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Databricks vs MathWorks Matlab comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 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

Databricks
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (4th), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (5th), Streaming Analytics (1st)
MathWorks Matlab
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
17th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of Databricks is 7.2%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MathWorks Matlab is 1.8%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Databricks7.2%
MathWorks Matlab1.8%
Other91.0%
Data Science Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

SimonRobinson - PeerSpot reviewer
Governance And Engagement Lead
Improved data governance has enabled sensitive data tracking but cost management still needs work
I believe we could improve Databricks integration with cloud service providers. The impact of our current integration has not been particularly good, and it's becoming very expensive for us. The inefficiencies in our implementation, such as not shutting down warehouses when they're not in use or reserving the right number of credits, have led to increased costs. We made several beginner mistakes, such as not taking advantage of incremental loading and running overly complicated queries all the time. We should be using ETL tools to help us instead of doing it directly in Databricks. We need more experienced professionals to manage Databricks effectively, as it's not as forgiving as other platforms such as Snowflake. I think introducing customer repositories would facilitate easier implementation with Databricks.
RB
Business Owner at SASS GmbH
Versatile system empowers users with advanced algorithm development and seamless integration capabilities
The application is pretty good, and I don't really complain. For my purposes, MathWorks Matlab is perfect because it's very versatile; it is not out-of-the-box of course, and you have to program everything yourself. If you are experienced enough, you can do many things which other programs, for instance, SPSS, cannot do, as you need to program it—it's a fourth-generation programming language. In the future of MathWorks Matlab, I would appreciate the addition of many AI features, as there are a lot of machine learning capabilities and many AI features in the visual scene, although I don't need those because I use this feature data and don't work on pictures or images. However, you can work on images and can then do deep learning and that stuff, which is one of the real strengths of MathWorks Matlab.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Of the available feature set, I like the Imageflow feature a lot."
"The built-in optimization recommendations halved the speed of queries and allowed us to reach decision points and deliver insights very quickly."
"Databricks is a unified platform that provides features like streaming and batch processing so all the data scientists, analysts, and engineers can collaborate on a single platform and it has all the features you need, so you don't need to go for any other tool."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"The ease of use and its accessibility are valuable."
"Databricks is a truly essential platform for data engineering needs, and I recommend it to anyone looking to advance in the data engineering field."
"It has allowed our data engineers, data scientists, and analysts to collaborate and work on the same platform."
"We can scale the product."
"The tool's most valuable feature is the Simulink environment. This feature provides an incredible capability to visually represent the system behavior before creating the code. It allows you to see the flow and interactions of the system, which is extremely beneficial for software development. With this visual representation, you can better understand the system's behavior, make necessary adjustments, and ensure maintenance and updates. This capability is why I love working with the product."
"Making digital twins saves significant time; checking something in simulation is more cost-effective—for instance, with marine engines, we typically need about 10 years of checking to find misfires, but with MathWorks Matlab, we can complete it in one month."
"The platform's most valuable feature is its field-specific packages, which make it very easy to use."
"Personally for me, because I do a lot of development, I like that it is easy to test mathematical algorithms with several matrix calculations. It's perfect for that."
"What I appreciate about MathWorks Matlab is that it is the most versatile program system I know; there are so many toolboxes which I don't need, as I mostly work with statistics, but it's amazing how many functions there are."
"This solution is pretty good, I truly enjoy it."
 

Cons

"I would like to see the integration between Databricks and MLflow improved. It is quite hard to train multiple models in parallel in the distributed fashions. You hit rate limits on the clients very fast."
"If I want to create a Databricks account, I need to have a prior cloud account such as an AWS account or an Azure account. Only then can I create a Databricks account on the cloud. However, if they can make it so that I can still try Databricks even if I don't have a cloud account on AWS and Azure, it would be great. That is, it would be nice if it were possible to create a pseudo account and be provided with a free trial. It is very essential to creating a workforce on Databricks. For example, students or corporate staff can then explore and learn Databricks."
"The interface of Databricks could be easier to use when compared to other solutions. It is not easy for non-data scientists. The user interface is important before we had to write code manually and as solutions move to "No code AI" it is critical that the interface is very good."
"From a purely technical perspective, I would rate Databricks an eight out of ten. However, there is a failure in terms of user adoption."
"Cluster failure is one of the biggest weaknesses I notice in our Databricks."
"The integration of data could be a bit better."
"The integration features could be more interesting, more involved."
"Databricks should have more libraries for predictive analysis and machine learning. It should have more compatible and more advanced visualization and machine learning libraries."
"To make use of the GPU, you have to have an Nvidia card. What I would want it to do is to run in Next Generation with Intel or AMD, and not just with Nvidia."
"One area where the product could improve is in the ease of learning."
"The cost is a significant concern; while university pricing is reasonable, a cheaper version with fewer libraries would be beneficial."
"In the area of improvement, sometimes there are issues with the speed of MathWorks Matlab, particularly in the Simulink environment. The tool's latest versions can be slow to open, taking significant time to load. Additionally, saving data and integrating models can also be time-consuming processes."
"To make use of the GPU, you have to have an Nvidia card."
"It is not out-of-the-box of course, and you have to program everything yourself."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are different versions."
"I'm not involved in the financing, but I can say that the solution seemed reasonably priced compared to the competitors. Similar products are usually in the same price range. With five being affordable and one being expensive, I would rate Databricks a four out of five."
"The solution is affordable."
"Databricks is a very expensive solution. Pricing is an area that could definitely be improved. They could provide a lower end compute and probably reduce the price."
"The billing of Databricks can be difficult and should improve."
"The solution is a good value for batch processing and huge workloads."
"It is an expensive tool. The licensing model is a pay-as-you-go one."
"The price is okay. It's competitive."
"We have a single user license. Support and add-ons are an extra fee."
"The pricing for the software itself is reasonable, and I didn't encounter any additional costs beyond the initial purchase or license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise58
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

Which do you prefer - Databricks or Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Databricks gives you the option of working with several different languages, such as SQL, R, Scala, Apache Spark, or Python. It offers many different cluster choices and excellent integration with ...
How would you compare Databricks vs Amazon SageMaker?
We researched AWS SageMaker, but in the end, we chose Databricks. Databricks is a Unified Analytics Platform designed to accelerate innovation projects. It is based on Spark so it is very fast. It...
Which would you choose - Databricks or Azure Stream Analytics?
Databricks is an easy-to-set-up and versatile tool for data management, analysis, and business analytics. For analytics teams that have to interpret data to further the business goals of their orga...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MathWorks Matlab?
Regarding the pricing part and licensing cost for MathWorks Matlab, it is not cheap, but it depends on the functions you need. You don't need all of them; you may just require a few and then it's r...
What needs improvement with MathWorks Matlab?
The application is pretty good, and I don't really complain. For my purposes, MathWorks Matlab is perfect because it's very versatile; it is not out-of-the-box of course, and you have to program ev...
What is your primary use case for MathWorks Matlab?
I am working with MathWorks Matlab for statistics and machine learning, though I don't know which version I have, but I guess it is 21 or so. I don't care because the things I'm doing haven't chang...
 

Also Known As

Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks vs. MathWorks Matlab and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.