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Dremio vs Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 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
4.0
Dremio offers cost savings and efficiency by reducing infrastructure needs and simplifying data source integration on data lakes.
Sentiment score
6.1
Companies benefited from Azure Synapse's cost savings, flexibility, and improved efficiency, though financial specifics and satisfaction varied.
Dremio surely saves time, reduces costs, and all those things because we don't have to worry so much about the infrastructure to make the different tools communicate.
SR BI developer at BRQ Digital Solutions
Some of my customers have indeed seen a return on investment with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics as they used it for analytics to drive decision-making, improving their processes or increasing revenue.
Data Strategist, Cloud Solutions Architect at Strategic Architects
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
Dremio's customer service is highly praised for responsiveness, with Gold plan users enjoying positive interactions despite some limitations.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics support experiences vary, with larger clients generally receiving faster, more knowledgeable assistance.
I would rate customer support a ten out of ten.
We contact the technical support at least weekly; currently, it's more or less daily because we face performance issues, crashes of queries sometimes, and we also need support for configuration of the query engines and so on.
Data Architect at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
We have had to reach out for customer support many times, and they respond, so they are pretty supportive about some long-term issues.
SR BI developer at BRQ Digital Solutions
They are slow to respond and not very knowledgeable.
IT Manager at KONGSBERG
This is an underestimation of the real impact because we use big data also to monitor the network and the customer.
Director Information Technology Services at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
I would rate the support for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics as an eight out of ten.
Data Strategist, Cloud Solutions Architect at Strategic Architects
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Dremio's scalability excels, with user-configurable auto-scaling on Kubernetes/Docker, meeting large-scale needs, but some features require licensing.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is praised for its scalability, flexibility, and auto-scaling, despite occasional cost and latency concerns.
Dremio's scalability can handle growing data and user demands easily.
SR BI developer at BRQ Digital Solutions
Internally, if it's on Docker or Kubernetes, scalability will be built into the system.
Senior Software Architect at USEReady
Dremio's scalability depends on your hardware and your deployment.
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is scalable, offering numerous opportunities for scalability.
IT Manager at KONGSBERG
For the scalability of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, I would rate it a 10 until you remain in the Azure Cloud scalability framework.
Director Information Technology Services at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Recovering from such scenarios becomes a bit problematic or time-consuming.
Sr. Technical Architect at Hexaware Technologies Limited
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Dremio users report stable performance overall, despite occasional memory leaks, scalability issues, and the need for frequent monitoring.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is praised for its stability, despite occasional minor outages and performance issues with large datasets.
I rate Dremio a nine in terms of stability.
SR BI developer at BRQ Digital Solutions
We refactored the query, and that worked, but it still doesn't make you confident to go to production with a product that might crash depending on the query you send it.
Data Architect at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Performance and stability are absolutely fine because Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is a PaaS service.
CTO at New Turn Technologies
I find the service stable as I have not encountered many issues.
IT Manager at KONGSBERG
We have never integrated Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics with Databricks, but we have mostly pulled data from on-premises systems into Azure Databricks.
Practice Head BI at Nous Infosystems
 

Room For Improvement

Dremio users face issues with performance, connectors, learning curve, and desire better integration and schema flexibility.
Microsoft Azure Synapse needs improvements in integration, pricing, ease of use, setup, and advanced analytics features for better adoption.
Starburst comes with around 50 connectors now.
Senior Software Architect at USEReady
Before we wrap up, I want to add that Dremio is lacking a semantic layer in a manner that the user can just choose dimensions, metrics, and filters to query the data.
It should be easier to get Arctic or an open-source version of Arctic onto the software version so that development teams can experiment with it.
Data Consultant at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is an excellent product because it includes both SIEM and orchestration capabilities with playbooks.
CTO at New Turn Technologies
There is a need for better documentation, particularly for customized tasks with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics.
IT Manager at KONGSBERG
Databricks is a very rich solution, with numerous open sources and capabilities in terms of extract, transform, load, database query, and so forth.
Director Information Technology Services at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Dremio offers cost-effectiveness but licensing is costly, leading some users to prefer the community version for scalability.
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics offers flexible pricing but requires careful cost management due to unpredictable expenses and competitive services.
I chose eight out of ten because Dremio is expensive for the Enterprise version, particularly regarding licensing.
Data Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
I had a good experience with pricing, as the pricing seems okay to me and the client.
Dremio does have a core of the engine that is open-source, but all the important features for the enterprise version are under license.
Data Architect at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
The cheapest tier costs about $4,000 to $4,700 a year, while the most expensive tier can reach up to $300,000 a year.
Data Strategist, Cloud Solutions Architect at Strategic Architects
I think the price of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is very expensive, but that's not only for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics—it's for the cloud in general.
Director Information Technology Services at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
I find the pricing of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics reasonable.
Sr. Technical Architect at Hexaware Technologies Limited
 

Valuable Features

Dremio excels in data virtualization, federated queries, and integration, enhancing data management and access with efficient tools.
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics offers scalability, integration, and advanced analytics with easy management, data protection, and familiar Microsoft interface.
Having everything under one system and an easier-to-work-with interface, along with having API integrations, adds significant value to working with Dremio.
Data Consultant at a comms service provider with 201-500 employees
Dremio has positively impacted my organization as nowadays we are connected to multiple databases from multiple environments, multiple APIs, and applications, and Dremio organizes everything in an amazing way for me.
Data Analyst at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Multiple data sources can be queried in one query, and it is not just a query engine.
Data Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
One of the most valuable features in Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is the ability to write your own ETL code using Azure Data Factory, which is a component within Synapse.
Data Strategist, Cloud Solutions Architect at Strategic Architects
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics offers significant visibility, which helps us understand our usage more clearly.
IT Manager at KONGSBERG
For Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, the integration is the most valuable feature, meaning that whatever you need is fast and easy to use.
Director Information Technology Services at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Dremio
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (9th)
Microsoft Azure Synapse Ana...
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
98
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Dremio is 4.3%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is 6.1%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics6.1%
Dremio4.3%
Other89.6%
Cloud Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

Corrr Moray - PeerSpot reviewer
SR BI developer at BRQ Digital Solutions
Has simplified complex data integration workflows and supported consistent reporting across multiple sources
We also have a close relationship with the team that does the Dremio maintenance for the database, like upgrading the versions and they know about some specific problems we had in the past, such as a memory leak. We had a memory leak on some versions, which sometimes stopped the service. Since we are using Dremio installed like a server, not a SaaS solution, many times we need to stop and restart the service to clear all the cache and all that, and this is the thing I should add. I see that many times the new versions of Dremio have not fixed old bugs, and in some new versions, old problems that were previously fixed come back again, so I think the upgrade part could use improvement. I remember using some features in the past, like pivot tables, which proved to be really difficult, but I know this is a fault also for other vendors. Pivoting, transposing, and unpivoting are often not so good. CTEs also many times prove to be not so good, so I think these two main items could be improved significantly if they standardize them.
AnandTiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at New Turn Technologies
Has consistently supported integration across diverse environments and streamlined deployment processes
Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics could improve their pricing structure. They currently have two separate pricing tiers: full log and partial log. I suggest they implement a single price and reduce charges on logs. They could implement a cap with some free tier or price tier based on the GBs of log collected. This would help customers use Azure more effectively. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is an excellent product because it includes both SIEM and orchestration capabilities with playbooks, but the log management part is very costly. Regarding future improvements, I would appreciate more application connectors for integration, particularly for on-premise based solutions. Many customers still maintain on-premise infrastructure, so having more integration possibilities for these environments would be beneficial.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise60
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dremio?
I chose eight out of ten because Dremio is expensive for the Enterprise version, particularly regarding licensing.
What needs improvement with Dremio?
I think Dremio can be improved to query faster than multiple sources and big data lakehouses. The community version could be updated for new data catalog connections. I think the documentation is s...
What is your primary use case for Dremio?
I have been using Dremio to select multiple data sources, retrieve multiple data sources, and create and maintain Iceberg tables for the data lakehouse. My main use case for Dremio is to actively c...
How does Amazon Redshift compare with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
Amazon Redshift is very fast, has a very good response time, and is very user-friendly. The initial setup is very straightforward. This solution can merge and integrate well with many different dat...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
I think the licensing cost for Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics is very high, but I have a local system to support that, so I don't consider that in the near future.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics?
I am hoping that in the future Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics may have AI support.
 

Also Known As

Dremio AWS - BYOL
Azure Synapse Analytics, Microsoft Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Microsoft Azure SQL DW, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, MS Azure Synapse Analytics
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

UBS, TransUnion, Quantium, Daimler, OVH
Toshiba, Carnival, LG Electronics, Jet.com, Adobe, 
Find out what your peers are saying about Dremio vs. Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.