Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM Watson Machine Learning vs Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 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

IBM Watson Machine Learning
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Machine Lea...
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the AI Development Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM Watson Machine Learning is 2.0%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is 3.5%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AI Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio3.5%
IBM Watson Machine Learning2.0%
Other94.5%
AI Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Anurag Mayank - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at Maruti Suzuki India Limited
A highly efficient solution that delivers the desired results to its users
I had not considered how the solution could be improved because I was focused on how it was helping me to solve my issues. If I consider how we want to use it in our organization, certain areas of improvement can be addressed. For instance, we want to use it with Generative AI, not like ChatGPT, but in a way intended for industrial use. It would be beneficial to incorporate more AI into the solution.
reviewer2722962 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Scientist
Platform accelerates model development, enhances collaboration, and offers efficient deployment
The best features Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio offers include deep integration with Python notebooks and Azure Data Lake, which allows me to import external data, and through the pipeline, I can build my models, performing what is called data injection for my model building, making that deep integration quite interesting to use. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is a powerful platform for those already in the Azure ecosystem because it allows for scalability and provides a good environment for reproducibility, as well as collaboration tools, all designed and packaged in one place, which makes it outstanding. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio has positively impacted my organization by reducing our project delivery times and increasing the pace at which we work, allowing us to focus on other more important tasks. Using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio has reduced our model development time from approximately four hours to about two hours.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is has a lot of good features and we find the image classification very useful."
"I was particularly interested in trying the AutoML feature to see how it handles data and proposes new models. The variety of models it provides is impressive."
"The solution is very valuable to our organization due to the fact that we can work on it as a workflow."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution's the cost and human labor savings."
"It has improved self-service and customer satisfaction."
"We can enable and change developer productivity with artificial intelligence-recommended code based on natural language input or exciting source code."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"MLS allows me to set up data experiments by running through various regression and other machine learning algorithms, with different data cleaning and treatment tools. All of this can be achieved via drag and drop, and a few clicks of the mouse."
"It helps in building customized models, which are easy for clients to use​.​​"
"One of the notable advantages is that it offers both a visual designer, which is user-friendly, and an advanced coding option."
"The drag-and-drop interface of Azure Machine Learning Studio has greatly improved my workflow."
"Its ability to publish a predictive model as a web based solution and integrate R and python codes are amazing."
"Machine Learning Studio is easy to use."
"​It has helped in reducing the time involved for coding using R and/or Python."
"The most valuable feature is data normalization."
 

Cons

"Scaling is limited in some use cases. They need to make it easier to expand in all aspects."
"In future releases, I would like to see a more flexible environment."
"Honestly, I haven't seen any comparative report that has run the same data through two different artificial intelligence or machine learning capabilities to get something out of it. I would love to see that."
"They should add more GPU processing power to improve performance, especially when dealing with large amounts of data."
"The supporting language is limited."
"If I consider how we want to use it in our organization, certain areas of improvement can be addressed. For instance, we want to use it with Generative AI, not like ChatGPT, but in a way intended for industrial use."
"Sometimes training the model is difficult."
"Integration with social media would be a valuable enhancement."
"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."
"While ML Studio does give you the ability to run a lot of transformations, it struggles when the transformations are a bit more complex, when your entire process is transformation-heavy."
"Enable creating ensemble models easier, adding more machine learning algorithms."
"One problem I experience is that switching between multiple accounts can be difficult. I don't think there are any major issues. Mostly, the biggest challenge is to identify business solutions to this. The tool should keep on updating new algorithms and not stay static."
"The solution must increase the amount of data sources that can be integrated."
"We can create a label job, but we still have to use the Azure Machine Learning REST APIs, which are not yet supported in the Python SDK version 2."
"It would be great if the solution integrated Microsoft Copilot, its AI helper."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing model is good."
"I've only been using the free tier, but it's quite competitive on a service basis."
"We pay only the Azure costs for what we use, which involves some subscription costs. But essentially, you pay for what you use. There are no extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"To use MLS is fairly cheap. Even the paid account is something like $20/month, unless you are provisioning large numbers of VMs for a Hadoop cluster. The main MS makes money with this solution is forcing the user to deploy their model on REST API, and being charged each time the API is accessed. There are several pricing tiers for the API. If you do not use the API, then value of MLS is to create rapid experiments ($20/month). The resulting model is not exportable to use, thus you’ll have to recreate the algorithms in either R or Python, which is what I did. MLS results gave me a direction to work with, the actual work is mostly done in R and Python outside of MLS."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being very expensive. Not very expensive, not very cheap."
"The product's pricing is reasonable."
"There is a lack of certainty with the solution's pricing."
"It is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"I rate the product price as a nine on a scale of one to ten, where ten means it is very expensive."
"I am paying for it following a pay-as-you-go. So, the more I use it, the more it costs."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which AI Development Platforms solutions are best for your needs.
882,637 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Performing Arts
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Watson Machine Learning?
Sometimes training the model is difficult. We need to have at least a few different components to evaluate and understand the behavior of different users to have a very, very high accuracy in the m...
What is your primary use case for IBM Watson Machine Learning?
We use different artificial intelligence models to build questions and get answers for clients.
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 ...
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?
The pricing for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is reasonable since it's pay as you go, meaning it won't cost excessively unless specific resources are used.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Machine Learning, MS Azure Machine Learning Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Schneider Electric, BP
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Watson Machine Learning vs. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,637 professionals have used our research since 2012.