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Databricks vs Microsoft Analytics Platform System 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

Databricks
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (7th), Data Science Platforms (1st), Streaming Analytics (1st)
Microsoft Analytics Platfor...
Average Rating
6.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (17th)
 

Featured Reviews

ShubhamSharma7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Capability to integrate diverse coding languages in a single notebook greatly enhances workflow
Databricks offers various courses that I can use, whether it's PySpark, Scala, or R. I can leverage all these courses in a single notebook, which is beneficial for clients as they can access various tools in one place whenever needed. This is quite significant. I usually work with PySpark based on client requirements. After coding, I feed the Databricks notebooks into the ADF pipeline for updates. Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed. Furthermore, I can connect our Databricks notebook directly with Power BI and other visualization tools like Qlik. Once we develop code, it allows us to transform raw data into visualizations for clients using analysis diagrams, which is very helpful.
MahmoudMohamed1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers smooth data integration between systems, but requires better real-time analytics capabilities
We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services. This lets us continue using private databases without paying additional licensing fees. Additionally, the license includes Analytics services and Power BI, which work on-premises, unlike most other technologies that require cloud solutions.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We like that this solution can handle a wide variety and velocity of data engineering, either in batch mode or real-time."
"Databricks' Lakehouse architecture has been most useful for us. The data governance has been absolutely efficient in between other kinds of solutions."
"One of the features provides nice interactive clusters, or compute instances that you don't really need to manage often."
"The Delta Lake data type has been the most useful part of this solution. Delta Lake is an opensource data type and it was implemented and invented by Databricks."
"Databricks serves as a single platform that can handle numerous end-to-end machine learning tasks."
"Specifically for data science and data analytics purposes, it can handle large amounts of data in less time. I can compare it with Teradata. If a job takes five hours with Teradata databases, Databricks can complete it in around three to three and a half hours."
"I like how easy it is to share your notebook with others. You can give people permission to read or edit. I think that's a great feature. You can also pull in code from GitHub pretty easily. I didn't use it that often, but I think that's a cool feature."
"Databricks is a scalable solution. It is the largest advantage of the solution."
"Microsoft Analytics Platform System's most valuable feature is its ecosystems and seamless integration with other Microsoft reporting platforms and databases."
"We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services."
"The Cube Solution is quite different when compared to the rest of the competition and has unique functionality for advanced analytics."
"This solution will connect to any database, you can combine databases, and you can create a cube or tabular model."
"It is closely integrated with other products in the MS portfolio."
"I like that it's integrated with other Azure products."
"This is a well-integrated solution and that integration empowers results."
"Helps our customers to discover trends, which provides useful information based on their business."
 

Cons

"Support for Microsoft technology and the compatibility with the .NET framework is somewhat missing."
"While Databricks is generally a robust solution, I have noticed a limitation with debugging in the Delta Live Table, which could be improved."
"They release patches that sometimes break our code. These patches are supposed to fix issues, but sometimes they cause disruptions."
"Anyone who doesn't know SQL may find the product difficult to work with."
"The solution has some scalability and integration limitations when consolidating legacy systems."
"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."
"A lot of people are required to manage this solution."
"The product could be improved regarding the delay when switching to higher-performing virtual machines compared to other platforms."
"​Hybrid environments are complex to manage."
"The flexibility of this solution needs to be improved because you cannot make changes at every one of the different steps."
"I think the biggest problem with the product is that it does a data ingest model, which is very expensive."
"Functionality needs to be more up-to-date with competing products."
"The pricing model needs to be improved."
"Releases of new products and functionality is never accompanied by associated documentation, training and resources that adequately explain the release."
"Microsoft Analytics Platform System could have better support."
"Machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities need to be more friendly for beginning users."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I do not exactly know the costs, but one of our clients pays between $100 USD and $200 USD monthly."
"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."
"I would rate the tool’s pricing an eight out of ten."
"It is an expensive tool. The licensing model is a pay-as-you-go one."
"The price of Databricks is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"Price-wise, I would rate Databricks a three out of five."
"The solution is based on a licensing model."
"The pricing depends on the usage itself."
"We are currently paying $200,000 a year for all the different parts of the suite during an ingest model Microsoft now charges us $700,000 a year."
"I rate Microsoft Analytics Platform System a seven out of ten for pricing."
"Users have to pay extra for premium-level technical support."
"The initial price is lower than Oracle, but extensive use of SQL may lead to a higher total cost of ownership."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 do you like most about Microsoft Analytics Platform System?
We leverage its capabilities for many applications. We can integrate with our databases, like Oracle, MySQL, or any other, using Microsoft Integration Services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Analytics Platform System?
It's not too confusing. It's based on features, and we don't have to buy additional licenses.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Analytics Platform System?
We need better real-time analytics capabilities. It's a bit challenging for us. Moreover, there are some permission limitations.
 

Also Known As

Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
Microsoft APS, MS Analytics Platform System
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
Transport for London, E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG, Prometeia, Tangerine, SSM Health Care, Service Corporation International
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks vs. Microsoft Analytics Platform System and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.