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Apache Spark Streaming vs Google Cloud Dataflow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 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

Apache Spark Streaming
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
10th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Google Cloud Dataflow
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Apache Spark Streaming is 4.4%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud Dataflow is 3.7%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Apache Spark Streaming4.4%
Google Cloud Dataflow3.7%
Other91.9%
Streaming Analytics
 

Featured Reviews

Himansu Jena - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr Project Manager at Raj Subhatech
Efficient real-time data management and analysis with advanced features
There are various ways we can improve Apache Spark Streaming through best practices. The initial part requires attention to batch interval tuning, which helps small intervals in micro batches based on latency requirements and helps prevent back pressure. We can use data formats such as Parquet or ORC for storage that needs faster reads and leveraging feature predicate push-down optimizations. We can implement serialization which helps with any Kyro in terms of .NET or Java. We have boxing and unboxing serialization for XML and JSON for converting key-pair values stored in browser. We can also implement caching mechanisms for storing and recomputing multiple operations. We can use specified joins which help with smaller databases, and distributed joins can minimize users. We can implement project optimization memory for CPU efficiency, known as Tungsten. Additionally, load balancing, checkpointing, and schema evaluation are areas to consider based on performance and bottlenecks. We can use Bugzilla tools for tracking and Splunk to monitor the performance of process systems, utilization, and performance based on data frames or data sets.
reviewer2812851 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Customer Data Platform Specialist at a marketing services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Unified user personas have improved data workflows and support detailed monitoring and logging
Google Cloud has many streams and products. In Google Cloud, everything is translated in the backend, so we do not have to use services such as Apache Beam. When you want to use Google Cloud Functions, you write the code, and the backend talks to all the libraries or Apache, so we do not need to be concerned about those. We just need to use our functions that translate and have many tools and services readily available. Google Cloud Dataflow has made it very easy for detailed monitoring and logging features for pipeline performance assessment. For example, if I am using Google Cloud Functions, I can easily see what changes I have done and trace it properly. I can see what is happening with this script, how many users are affected, whether the script is working, what is failing, and how we can rectify issues with proper monitoring.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With Apache Spark Streaming's integration with Anaconda and Miniconda with Python, I interact with databases using data frames or data sets in micro versions and create solutions based on business expectations for decision-making, logistic regression, linear regression, or machine learning which provides image or voice record and graphical data for improved accuracy."
"As an open-source solution, using it is basically free."
"Spark Streaming is critical, quite stable, full-featured, and scalable."
"It is the most scalable tool that I have seen before."
"As an open-source solution, using it is basically free."
"Apache Spark Streaming was straightforward in terms of maintenance. It was actively developed, and migrating from an older to a newer version was quite simple."
"Apache Spark Streaming has features like checkpointing and Streaming API that are useful."
"Apache Spark Streaming's most valuable feature is near real-time analytics, as developers can build APIs easily for a code-steaming pipeline and the solution has an ecosystem of integration with other stock services."
"The best feature of Google Cloud Dataflow is its practical connectedness."
"Google Cloud Dataflow is useful for streaming and data pipelines."
"The solution allows us to program in any language we desire."
"The most valuable features of Google Cloud Dataflow are scalability and connectivity."
"Google Cloud Dataflow has made it very easy for detailed monitoring and logging features for pipeline performance assessment."
"It allows me to test solutions locally using runners like Direct Runner without having to start a Dataflow job, which can be costly."
"The most valuable features of Google Cloud Dataflow are the integration, it's very simple if you have the complete stack, which we are using, it is overall very easy to use, user-friendly, and cost-effective if you know how to use it, and the solution is very flexible for programmers, if you know how to do scripts or program in Python or any other language, it's extremely easy to use."
"The integration within Google Cloud Platform is very good."
 

Cons

"It was resource-intensive, even for small-scale applications."
"The solution itself could be easier to use."
"We would like to have the ability to do arbitrary stateful functions in Python."
"The downside is when you have this the other way around in the columns, it becomes really hard to use."
"When dealing with various data types including COBOL, Excel, JSON, video, audio, and MPG files, challenges can arise with incomplete or missing values."
"One improvement I would expect is real-time processing instead of micro-batch or near real-time."
"The debugging aspect could use some improvement."
"The initial setup is quite complex."
"Occasionally, dealing with a huge volume of data causes failure due to array size."
"The technical support is very hard to reach."
"The deployment time could also be reduced."
"I would like Google Cloud Dataflow to be integrated with IT data flow and other related services to make it easier to use as it is a complex tool."
"The authentication part of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"Google Cloud Dataflow should include a little cost optimization."
"The technical support has slight room for improvement."
"Promoting the technology more broadly would help increase its adoption."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I was using the open-source community version, which was self-hosted."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive, or not cost-effective, and ten is cheap, I rate the price a seven."
"People pay for Apache Spark Streaming as a service."
"Spark is an affordable solution, especially considering its open-source nature."
"The price of the solution depends on many factors, such as how they pay for tools in the company and its size."
"Google Cloud Dataflow is a cheap solution."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."
"The tool is cheap."
"Google Cloud is slightly cheaper than AWS."
"The solution is cost-effective."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate Google Cloud Dataflow's pricing a four out of ten."
"The solution is not very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Retailer
9%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Apache Spark Streaming?
One of the improvements we need is in Spark SQL and the machine learning library. I don't think there is too much to work on, but the issue is when we want to use machine learning, we always need t...
What is your primary use case for Apache Spark Streaming?
We work with Apache Spark Streaming for our project because we use that as one of the landing data sources, and we work with it to ensure we can get all of the data before it goes through our data ...
What advice do you have for others considering Apache Spark Streaming?
One thing I would share with other organizations considering Apache Spark Streaming is the necessity of having effective data storage. We want to ensure we acquire and manage our data storage effec...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Dataflow?
Pricing is normal. It is part of a package received from Google, and they are not charging us too high.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Dataflow?
I feel there could be something that they can introduce, such as when we have data in the tables, a feature that creates a unique persona of the user automatically, so we do not have to do that man...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud Dataflow?
The primary use case for Google Cloud Dataflow is when a brand has a lot of data and wants to store it in their warehouse. They can use BigQuery to store their data or use big data solutions to sto...
 

Also Known As

Spark Streaming
Google Dataflow
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, Alibaba Taobao, Kenshoo, eBay Inc.
Absolutdata, Backflip Studios, Bluecore, Claritics, Crystalloids, Energyworx, GenieConnect, Leanplum, Nomanini, Redbus, Streak, TabTale
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Spark Streaming vs. Google Cloud Dataflow and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.