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Amazon EMR pros and cons

3.9 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Amazon EMR stands out for its ability to resize clusters, making it a flexible and scalable choice for big data solutions.
The initial setup of Amazon EMR is straightforward, allowing for a quick start.
Amazon EMR offers managed services, providing stability and scalability with support for various distributions and applications like Spark and Hudi.
With high processing speed and data storage capacity, Amazon EMR efficiently manages large volumes of data.
The security model of Amazon EMR, with managed workflow and services, is a key benefit for users, offering multiple connectors to different data sources.

CONS

Amazon EMR can become expensive if not carefully managed, especially with multiple users scaling up.
Configuration to the cluster and ensuring its correct operation is complex.
Initial setup is time-consuming.
Legacy versions are not supported in new versions, causing compatibility issues.
Spark jobs on Amazon EMR take longer compared to previous experiences.
 

Amazon EMR Pros review quotes

it_user744720 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 27, 2017
The ability to resize the cluster is what really makes it stand out over other Hadoop and big data solutions.
reviewer1343079 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 6, 2025
Amazon EMR provides out-of-the-box functionality because we can deploy and get Spark functionality over Hadoop.
JC
Jun 14, 2024
The security of the managed workflow and the managed services are the best features for us. Since we inherited their security model and it's all managed services, those are the key benefits for our clients.
Learn what your peers think about Amazon EMR. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
871,469 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1724670 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 2, 2021
One of the valuable features about this solution is that it's managed services, so it's pretty stable, and scalable as much as you wish. It has all the necessary distributions. With some additional work, it's also possible to change to a Spark version with the latest version of EMR. It also has Hudi, so we are leveraging Apache Hudi on EMR for change data capture, so then it comes out-of-the-box in EMR.
MM
Apr 8, 2025
I rate Amazon EMR as ten out of ten.
RahulJadhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 17, 2022
In Amazon EMR it is easy to rebuild anything, easy to upgrade and has good fault tolerance.
FN
Mar 6, 2021
The initial setup is pretty straightforward.
Prashant  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
May 18, 2022
The solution is pretty simple to set up.
Ilya Afanasyev - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2022
When we grade big jobs from on-prem to the cloud, we do it in EMR with Spark.
Quan Vu - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2023
It allows users to access the data through a web interface.
 

Amazon EMR Cons review quotes

it_user744720 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 27, 2017
There were times where they would release new versions and it seemed to end up breaking old versions, which is very strange.
reviewer1343079 - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 6, 2025
In Qubole, the interface was very good. I could see many details because in Amazon EMR console, very few details are available.
JC
Jun 14, 2024
The solution can become expensive if you are not careful.
Learn what your peers think about Amazon EMR. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
871,469 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1724670 - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 2, 2021
Amazon EMR is continuously improving, but maybe something like CI/CD out-of-the-box or integration with Prometheus Grafana.
MM
Apr 8, 2025
There is room for improvement with respect to retries, handling the volume of data on S3 buckets, cluster provisioning, scaling, termination, security, and integration between services like S3, Glue, Lake Formation, and DynamoDB.
RahulJadhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 17, 2022
Amazon EMR can improve by adding some features, such as megastore services and HiveServer2. Additionally, the user interface could be better, similar to what Apache service provides, cross-platform services.
FN
Mar 6, 2021
The dashboard management could be better. Right now, it's lacking a bit.
Prashant  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
May 18, 2022
We don't have much control. If we have multiple users, if they want to scale up, the cost will go and increase and we don't know how we can restrict that price part.
Ilya Afanasyev - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 3, 2022
The problem for us is it starts very slow.
Quan Vu - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2023
There is no need to pay extra for third-party software.