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IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs Talend Open Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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 InfoSphere DataStage
Ranking in Data Integration
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Talend Open Studio
Ranking in Data Integration
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of IBM InfoSphere DataStage is 4.8%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Talend Open Studio is 4.4%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Swetha S - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution streamlines design, development, and deployment with effective ETL features
The support has been really good. Typically, if we have any issues, we raise a ticket with IBM, and they help us resolve the issues if required. We also have the flexibility to submit a feature request to be included as part of the wishlist, potentially becoming a product feature in subsequent releases.
Costin Marzea - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows you to develop your own components and can be used as an OEM
Sometimes, scalability is part of planning. It depends on what you mean by scalability. People talk a lot about it, but scalability is not always about system functionality. Sometimes, it may be planning the job you're doing. If you want to split it into several jobs or servers, you don't actually have to have it built in as a functionality. You can create a job using a loop, which runs and controls several jobs in a loop that may be controlled. Scaling should not always be part of the infrastructure based on whether the engine can scale or not. I think it's your plan or project that should scale and split, and you can define these parameters. These parameters include how many servers you want to run or how many executions you want to do on different parts of the data. It's not always an issue of the engine running. Sometimes, your database should be configured to support partitioning. The product may scale very well without partitioning, but if the basic response is very slow, you didn't solve the problem. You should solve the problems at a higher level, not just at the execution level. They should be solved at the database level and communication level, and you should have firewalls. We are trying to add to the open source the ability to generate code for containers and Kubernetes that exist in the subscription version. Once you do this, Kubernetes will take care of the scaling, so there is no problem.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"IBM InfoSphere DataStage is a stable tool with active support from IBM."
"The concept of integration is a valuable feature of the product."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ability to incorporate very complex business rules in Data Stage."
"The solution is stable."
"The support has been really good."
"It works with multiple servers and offers high availability."
"Finding logs is very easy on the solution."
"DataStage works better with Linux operating systems when the application services are hosted on Linux system equipment, but it's powerful on Windows too."
"The most valuable features are definitely data integration, data preparation, and data stewardship."
"It is user-friendly and the interface is good."
"The drag-and-drop feature in the interface is very good."
"This product is very easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Talend Open Studio are customization and integration."
"It's a good tool. It has the ability to take apart and install whatever we need. It's very good for data, transformation, and loading."
"The rapidity of integration with data may be one of the valuable features."
"The most valuable feature of Talend Open Studio is the tMap component. There is a lot of functionality in one component."
 

Cons

"Working with some of the big data components is good, but I can see improvements are needed."
"In terms of intermediate storage, we have some challenges, especially with customers who store data in intermediate locations."
"They can provide better support for non-IBM tools when it comes to the target."
"What needs improvement in IBM InfoSphere DataStage is its pricing. The pricing for the solution is higher than its competitors, so a lot of the clients my company has worked with prefer other tools over IBM InfoSphere DataStage because of the high price tag. Another area for improvement in the solution stems from a lot of new types of databases, for example, databases in the cloud and big data have become available, and IBM InfoSphere DataStage is working on various connectors for different data sources, but that still isn't up-to-date, meaning that some connectors are missing for modern data sources. The latest version of IBM InfoSphere DataStage also has a complex architecture, so my team faced frequent outages and that should be improved as well."
"I want the tool to continue with the on-prem version, not the cloud one."
"DataStage is quite expensive. It is too hard to find a consultant using DataStage in Turkey."
"The response time from support is slow and needs to be improved."
"The setup is extremely difficult."
"We need more components to be more efficient. We use a lot of components, such as Salesforce, and it's not easy to use. There's are minor bugs and it's not easy to use some of the features."
"The security features could be improved."
"Talend Open Studio is in Java language, and right now, you can only use the debug functionality in Java. I see that people who know programming languages other than Java currently face difficulties."
"In terms of what can be improved, the scheduling is not there in the sister version, while it is there in the cloud one, which is a paid version. If all kinds of scheduling could be available on the Open Studio that we generally use and practice on, that would be great. The scheduling of the data migration is currently not available in the sister version of Talend Open Studio that we are working on. It is available in the advanced version of the Talend. This is the one thing that can be improvised."
"When faced with a challenge, such as the necessity to link up with an unconventional data source like the legacy Cyprus Vision database that wasn't inherently supported by Talend, I had to resort to writing Python code to establish the connection."
"The physical appearance of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Technical support and customer service need to be improved."
"Inter-version compatibility is a problem, and migration projects between versions are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Small and medium-sized companies cannot afford to pay for this solution."
"The pricing depends on the setup. However, we paid $100,000 as a one-time cost for an on-premises setup."
"I have no information on the exact pricing for IBM InfoSphere DataStage because the solution is usually procured by the clients my company works with, though the pricing is higher compared to other solutions, so many clients choose to go with a different solution rather than IBM InfoSphere DataStage."
"The pricing is competitive but on the higher side of the pricing scale."
"It's very expensive."
"High-cost of ownership: They could take a page from open source software."
"Pricing varies based on use, and it is not as costly as some competing enterprise solutions."
"It is quite expensive."
"The cost, particularly in Africa, is quite high."
"It is an open-source tool which means it is a free solution."
"Pricing and licensing are fairly straightforward. It is reasonably priced and managed."
"Talend Open Studio is priced too high."
"We are using the free version of the tool, because the enterprise version is a little expensive."
"Open Studio has a basic license and additional costs for services, including customer support and technical assistance."
"It does the job well for nothing — without cost. That's the advantage of this product."
"Right now, because we're using the open-source version, there's no cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Would you upgrade to more premium versions of IBM InfoSphere DataStage?
My company currently uses the free version of the product, and we are definitely switching to a paid one. We needed a tool that can help us not only integrate our data but use it effectively. For ...
Is IBM InfoSphere DataStage more difficult to use compared to other tools in the field?
I think the tool may cause some difficulties if you have not used other data integration solutions before. I have worked at companies that used different tools for data integration, and they work ...
Do you rely on IBM Cloud Paks for your data? Have you utilized this product, or do you use IBM InfoSphere DataStage without it?
IBM Cloud Paks makes a big difference in your data integration. My company has been using it alongside IBM InfoSphere DataStage and while the main product is good on its own, this one truly expands...
How does Talend Open Studio compare with AWS Glue?
We reviewed AWS Glue before choosing Talend Open Studio. AWS Glue is the managed ETL (extract, transform, and load) from Amazon Web Services. AWS Glue enables AWS users to create and manage jobs in...
What do you like most about Talend Open Studio?
It is easy to use and covers most of the functions needed. We can use the code without any extra effort. The open source is very good. They have the same commercials with additional connectors. The...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Open Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dubai Statistics Center, Etisalat Egypt
Almerys, BF&M, Findus
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM InfoSphere DataStage vs. Talend Open Studio and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
859,687 professionals have used our research since 2012.