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IBM Watson Studio 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 Studio
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
12th
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Machine Lea...
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
4th
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM Watson Studio is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is 5.3%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Abilio Duarte - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly robust and well-documented platform that simplifies the complex world of AI
The main challenge lies in visibility and ease of use. Providing training sessions can be immensely helpful in helping users navigate and understand the tool's potential. This approach would empower users to explore and make the most of the tools and technologies at their disposal. Another area where IBM could enhance its offering is by providing more visibility to end users regarding the vast potential that Watson offers.
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a very stable and reliable solution."
"The scalability of IBM Watson Studio is great."
"Technical support is great. We have had weekly teleconferences with the technical people at IBM, and they have been fantastic."
"It has a lot of data connectors, which is extremely helpful."
"The most important thing is that it's a multi-faceted solution. It's a kind of specialist, not a generalist. It can produce very specific information for the customer. It's totally different from Google or any search engine that produces generic information. It's specialty is that it's all on video."
"It stands out for its substantial AI capabilities, offering a broad spectrum of features for crafting solutions that meet specific requirements."
"Stability-wise, it is a great tool."
"The system's ability to take a look at data, segment it and then use that data very differently."
"When you import the dataset you can see the data distribution easily with graphics and statistical measures."
"Azure Machine Learning Studio provides a platform to integrate with large language models."
"Its ability to publish a predictive model as a web based solution and integrate R and python codes are amazing."
"The solution is really scalable."
"The initial setup is very simple and straightforward."
"Azure's AutoML feature is probably better than the competition."
"The product supports open-source tools."
"The solution's most beneficial feature is its integration with Azure."
 

Cons

"One area that could be improved is the backup and restoration of the database and the overall database configuration."
"The solution's interface is very slow at times."
"More features in data virtualization would be helpful. The solution could use an interactive dashboard that could make exploration easier."
"We would like to see it more web-based with more functionality."
"Some of the solutions are really good solutions but they can be a little too costly for many."
"One area that could be improved is the backup and restoration of the database and the overall database configuration."
"The initial setup was complex."
"The decision making in their decision making feature is less good than other options."
"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."
"In terms of data capabilities, if we compare it to Google Cloud's BigQuery, we find a difference. When fetching data from web traffic, Google can do a lot of processing with small queries or functions."
"Using the solution requires some specific learning which can take some time."
"The solution should be more customizable. There should be more algorithms."
"Technical support could improve their turnaround time."
"I cannot comment on specific improvements yet as we are still exploring and need more time to identify the areas that require enhancements."
"I think it should be made cheaper for certain people…It may appear costlier for those who don't consider time important."
"As for the areas for improvement in Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio, I've provided feedback to Microsoft. My company is a Gold Partner of Microsoft, so I provided my feedback in another forum. Right now, it is the number of algorithms available in the designer that has to be improved, though I'm sure Microsoft does it regularly. When you take a use case approach, Microsoft has done that in a lot of places, but not on the Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio designer. When I say use case basis, I meant recommending a product or recommending similar products, so if Microsoft can list out use cases and give me a template, it will save me a lot of time and a lot of work because I don't have to scratch my head on which algorithm is better, and I can go with what's recommended by Microsoft. I'm sure that isn't a big task for the Microsoft team who must have seen thousands of use cases already, so out of that experience if the team can come up with a standard template, I'm sure it'll help a lot of organizations cut down on the development time, as well as going with the best industry-standard algorithms rather than experimenting with mine. What I'd like to see in the next version of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio, apart from the use case template, is the improvement of the availability of libraries. Microsoft should also upgrade the Python versions because the old version of Python is still supported and it takes time for Microsoft to upgrade the support for Python. The pace of upgrading Python versions of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio and making those libraries available should be sped up or increased."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Watson Studio is a reasonably priced product"
"The pricing is generally reasonable and straightforward but can vary significantly depending on the specific workloads in use."
"Watson Studio's pricing is reasonable for what you get."
"IBM Watson Studio is an expensive solution."
"There isn’t any such expensive costs and only a standard license is required."
"The platform's price is low."
"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."
"From a developer's perspective, I find the price of this solution high."
"The product is not that expensive."
"Last year, we paid 60,000 for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio in our department."
"In terms of pricing, for any cloud solution, you should know the tricks of the trade and how to use it, otherwise, you'll end up paying a lot of money irrespective of the cloud provider, so at least for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio pricing versus AWS, I would rate it three out of five, with one being the most expensive, and five being the cheapest. It could be cheaper, but you also have to be careful when choosing the plans, for example, consider the architecture and a lot of other factors before choosing your plan, if you don't want to end up paying more. If your cloud provider has an optimizer that seems to be available in every provider, that would keep alerting you in terms of resources not being used as much, then that would help you with budgeting."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Watson Studio?
The pricing of Watson Studio is justified by the benefits and power it offers.
What needs improvement with IBM Watson Studio?
One area that could be improved is the backup and restoration of the database and the overall database configuration. There were also challenges with programming the network extension in the last p...
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?
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.
 

Also Known As

Watson Studio, IBM Data Science Experience, Data Science Experience, DSx
Azure Machine Learning, MS Azure Machine Learning Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GroupM, Accenture, Fifth Third Bank
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Schneider Electric, BP
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Watson Studio vs. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.