilities with other Microsoft tools, while Databricks is preferred for handling large datasets and its robust machine learning capabilities. Power BI holds an advantage in self-service BI for non-technical users, while Databricks excels with its scalability and processing power for technical users.

Features: Microsoft Power BI integrates seamlessly with Microsoft tools, allowing easy data visualization for non-technical users. It is praised for self-service BI capabilities, enabling business users to independently solve problems. Databricks is recognized for handling extensive datasets efficiently, with scalable Spark processing and excellent machine learning functionalities, allowing for complex data manipulation in Python, SQL, and R.

Room for Improvement: Power BI users suggest expanding visualization options, particularly for financial reporting, and improving performance with large datasets. They also desire broader Direct Query support and enhanced mobile features. For Databricks, users recommend better integration with visualization tools like Power BI and Tableau, improved automated machine learning support, and a more user-friendly experience for non-technical users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Power BI is adaptable to Public, Private, and Hybrid Cloud environments, supported by a large community for external solutions. Official support is strong, supplemented by active community assistance. Databricks is typically deployed in Public and Hybrid Cloud environments, offering high performance but with limited official support, making community assistance crucial.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Power BI is competitively priced, especially beneficial when bundled with other Microsoft products, providing value to smaller teams and basic use cases. Its Pro and Premium tiers offer scalability based on business needs. Databricks, though powerful, is considered expensive for smaller teams and less demanding use cases but offers significant ROI for extensive data operations through its scalable and high-performance capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Cloud Data Warehouse Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Data Warehouse

April 2025

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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

Databricks offers cost savings and scalability, empowering small teams to process large data efficiently, with variable cost-effectiveness in ingestion.

Sentiment score

7.9

Microsoft Power BI is cost-effective, user-friendly, and efficient, enhancing BI capabilities and saving time and money.

For a lot of different tasks, including machine learning, it is a nice solution.

Parag Bhosale

Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees

When it comes to big data processing, I prefer Databricks over other solutions.

IshwarSukheja

Head CEO at bizmetric

For more quotes and insights, download the Databricks report

In a world surrounded by data, tools that allow navigation of large data volumes ensure decisions are data-driven.

Michael Ostfeld

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

Power BI is easy to deploy within an hour, providing robust security against data leaks.

Shoury Priyanshu

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.2

Databricks support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though some experience slower responses due to Microsoft involvement.

Sentiment score

6.7

Microsoft Power BI customer service is responsive and effective, but users frequently rely on forums for quicker solutions.

Whenever we reach out, they respond promptly.

Parag Bhosale

Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees

As of now, we are raising issues and they are providing solutions without any problems.

Prabhakar Bonam

Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA

For more quotes and insights, download the Databricks report

The significant drawback I notice is that Microsoft's size makes it hard to get specific change requests addressed unless they involve a bug.

Michael Ostfeld

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

We have a partnership with Microsoft, involving multiple weekly calls with dedicated personnel to ensure our satisfaction.

James Balbach

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

The support is good because there is also a community available.

MohammedHamad

Business Development Director at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.4

Databricks is scalable, efficient, offers real-time optimization, supports multiple clouds, but may require manual configurations.

Sentiment score

7.0

Microsoft Power BI is scalable, integrates well with Azure, but faces challenges with large datasets and concurrent users.

The patches have sometimes caused issues leading to our jobs being paused for about six hours.

Parag Bhosale

Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees

Databricks is an easily scalable platform.

Prabhakar Bonam

Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA

For more quotes and insights, download the Databricks report

You expect only a small percentage of users concurrently, but beyond a thousand concurrent users, it becomes difficult to manage.

Shoury Priyanshu

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

With increasing AI capabilities, architectural developments within Microsoft, and tools like Fabric, I expect Power BI to scale accordingly.

James Balbach

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

As more data is processed, performance issues may arise.

Raymond De Rooij

Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.6

Databricks is stable and reliable, with minor update issues, resolved bugs, and high user ratings for stability and performance.

Sentiment score

7.5

Microsoft Power BI is stable and reliable, excelling with smaller datasets but may need resources for larger ones.

They release patches that sometimes break our code.

Parag Bhosale

Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees

Although it is too early to definitively state the platform's stability, we have not encountered any issues so far.

Prabhakar Bonam

Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA

Cluster failure is one of the biggest weaknesses I notice in our Databricks.

ShubhamSharma7

Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Databricks report

In terms of stability, there's no data loss or leakage, and precautions are well-managed by Microsoft.

Shoury Priyanshu

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

We typically do not have problems with end-user tools like Excel and Power BI.

James Balbach

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

It is very stable for small data, but with big data, there are performance challenges.

MohammedHamad

Business Development Director at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Room For Improvement

Users seek improved visualization, platform integration, pricing, machine learning libraries, UI, documentation, and beginner-friendly, scalable management tools.

Microsoft Power BI faces criticism for Windows dependency, interface complexity, limited features, and challenges in integration and pricing.

Adjusting features like worker nodes and node utilization during cluster creation could mitigate these failures.

ShubhamSharma7

Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

Parag Bhosale

Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees

We use MLflow for managing MLOps, however, further improvement would be beneficial, especially for large language models and related tools.

Rama Subba Reddy Thavva

Solution Architect at Mercedes-Benz AG

For more quotes and insights, download the Databricks report

This makes Power BI difficult to manage as loading times can reach one or two minutes, which is problematic today.

Shoury Priyanshu

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

Access was more logical in how it distinguished between data and its formatting.

Michael Ostfeld

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

Microsoft updates Power BI monthly based on user community feedback.

James Balbach

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Setup Cost

Databricks offers flexible pricing based on usage and volume, seen as expensive but cost-effective compared to competitors.

Microsoft Power BI provides cost-effective pricing options, with plans ranging from free to $4,995 monthly, competing with Tableau and Cognos.

It is not a cheap solution.

Prabhakar Bonam

Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA

For more quotes and insights, download the Databricks report

I found the setup cost to be expensive

Sebastien TOUSSAINT

Responsable du département Projets et Applications at CHD Vendée

Power BI isn't very cheap, however, it is economical compared to other solutions available.

Shoury Priyanshu

Senior Manager, Strategy & Consulting at Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd

The pricing for Microsoft Power BI is low, which is a good selling point.

MohammedHamad

Business Development Director at a tech consulting company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Valuable Features

Databricks is valued for its scalable data transformation, Lakehouse architecture, rapid processing, integration, and versatile coding options.

Power BI offers seamless Microsoft integration, data visualization, and self-service tools, enhancing data-driven decisions with flexibility and affordability.

Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed.

ShubhamSharma7

Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees

The platform allows us to leverage cloud advantages effectively, enhancing our AI and ML projects.

Prabhakar Bonam

Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA

The notebooks and the ability to share them with collaborators are valuable, as multiple developers can use a single cluster.

Rama Subba Reddy Thavva

Solution Architect at Mercedes-Benz AG

For more quotes and insights, download the Databricks report

In today's data-driven environment, these tools are of substantial value, particularly for large enterprises with numerous processes that require extensive data analysis.

Michael Ostfeld

Corporate HR Financial Controller at STMicroelectronics Holding

Within the organization, Microsoft Power BI is used to create dashboards and gain insights into data, enhancing data-driven decision-making.

Raymond De Rooij

Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

The solution makes it easy for me to develop reports and publish them.

Sebastien TOUSSAINT

Responsable du département Projets et Applications at CHD Vendée

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Power BI report

Categories and Ranking

Databricks

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Data Warehouse (7th), Data Science Platforms (1st), Streaming Analytics (1st)

Microsoft Power BI

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

321

Ranking in other categories

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (1st), Reporting (1st)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. Databricks is designed for Cloud Data Warehouse and holds a mindshare of 8.8%, up 3.7% compared to last year.
Microsoft Power BI, on the other hand, focuses on BI (Business Intelligence) Tools, holds 21.4% mindshare, down 22.2% since last year.

Cloud Data Warehouse

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Featured Reviews

ShubhamSharma7

Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

Read full review

James Balbach

Executive Director, Decision Support at Community Health Network

Robust system consistently elevates data visualization and seamlessly updates with user-driven advancements

Power BI is a general-use visualization system. I can express the performance of our network through high-level key performance indicators. It allows me to show detailed improvements in quality and safety and patient experience. I create improvement dashboards for task forces and work teams. I have built analytic dashboards that guide analytics, enabling research and dataset manipulation.

Read full review

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Comparison Review

it_user79932

Senior Manager - BI Head at NVidia

Feb 4, 2015

Comparison of SAP BO, Tableau, QlikView, Cognos, Microsoft, OBIEE and Pentaho

1. SAP BO/BI Enterprise scalability Security Ease of use Semantic layer 2. Tableau Visualization Data discovery Turnaround time 3. IBM Cognos Enterprise scalability Security In-memory feature 4. MS BI - Flexibility 5. Pentaho - Open source but still enterprise grade 6. QlikView Data…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

40%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Government

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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Seeking lightweight open source BI software

There are many...It would rather depend what System BI architecture or Enterprise legacy you have at your end...I would recommend as follows: 1) If you have legacies of SAP, Oracle - look for SAP...

See all answers

Is Power BI a complete platform or only a visualization tool?

Power BI is an advanced visualization tool oriented to big data with a very complete set of widgets to visualize information, control users accessing information, the configuration of governance po...

See all answers

How does Oracle OBIEE compare with Microsoft BI?

Oracle OBIEE is great in allowing design and creativity per the individual needs of the organization. Dashboards are fully customizable and very user-friendly. This solution is very stable. Oracle ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dataiku vs Databricks

Compared 11% of the time

Dremio vs Databricks

Compared 7% of the time

Informatica PowerCenter vs Databricks

Compared 7% of the time

Tableau vs Databricks

Compared 5% of the time

Amazon SageMaker vs Databricks

Compared 4% of the time

More Databricks Competitors

Tableau vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 14% of the time

Domo vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon QuickSight vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 7% of the time

KNIME vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs Microsoft Power BI

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Power BI Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Databricks

May 2025

Download Databricks product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Power BI

April 2025

Download Microsoft Power BI product report

Also Known As

Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash

SSRS, SSAS, MSBI, MS Reporting Services, Microsoft BI Tools, Microsoft Big Data, Power BI Pro, MS BI

Overview

Databricks is utilized for advanced analytics, big data processing, machine learning models, ETL operations, data engineering, streaming analytics, and integrating multiple data sources.

Organizations leverage Databricks for predictive analysis, data pipelines, data science, and unifying data architectures. It is also used for consulting projects, financial reporting, and creating APIs. Industries like insurance, retail, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals use Databricks for data management and analytics due to its user-friendly interface, built-in machine learning libraries, support for multiple programming languages, scalability, and fast processing.

What are the key features of Databricks?

User-friendly interface: Simplifies operations and usability.
Built-in machine learning libraries: Facilitates machine learning tasks.
Support for multiple programming languages: Enhances flexibility.
Scalability: Efficiently handles growing data needs.
Fast processing: Improves performance and speed.
Automated optimization: Reduces manual efforts.
Data visualization: Provides insightful visuals.
Collaborative features: Enhances teamwork.
Delta Lake performance: Boosts data management.
Seamless cluster management: Simplifies system operations.

What are the benefits or ROI to look for in Databricks reviews?

Efficiency in handling large datasets: Ensures smooth processing.
Interactive workspace environment: Improves user collaboration.
Integration with platforms: Provides connectivity benefits.
Performance optimization: Enhances overall system performance.
Support for data governance and security: Ensures data integrity and protection.

Databricks is implemented in insurance for risk analysis and claims processing; in retail for customer analytics and inventory management; in manufacturing for predictive maintenance and supply chain optimization; and in pharmaceuticals for drug discovery and patient data analysis. Users value its scalability, machine learning support, collaboration tools, and Delta Lake performance but seek improvements in visualization, pricing, and integration with BI tools.

Databricks

Microsoft Power BI is a powerful tool for data analysis and visualization. This tool stands out for its ability to merge and analyze data from various sources. Widely adopted across different industries and departments, Power BI is instrumental in creating visually appealing dashboards and generating insightful business intelligence reports. Its intuitive interface, robust visualization capabilities, and seamless integration with other Microsoft applications empower users to easily create interactive reports and gain valuable insights.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware

Accenture Adidas Aetna AIG Airbus Alibaba Allstate Amazon American Express Aon AT&T Audi Bank of America BASF Bayer Berkshire Hathaway Boeing Coca-Cola Comcast Cisco Coca-Cola Dell Disney Emirates Equinix FedEx Ford GE Google H&M Home Depot Honda IBM Intel JPMorgan Chase Kellogg's Kroger L'Oréal McDonald's Merck MetLife Microsoft Nike Oracle P&G PepsiCo Procter & Gamble Prudential Financial SAP Siemens Snapchat Spotify Starbucks Target Toyota T-Mobile Unilever Visa Walmart WeWork World Bank Xerox

Find out what your peers are saying about Snowflake Computing, Microsoft, Google and others in Cloud Data Warehouse. Updated: April 2025.

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