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IBM Watson Studio vs TensorFlow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 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

IBM Watson Studio
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (12th)
TensorFlow
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the AI Development Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM Watson Studio is 1.5%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TensorFlow is 3.8%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AI Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Abilio Duarte - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly robust and well-documented platform that simplifies the complex world of AI
The main challenge lies in visibility and ease of use. Providing training sessions can be immensely helpful in helping users navigate and understand the tool's potential. This approach would empower users to explore and make the most of the tools and technologies at their disposal. Another area where IBM could enhance its offering is by providing more visibility to end users regarding the vast potential that Watson offers.
Ashish Upadhyay - PeerSpot reviewer
A robust tools for model visualization and debugging with superior scalability and stability, and an intuitive user-friendly interface
The one feature we find most valuable at our company is its robust and flexible machine-learning capabilities. It empowers us to seamlessly create and deploy machine learning models, offering a versatile solution for implementing sophisticated environments and various types of AI solutions. The ability to develop and fine-tune models, such as risk assessment for detection and market protection, as well as the creation of recommendation systems, is paramount. This versatility extends to providing personalized identity-relevant applications for our enterprise clients, delivering valuable insights to the market. Its exceptional support for deep learning and its efficient resource utilization enable us to undertake complex financial and data analyses. The flexibility it provides is crucial for meeting industrial requirements and crafting solutions tailored to our client's specific needs.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main benefit is the ease of use. We see a lot of engineers in our site and customers that really like the way the tools are able to work with the people."
"It has greatly improved the performance because it is standardized across the company."
"IBM Watson Studio consistently automates across channels."
"The solution is very easy to use."
"Technical support is great. We have had weekly teleconferences with the technical people at IBM, and they have been fantastic."
"Stability-wise, it is a great tool."
"It is a stable, reliable product."
"The system's ability to take a look at data, segment it and then use that data very differently."
"TensorFlow provides Insights into both data and machine learning strategies."
"It is also totally Open-Source and free. Open-source applications are not good usually. but TensorFlow actually changed my view about it and I thought, "Look, Oh my God. This is an open-source application and it's as good as it could be." I learned that TensorFlow, by sharing their own knowledge and their own platform with other developers, it improved the lives of many people around the globe."
"TensorFlow is an efficient product for building neural networks."
"What made TensorFlow so appealing to us is that you could run it on a cluster computer and on a mobile device."
"Optimization is very good in TensorFlow. There are many opportunities to do hyper-parameter training."
"The most valuable feature of TensorFlow is deep learning. It is the best tool for deep learning in the market."
"It provides us with 35 features like patch normalization layers, and it is easy to implement using the Kras library when the Kaspersky flow is running behind it."
"It's got quite a big community, which is useful."
 

Cons

"The initial setup was complex."
"Watson Studio would be improved with a clearer path for the deployment of docker images."
"We would like to see it less as one big, massive product, but more based on smaller services that we can then roll out to consumers."
"I think maybe the support is an area where it lacks."
"The main challenge lies in visibility and ease of use."
"More features in data virtualization would be helpful. The solution could use an interactive dashboard that could make exploration easier."
"We would like to see it more web-based with more functionality."
"One area that could be improved is the backup and restoration of the database and the overall database configuration."
"There are a lot of problems, such as integrating our custom code. In my experience model tuning has been a bit difficult to edit and tune the graph model for best performance. We have to go into the model but we do not have a model viewer for quick access."
"It would be cool if TensorFlow could make it easier for companies like us to program for running it across different hyperscalers."
"It currently offers inbuilt functions, however, having the ability to implement custom libraries would enhance its usefulness for enterprise-level applications."
"The solution is hard to integrate with the GPUs."
"The process of creating models could be more user-friendly."
"TensorFlow deep learning takes a lot of computation power. The more systems you can use, the easier it is. That's a good ability, if you can make a system run immediately at the same time on the same task, it's much faster rather than you having one system running which is slower. Running systems in parallel is a complex situation, but it can improve. There is a lot of work involved."
"Enhancements could include increasing use cases and improving the accuracy of previously built models in TensorFlow. For instance, when we run certain models, the computing power of laptops becomes high."
"However, if I want to change just one thing in the implementation of TensorFlow functions I have to copy everything that they wrote and I change it manually if indeed it can be amended. This is really hard as it's written in C++ and has a lot of complications."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is generally reasonable and straightforward but can vary significantly depending on the specific workloads in use."
"Watson Studio's pricing is reasonable for what you get."
"IBM Watson Studio is an expensive solution."
"IBM Watson Studio is a reasonably priced product"
"It is an open-source solution, so anyone can use it free of charge."
"I think for learners to deploy a project, you can actually use TensorFlow for free. It's just amazing to have an open-source platform like TensorFlow to deploy your own project. Here in Russia no one really cares about licenses, as it is totally open source and free. My clients in the United States were also pleased to learn when they enquired, that licensing is free."
"We are using the free version."
"I rate TensorFlow's pricing a five out of ten."
"I did not require a license for this solution. It a free open-source solution."
"It is open-source software. You don't have to pay all the big bucks like Azure and Databricks."
"I am using the open-source version of TensorFlow and it is free."
"The solution is free."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
9%
Educational Organization
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Watson Studio?
The pricing of Watson Studio is justified by the benefits and power it offers.
What needs improvement with IBM Watson Studio?
One area that could be improved is the backup and restoration of the database and the overall database configuration. There were also challenges with programming the network extension in the last p...
What do you like most about TensorFlow?
It empowers us to seamlessly create and deploy machine learning models, offering a versatile solution for implementing sophisticated environments and various types of AI solutions.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TensorFlow?
I am not familiar with the pricing setup cost and licensing.
What needs improvement with TensorFlow?
Providing more control by allowing users to build custom functions would make TensorFlow a better option. It currently offers inbuilt functions, however, having the ability to implement custom libr...
 

Also Known As

Watson Studio, IBM Data Science Experience, Data Science Experience, DSx
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GroupM, Accenture, Fifth Third Bank
Airbnb, NVIDIA, Twitter, Google, Dropbox, Intel, SAP, eBay, Uber, Coca-Cola, Qualcomm
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Watson Studio vs. TensorFlow and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.