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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
11th
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
9th
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
5th
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 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 9.9% 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

"IBM Watson Studio consistently automates across channels."
"It is a stable, reliable product."
"It has greatly improved the performance because it is standardized across the company."
"Stability-wise, it is a great tool."
"It has a lot of data connectors, which is extremely helpful."
"The system's ability to take a look at data, segment it and then use that data very differently."
"It stands out for its substantial AI capabilities, offering a broad spectrum of features for crafting solutions that meet specific requirements."
"For me, the valuable feature of the solution is the one that I used, which was Jupyter notebooks."
"Machine Learning Studio is easy to use."
"Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is easy to use and deploy."
"Azure Machine Learning Studio provides a platform to integrate with large language models."
"Azure Machine Learning Studio's most valuable features are the package from Azure AutoML. It is quite powerful compared to the building of ML in Databricks or other AutoMLs from other companies, such as Google and Amazon."
"Machine Learning Studio is easy to use, with a significant feature being the drag and drop interface that enhances workflow without any complaints."
"The solution's most beneficial feature is its integration with Azure."
"The solution is integrated with our Microsoft Azure tenant, and we don't have to go anywhere else outside the tenant."
"Visualisation, and the possibility of sharing functions are key features."
 

Cons

"More features in data virtualization would be helpful. The solution could use an interactive dashboard that could make exploration easier."
"The solution's interface is very slow at times."
"I think maybe the support is an area where it lacks."
"Watson Studio would be improved with a clearer path for the deployment of docker images."
"The main challenge lies in visibility and ease of use."
"Initially, it was quite complex. For us, it was not only a matter of getting it installed, that was just a start. It was also trying to come up with a standard way of implementing it across the entire organization, which had been a challenge."
"Some of the solutions are really good solutions but they can be a little too costly for many."
"I want IBM's technical support team to provide more specific answers to queries."
"I have found Databricks is a better solution because it has a lot of different cluster choices and better integration with MLflow, which is much easier to handle in a machine learning system."
"The solution cannot connect to private block storage."
"The data processor can pose a bit of a challenge, but the real complexity is determined by the skill of the implementation team."
"Easier customization and configuration would be beneficial."
"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."
"The pricing policy should be improved."
"I personally would prefer if data could be tunneled to my model through a SAP ERP system, and have features of Excel, such as Pivot Tables, integrated."
"Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio could improve by adding pixel or image analysis. This is a priority for me."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Watson Studio is a reasonably priced product"
"IBM Watson Studio is an expensive solution."
"Watson Studio's pricing is reasonable for what you get."
"The pricing is generally reasonable and straightforward but can vary significantly depending on the specific workloads in use."
"The solution operates on a pay-per-use model."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being very expensive. Not very expensive, not very cheap."
"I used the free student license for a few months to operate the solution, but I'll have to pay for it if I want to do more now."
"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."
"ML Studio's pricing becomes a numbers game."
"I rate the product price as a nine on a scale of one to ten, where ten means it is very expensive."
"The product's pricing is reasonable."
"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
9%
University
8%
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

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: March 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.