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Apache Spark vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Ranking in Hadoop
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Compute Service (4th), Java Frameworks (2nd)
Cloudera Distribution for H...
Ranking in Hadoop
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
NoSQL Databases (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Hadoop category, the mindshare of Apache Spark is 17.8%, down from 21.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is 25.7%, up from 24.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Hadoop
 

Featured Reviews

Ilya Afanasyev - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable, able to expand, and handle large amounts of data well
We use batch processing. It works well with our formats and file versions. There's a lot of functionality. In our pipeline each hour, we make a copy of data from MongoDB, of the changes from MongoDB to some specific file. Each time pipeline copied all of the data, it would do it each time without changes to all of the tables. Tables have a lot of data, and in the last MongoDB version, there is a possibility to read only changed data. This reduced the cost and configuration of the cluster, and we saved about $150,000. The solution is scalable. It's a stable product.
Rok Dolinsek - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables on-premise implementation with powerful data processing capabilities
This is the only solution that is possible to install on-premise. Cloudera provides a hybrid solution that combines compute on cloud or on-premises. It includes all machine learning algorithms in the Spark machine learning library. All functionalities needed for a big data platform and ETL are on the platform, eliminating the need for other tools. It is scalable, ready for vertical scaling, and very powerful, offering numerous functionalities and configurations for generative AI.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The features we find most valuable are the machine learning, data learning, and Spark Analytics."
"The distribution of tasks, like the seamless map-reduce functionality, is quite impressive."
"One of Apache Spark's most valuable features is that it supports in-memory processing, the execution of jobs compared to traditional tools is very fast."
"The product’s most valuable feature is the SQL tool. It enables us to create a database and publish it."
"The good performance. The nice graphical management console. The long list of ML algorithms."
"This solution provides a clear and convenient syntax for our analytical tasks."
"It is useful for handling large amounts of data. It is very useful for scientific purposes."
"I like Apache Spark's flexibility the most. Before, we had one server that would choke up. With the solution, we can easily add more nodes when needed. The machine learning models are also really helpful. We use them to predict energy theft and find infrastructure problems."
"The most valuable feature is Kubernetes."
"The search function is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"Cloudera is a very manageable solution with good support."
"The most valuable feature is that I can use CDH for almost all use cases across all industries, including the financial sector, public sector, private retailers, and so on."
"The product provides better data processing features than other tools."
"The file system is a valuable feature."
"This is the only solution that is possible to install on-premise."
"The features I find most valuable is that the solution is that it is easy to install and to work with. It starts with the installation and from there on the management is very simple and centralized."
 

Cons

"Apache Spark should add some resource management improvements to the algorithms."
"For improvement, I think the tool could make things easier for people who aren't very technical. There's a significant learning curve, and I've seen organizations give up because of it. Making it quicker or easier for non-technical people would be beneficial."
"At times during the deployment process, the tool goes down, making it look less robust. To take care of the issues in the deployment process, users need to do manual interventions occasionally."
"We are building our own queries on Spark, and it can be improved in terms of query handling."
"The migration of data between different versions could be improved."
"When you want to extract data from your HDFS and other sources then it is kind of tricky because you have to connect with those sources."
"Apache Spark lacks geospatial data."
"When you are working with large, complex tasks, the garbage collection process is slow and affects performance."
"While the deployed product is generally functional, there are instances where it presents difficulties."
"The solution does not support multiple languages very well and this means users need to create work-arounds to implement some solutions."
"The tool doesn't support reporting, and relational databases are still the major source of reporting data. Apache Iceberg will be launched soon within the Cloudera cluster for analytical purposes. The Cloudera Machine Learning aspect could be tuned and enhanced to enable us to host some predictive analytics machine learning and AI use cases."
"The pricing needs to improve."
"The security of this solution could be improved. There should also be a way to basically have a blockchain enabled storage with the HDFS."
"I would like to see an improvement in how the solution helps me to handle the whole cluster."
"They should focus on upgrading their technical capabilities in the market."
"There are multiple bugs when we update."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Apache Spark is an open-source solution, and there is no cost involved in deploying the solution on-premises."
"Spark is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"Considering the product version used in my company, I feel that the tool is not costly since the product is available for free."
"Apache Spark is open-source. You have to pay only when you use any bundled product, such as Cloudera."
"The product is expensive, considering the setup."
"The tool is an open-source product. If you're using the open-source Apache Spark, no fees are involved at any time. Charges only come into play when using it with other services like Databricks."
"Apache Spark is an open-source tool."
"It is quite expensive. In fact, it accounts for almost 50% of the cost of our entire project."
"When comparing with Oracle Sybase and SQL, it's cheaper. It's not expensive."
"The product’s price depends from project to project."
"The pricing must be improved."
"I believe we pay for a three-year license."
"The tool is expensive...For the SMB market or customers whose environments are not that complex and do not have multiple systems running, Cloudera might not be a good option."
"The price could be better for the product."
"Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is expensive, with support costs involved."
"The tool is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
14%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Spark?
We use Spark to process data from different data sources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Spark?
Compared to other solutions like Doc DB, Spark is more costly due to the need for extensive infrastructure. It requires significant investment in infrastructure, which can be expensive. While cloud...
What needs improvement with Apache Spark?
The Spark solution could improve in scheduling tasks and managing dependencies. Spark alone cannot handle sequential tasks, requiring environments like Airflow scheduler or scripts. For instance, o...
What do you like most about Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
The tool can be deployed using different container technologies, which makes it very scalable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
The price for Cloudera is average, yet it is very good compared to other solutions. It can be deployed on-premises, unlike competitors' cloud-only solutions.
What needs improvement with Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
It is quite complicated to configure and install. Integrating the platform into an information system is always a challenge, especially when starting with on-premise implementation. Integrating wit...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NASA JPL, UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, UC Santa Cruz, TripAdvisor, Taboola, Agile Lab, Art.com, Baidu, Alibaba Taobao, EURECOM, Hitachi Solutions
37signals, Adconion,adgooroo, Aggregate Knowledge, AMD, Apollo Group, Blackberry, Box, BT, CSC
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Spark vs. Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.