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Databricks vs Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Databricks reduces costs and boosts efficiency, yet some users struggle to realize financial gains despite improved productivity.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio improves efficiency with a 36% ROI, offering streamlined processes and comprehensive solutions.
This reduction in both time and money resulted in real-time impact and significant cost savings.
Consultant at Nice Software Solutions
For a lot of different tasks, including machine learning, it is a nice solution.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
When it comes to big data processing, I prefer Databricks over other solutions.
Head CEO at bizmetric
I have seen a return on investment from using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio in terms of workload reduction, as we now complete the same projects with two people instead of five.
Data Scientist
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Databricks support is professional and responsive, with users appreciating efficient issue resolution and effective assistance despite occasional delays.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio offers responsive support, but small clients suggest faster responses and improved escalation processes.
Whenever we reach out, they respond promptly.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
As of now, we are raising issues and they are providing solutions without any problems.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
I rate the technical support as fine because they have levels of technical support available, especially partners who get really good support from Databricks on new features.
Data Engineer at CRAFT Tech
The customer support for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is quite responsive across different channels, making it a cool experience.
Data Scientist
Microsoft technical support is rated a seven out of ten.
Solution Sales Specialist at Intent Solutions Group
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Databricks is praised for scalable, cost-effective cloud compatibility, efficient data handling, and seamless integration with Azure and AWS.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is praised for its scalability, flexibility, and efficient cloud-based capabilities, with high user satisfaction.
The sky's the limit with Databricks.
Governance And Engagement Lead
The patches have sometimes caused issues leading to our jobs being paused for about six hours.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
Databricks is an easily scalable platform.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is scalable as I can choose the compute, making it flexible for various scales.
Data Engineer at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
We are building Azure Machine Learning Studio as a scalable solution.
Senior Developer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio's scalability has been beneficial, as I could increase my compute resources when needing more data injection.
Data Scientist
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Databricks is generally stable and reliable, with occasional glitches, handling large data sets effectively according to users.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is stable, reliable, with occasional JavaScript issues, suitable for non-production environments.
They release patches that sometimes break our code.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
Although it is too early to definitively state the platform's stability, we have not encountered any issues so far.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
Databricks is definitely a very stable product and reliable.
Data Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Databricks requires better visualization, integration, pricing, user experience, scalability, and documentation to enhance functionality and user adaptation.
Users seek improved usability, algorithm variety, support, pricing, integration, deep learning modules, and better data preparation in Azure ML Studio.
Adjusting features like worker nodes and node utilization during cluster creation could mitigate these failures.
Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We prefer using a small to mid-sized cluster for many jobs to keep costs low, but this sometimes doesn't support our operations properly.
Senior Data Engineer at a logistics company with 51-200 employees
We use MLflow for managing MLOps, however, further improvement would be beneficial, especially for large language models and related tools.
Solution Architect at Mercedes-Benz AG
It would be beneficial for them to incorporate more services required for LLMs or LLM evaluation.
Data Engineer at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
I find the pricing to be not a good story in this case, as it is not affordable for everyone.
Solution Sales Specialist at Intent Solutions Group
In future updates, I would appreciate improvements in integration and more AI features.
Public Cloud at KDDI Corporation
 

Setup Cost

Databricks offers competitive, flexible pay-per-use pricing, but costs vary by usage, often higher than open-source alternatives.
Microsoft Azure's pricing is seen as reasonable, though complexities and potential high costs require careful management.
It is not a cheap solution.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
I believe that in terms of credits for Databricks, we're spending between £15,000 and £20,000 a month.
Governance And Engagement Lead
I rate the pricing as three or four on a scale of one to ten in terms of affordability.
Solution Sales Specialist at Intent Solutions Group
The pricing for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is reasonable since it's pay as you go.
Data Scientist
 

Valuable Features

Databricks offers scalable analytics with powerful machine learning, seamless cloud integration, and efficient data governance for rapid data processing.
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is user-friendly, scalable, integrates with Azure, supports AutoML, and accommodates all skill levels.
Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed.
Data Engineer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The platform allows us to leverage cloud advantages effectively, enhancing our AI and ML projects.
Data Platform Architect at KELLANOVA
The Unity Catalog is for data governance, and the Delta Lake is to build the lakehouse.
Data Engineer at CRAFT Tech
The platform provides managed services and compute, and I have more control in Azure, even in terms of monitoring services.
Data Engineer at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is a powerful platform for those already in the Azure ecosystem because it allows for scalability and provides a good environment for reproducibility, as well as collaboration tools, all designed and packaged in one place, which makes it outstanding.
Data Scientist
Azure Machine Learning Studio provides a platform to integrate with large language models.
Senior Developer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Databricks
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (6th), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (5th), Streaming Analytics (1st)
Microsoft Azure Machine Lea...
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
AI Development Platforms (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of Databricks is 9.3%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is 3.3%, down from 5.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Databricks9.3%
Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio3.3%
Other87.4%
Data Science Platforms
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
Content Manager at PeerSpot
Sep 23, 2021
 

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.
reviewer2722962 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Scientist
Platform accelerates model development, enhances collaboration, and offers efficient deployment
The best features Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio offers include deep integration with Python notebooks and Azure Data Lake, which allows me to import external data, and through the pipeline, I can build my models, performing what is called data injection for my model building, making that deep integration quite interesting to use. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is a powerful platform for those already in the Azure ecosystem because it allows for scalability and provides a good environment for reproducibility, as well as collaboration tools, all designed and packaged in one place, which makes it outstanding. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio has positively impacted my organization by reducing our project delivery times and increasing the pace at which we work, allowing us to focus on other more important tasks. Using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio has reduced our model development time from approximately four hours to about two hours.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Performing Arts
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise56
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise30
 

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 Azure Machine Learning Studio?
The learning curve is very low. Operationalizing the model is also very easy within the Azure ecosystem.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
The pricing for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is reasonable since it's pay as you go, meaning it won't cost excessively unless specific resources are used.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
The initial setup can be a bit challenging for someone new, as the learning curve can be steep, but once I master the platform, I find it quite manageable. I would love to see the integration of a ...
 

Also Known As

Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
Azure Machine Learning, MS Azure Machine Learning Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Schneider Electric, BP
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks vs. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.