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Azure Data Factory vs dbt comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 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

Azure Data Factory
Ranking in Data Integration
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (3rd)
dbt
Ranking in Data Integration
38th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Joy Maitra - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates seamless data pipeline creation with good analytics and and thorough monitoring
Azure Data Factory is a low code, no code platform, which is helpful. It provides many prebuilt functionalities that assist in building data pipelines. Also, it facilitates easy transformation with all required functionalities for analytics. Furthermore, it connects to different sources out-of-the-box, making integration much easier. The monitoring is very thorough, though a more readable version would be appreciable.
Ninad Magdum - PeerSpot reviewer
Developer-friendly and easy to use, but doesn't have many optimization options
We also use stored procedures and Talend. They are not replaced by dbt completely. We use dbt only for the transformation process. My recommendations would depend on an organization’s requirements and problems. I will recommend the tool to others. The product is developer-friendly. However, it is still dependent on the data warehouse for big data and optimization. It's just a SQL transformation tool. It doesn't have a lot of optimization options like Spark. It's a good tool for Snowflake. If it were only for Snowflake, I would have rated it an eight out of ten. However, there are other data platforms. Overall, I rate the tool a six and a half out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's most valuable features are its connectors. It has many out-of-the-box connectors. We use ADF for ETL processes. Our main use case involves integrating data from various databases, processing it, and loading it into the target database. ADF plays a crucial role in orchestrating these ETL workflows."
"For developers that are very accustomed to the Microsoft development studio, it's very easy for them to complete end-to-end data integration."
"The workflow automation features in GitLab, particularly its low code/no code approach, are highly beneficial for accelerating development speed. This feature allows for quick creation of pipelines and offers customization options for integration needs, making it versatile for various use cases. GitLab supports a wide range of connectors, catering to a majority of integration needs. Azure Data Factory's virtual enterprise and monitoring capabilities, the visual interface of GitLab makes it user-friendly and easy to teach, facilitating adoption within teams. While the monitoring capabilities are sufficient out of the box, they may not be as comprehensive as dedicated enterprise monitoring tools. GitLab's monitoring features are manageable for production use, with the option to integrate log analytics or create custom dashboards if needed. The data flow feature in Azure Data Factory within GitLab is valuable for data transformation tasks, especially for those who may not have expertise in writing complex code. It simplifies the process of data manipulation and is particularly useful for individuals unfamiliar with Spark coding. While there could be improvements for more flexibility, overall, the data flow feature effectively accomplishes its purpose within GitLab's ecosystem."
"The trigger scheduling options are decently robust."
"The solution can scale very easily."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Data Factory is that it has a good combination of flexibility, fine-tuning, automation, and good monitoring."
"I am one hundred percent happy with the stability."
"Data Factory's best features are connectivity with different tools and focusing data ingestion using pipeline copy data."
"The product is developer-friendly."
 

Cons

"User-friendliness and user effectiveness are unquestionably important, and it may be a good option here to improve the user experience. However, I believe that more and more sophisticated monitoring would be beneficial."
"Currently, smaller businesses face a disadvantage in terms of pricing, and reducing costs could address this issue."
"Azure Data Factory's pricing in terms of utilization could be improved."
"The support and the documentation can be improved."
"Some prebuilt data source or data connection aspects are generic."
"The product could provide more ways to import and export data."
"The main challenge with implementing Azure Data Factory is that it processes data in batches, not near real-time. To achieve near real-time processing, we need to schedule updates more frequently, which can be an issue. Its interface needs to be lighter."
"When we initiated the cluster, it took some time to start the process."
"The solution must add more Python-based implementations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate Data Factory's pricing nine out of ten."
"For our use case, it is not expensive. We take into the picture everything: resources, learning curve, and maintenance."
"It seems very low initially, but as the data grows, the solution’s bills grow exponentially."
"Azure Data Factory gives better value for the price than other solutions such as Informatica."
"Our licensing fees are approximately 15,000 ($150 USD) per month."
"The licensing model for Azure Data Factory is good because you won't have to overpay. Pricing-wise, the solution is a five out of ten. It was not expensive, and it was not cheap."
"There's no licensing for Azure Data Factory, they have a consumption payment model. How often you are running the service and how long that service takes to run. The price can be approximately $500 to $1,000 per month but depends on the scaling."
"The price is fair."
"The solution’s pricing is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Insurance Company
13%
Computer Software Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How do you select the right cloud ETL tool?
AWS Glue and Azure Data factory for ELT best performance cloud services.
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica PowerCenter?
Azure Data Factory is flexible, modular, and works well. In terms of cost, it is not too pricey. It offers the stability and reliability I am looking for, good scalability, and is easy to set up an...
How does Azure Data Factory compare with Informatica Cloud Data Integration?
Azure Data Factory is a solid product offering many transformation functions; It has pre-load and post-load transformations, allowing users to apply transformations either in code by using Power Q...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for dbt?
It is cheap because dbt is open source. If you compare the pay-per-service of Dbt with the open source option you can manage. We are managing the solution, when we were acquiring service from them....
What needs improvement with dbt?
SQL statements that beyond DML, are not possible. Currently, they are not possible in Dbt. Having more features in SQL statements will support us. Another issue is the terms of data ingestion becau...
What is your primary use case for dbt?
We use the solution to deal with data transformations inside different organizations.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Adobe 2. BMW 3. Coca-Cola 4. General Electric 5. Johnson & Johnson 6. LinkedIn 7. Mastercard 8. Nestle 9. Pfizer 10. Samsung 11. Siemens 12. Toyota 13. Unilever 14. Verizon 15. Walmart 16. Accenture 17. American Express 18. AT&T 19. Bank of America 20. Cisco 21. Deloitte 22. ExxonMobil 23. Ford 24. General Motors 25. IBM 26. JPMorgan Chase 27. Microsoft (Azure Data Factory is developed by Microsoft) 28. Oracle 29. Procter & Gamble 30. Salesforce 31. Shell 32. Visa
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Data Factory vs. dbt and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.