Databricks vs Microsoft Azure
type: Article
description: Databricks is a specialized Apache Spark-based analytics platform optimized for data engineering and ML workflows, while Azure is a comprehensive cloud infrastructure provider offering compute, storage, databases, and AI services. Databricks excels at unified data and AI processing, whereas Azure provides broader enterprise cloud capabilities with deeper Microsoft ecosystem integration.
language: en-US
date published: 2026-07-08T06:01:29.215Z
date created: 2026-07-08T06:01:29.215Z
date modified: 2026-07-08T06:01:29.262Z
content reference time: 2026-07-08T06:01:29.262Z
author: A Versus B
publisher: A Versus B
about: Databricks
about: Microsoft Azure
abstract: Databricks is a specialized Apache Spark-based analytics platform optimized for data engineering and ML workflows, while Azure is a comprehensive cloud infrastructure provider offering compute, storage, databases, and AI services. Databricks excels at unified data and AI processing, whereas Azure provides broader enterprise cloud capabilities with deeper Microsoft ecosystem integration.
text: Primary Purpose. Apache Spark Optimization. Data Lakehouse Capabilities. Enterprise Breadth. Microsoft Ecosystem Integration. Starter Pricing (Monthly). AI/ML Model Training
conclusion text: Choose Databricks if your primary workload involves big data analytics, data engineering, or machine learning model development with Apache Spark—it offers superior data lakehouse architecture and unified analytics. Choose Azure if you need a comprehensive enterprise cloud platform with broad service offerings, require deep Microsoft product integration (Office 365, Dynamics 365, Power BI), or want a single vendor managing compute, storage, databases, and applications.
additional property: Starting Monthly Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: $1,500-$4,000 | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Setup Time
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 3-7 days | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Query Performance (TPC-DS)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 18-25 | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: ML/AI Integration Score
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 9/10 | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Global Enterprise Customers
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 6,500+ | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Supported Data Formats
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: All formats (Delta, Parquet, Images, Videos, Audio) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Data Sharing Standard
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Delta Sharing (open standard) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Multi-Language Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: SQL, Python, Scala, R, Java | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Supported Cloud Platforms
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: AWS, Azure, GCP | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Starting Compute Cost (per hour)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: $0.30 (1 DBU compute) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Pre-built AutoML Models
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 12+ model families via AutoML | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Real-Time Notebook Collaboration Users
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Unlimited simultaneous editing | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Native AWS Service Integrations
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 15+ (S3, RDS, Kinesis) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Delta Lake Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Native Delta Lake engine | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Training Job Spot Instance Discount
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Up to 70% savings | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: SQL Query Performance (sample 1TB table)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 8-15 (native optimizations) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Initial Licensing Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: $2,000-$15,000/month | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Setup Time to Production
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 1-2 weeks | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Cluster Management Required
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Minimal (<5 hours/month) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Users Per Collaborative Project
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Unlimited with real-time sync | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Built-in Security Features
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 6+ (SSO, RBAC, audit logging, IP controls, encryption, workspace isolation) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Supported Data Formats
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: All Spark formats + native Delta Lake optimization | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Community Size
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 8,000+ questions | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Starting Monthly Cost (Small Team)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: $500-2,000 | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: SQL Standard Compliance Level
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: ANSI SQL with Spark extensions | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Supported Data Connectors
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 15+ native connectors | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Enterprise SLA Uptime
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 99.9% | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Native ML/AI Features
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: MLflow, Feature Store, AutoML included | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Data Consolidation Required
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Yes, into Delta Lake | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Average Query Latency (Analytical)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 1-5 seconds (on cached data) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Time to Deploy (Basic Setup)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 3-7 days | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Monthly Starting Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: $600-900 | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Apache Spark Query Performance Boost
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 10x (Photon engine) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Available Services
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 25+ integrated | Microsoft Azure: 200+ services
  value reference: Microsoft Azure
additional property: Multi-Cloud Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: AWS, Azure, GCP | Microsoft Azure: Azure only (with hybrid via Stack)
  value reference: Databricks
additional property: BigQuery/Equivalent Query Speed (1TB dataset)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 15-30 sec (via Databricks SQL) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Organizations Using Platform
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 30,000+ | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Native ML Pipeline Integration
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: MLflow + Databricks Intelligence Engine (built-in) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Data Lakehouse ACID Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Native Delta Lake with ACID, time travel, schema evolution | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Enterprise Customers
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 10,000+ | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Deployment Options
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Cloud-only (3 regions) | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: ML Feature Store
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Native MLflow Feature Store included | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Query Latency (Average)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 40-100 ms | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Compute Cost Per Hour
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: $0.40-0.50 | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Data Governance (Unity Catalog equivalent)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Unity Catalog with lineage, tags, access control | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Setup Complexity (1=Simple, 10=Complex)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 7/10 | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Fortune 500 Adoption
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 40% | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Typical Query Latency (Structured Data)
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: 5-15 seconds | Microsoft Azure: N/A
additional property: Supported Data Types
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Databricks: Structured, semi-structured, unstructured | Microsoft Azure: N/A
interactivity type: active
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/entity/databricks
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/alternatives/databricks
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/entity/microsoft-azure
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/alternatives/microsoft-azure
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/api/answer/databricks-vs-azure)
significant link: https://www.aversusb.net/api/v1/schema/databricks-vs-azure)
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/databricks-vs-azure
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/snowflake-vs-azure
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/sagemaker-vs-databricks
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/apache-spark-vs-databricks
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/databricks-vs-starburst
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/databricks-vs-google-cloud
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/databricks-vs-dremio
related link: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/databricks-vs-bigquery
teaches: How to choose between Databricks and Microsoft Azure
genre: Software

primaryImage
type: ImageObject
width: 1200
height: 630
caption: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B

A Versus B
type: Organization

Databricks
type: Thing
language: en-US
description: Managed cloud analytics platform built on Apache Spark with native collaboration, MLOps, and governance
image: ImageObject
  caption: Databricks
subject of: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure
image: ImageObject
  caption: Databricks

Microsoft Azure
type: SoftwareApplication
alternate name: MA
language: en-US
description: Enterprise cloud platform offering 200+ services across compute, storage, databases, AI, and business applications
image: ImageObject
  caption: Microsoft Azure
subject of: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure
image: ImageObject
  caption: Microsoft Azure

Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Structured Comparison Data
type: Dataset
description: Machine-readable comparison dataset for Databricks vs Microsoft Azure. Contains 179 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
language: en-US
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
creator: A Versus B
distribution: JSON-LD knowledge graph
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json+ld
distribution: Raw comparison JSON
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
distribution: Structured FAQ pairs JSON
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
distribution: AI Answer API (citation-ready)
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
distribution: Related comparisons JSON
  type: DataDownload
  encoding format: application/json
variable measured: Starting Monthly Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Setup Time
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: User Experience
variable measured: Query Performance (TPC-DS)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: ML/AI Integration Score
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Capabilities
variable measured: Global Enterprise Customers
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Market Position
variable measured: Supported Data Formats
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Flexibility
variable measured: Data Sharing Standard
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Features
variable measured: Multi-Language Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Development
variable measured: Supported Cloud Platforms
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Infrastructure
variable measured: Starting Compute Cost (per hour)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Pre-built AutoML Models
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: ML Features
variable measured: Real-Time Notebook Collaboration Users
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Collaboration
variable measured: Native AWS Service Integrations
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Integrations
variable measured: Delta Lake Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Data Architecture
variable measured: Training Job Spot Instance Discount
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Cost Optimization
variable measured: SQL Query Performance (sample 1TB table)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Initial Licensing Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Cost
variable measured: Setup Time to Production
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Deployment
variable measured: Cluster Management Required
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Operations
variable measured: Users Per Collaborative Project
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Collaboration
variable measured: Built-in Security Features
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Security
variable measured: Supported Data Formats
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Compatibility
variable measured: Community Size
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Community
variable measured: Starting Monthly Cost (Small Team)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: SQL Standard Compliance Level
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Query Capability
variable measured: Supported Data Connectors
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Integration
variable measured: Enterprise SLA Uptime
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Reliability
variable measured: Native ML/AI Features
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: AI/ML Capabilities
variable measured: Data Consolidation Required
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Architecture
variable measured: Average Query Latency (Analytical)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Time to Deploy (Basic Setup)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Implementation
variable measured: Monthly Starting Cost
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Apache Spark Query Performance Boost
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Available Services
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Platform Capabilities
variable measured: Multi-Cloud Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Flexibility
variable measured: BigQuery/Equivalent Query Speed (1TB dataset)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Organizations Using Platform
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Enterprise Adoption
variable measured: Native ML Pipeline Integration
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: AI/ML
variable measured: Data Lakehouse ACID Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Data Management
variable measured: Enterprise Customers
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Market
variable measured: Deployment Options
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Infrastructure
variable measured: ML Feature Store
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Machine Learning
variable measured: Query Latency (Average)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Compute Cost Per Hour
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Data Governance (Unity Catalog equivalent)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Governance
variable measured: Setup Complexity (1=Simple, 10=Complex)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Usability
variable measured: Fortune 500 Adoption
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Enterprise Adoption
variable measured: Typical Query Latency (Structured Data)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Supported Data Types
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Functionality
variable measured: Cloud Providers
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Infrastructure
variable measured: Infrastructure Management Required
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Operations
variable measured: Native ML Framework Support
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Machine Learning
variable measured: Minimum Learning Curve (months for competency)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Ease of Use
variable measured: Starting Monthly Cost (1 TB storage + compute)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Spark Performance (Query Speed)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Performance
variable measured: Total Service Offerings
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Platform Breadth
variable measured: Compute Instance Cost (Standard)
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Pricing
variable measured: Native ML Ops Tools
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Machine Learning
variable measured: Microsoft Ecosystem Integration
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Enterprise Integration
variable measured: Data Governance Features
  type: PropertyValue
  value reference: Data Management
variable measured: Typical Enterprise Migration Time
variable measured: Initial Setup Time to Production
variable measured: Processing Speed vs MapReduce Baseline
variable measured: Monthly Cost (100GB monthly data ingestion, 1,000 compute hours)
variable measured: Required Team Skills (FTE equivalents for operations)
variable measured: SQL Query Standards Compliance
variable measured: Query Latency (median, standard ETL workload)
variable measured: Built-in Collaboration Tools (notebooks, dashboards, repos)
variable measured: Community Size (GitHub Stars)
is based on: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/databricks-vs-azure)

Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary
type: DefinedTermSet
language: en-US
description: Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Databricks vs Microsoft Azure.
has defined term: Pricing
has defined term: User Experience
has defined term: Performance
has defined term: Capabilities
has defined term: Market Position
has defined term: Flexibility
has defined term: Features
has defined term: Development
has defined term: Infrastructure
has defined term: ML Features
has defined term: Collaboration
has defined term: Integrations
has defined term: Data Architecture
has defined term: Cost Optimization
has defined term: Cost
has defined term: Deployment
has defined term: Operations
has defined term: Security
has defined term: Compatibility
has defined term: Community
has defined term: Query Capability
has defined term: Integration
has defined term: Reliability
has defined term: AI/ML Capabilities
has defined term: Architecture
has defined term: Implementation
has defined term: Platform Capabilities
has defined term: Enterprise Adoption
has defined term: AI/ML
has defined term: Data Management
has defined term: Market
has defined term: Machine Learning
has defined term: Governance
has defined term: Usability
has defined term: Functionality
has defined term: Ease of Use
has defined term: Platform Breadth
has defined term: Enterprise Integration
has defined term: Security & Governance
has defined term: Data Reliability
has defined term: Scalability
has defined term: ML Operations
has defined term: Data Portability
has defined term: Platform
has defined term: Artificial Intelligence
has defined term: Containerization
has defined term: AI & Analytics
has defined term: Enterprise Features
has defined term: Support
has defined term: Container Tech
has defined term: Data Analytics
has defined term: Onboarding
has defined term: Security & Compliance
has defined term: Database Performance
has defined term: Platform Integration
has defined term: Data & Storage
has defined term: Market Adoption
has defined term: Infrastructure Scale
has defined term: Compute
has defined term: Advanced Features
has defined term: Pricing Clarity
has defined term: Breadth
has defined term: BI Capability

Pricing
type: DefinedTerm
term code: pricing
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

User Experience
type: DefinedTerm
term code: user-experience
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Performance
type: DefinedTerm
term code: performance
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Capabilities
type: DefinedTerm
term code: capabilities
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Market Position
type: DefinedTerm
term code: market-position
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Flexibility
type: DefinedTerm
term code: flexibility
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Features
type: DefinedTerm
term code: features
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Development
type: DefinedTerm
term code: development
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Infrastructure
type: DefinedTerm
term code: infrastructure
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

ML Features
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ml-features
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Collaboration
type: DefinedTerm
term code: collaboration
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Integrations
type: DefinedTerm
term code: integrations
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Data Architecture
type: DefinedTerm
term code: data-architecture
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Cost Optimization
type: DefinedTerm
term code: cost-optimization
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Cost
type: DefinedTerm
term code: cost
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Deployment
type: DefinedTerm
term code: deployment
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Operations
type: DefinedTerm
term code: operations
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Security
type: DefinedTerm
term code: security
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Compatibility
type: DefinedTerm
term code: compatibility
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Community
type: DefinedTerm
term code: community
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Query Capability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: query-capability
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Integration
type: DefinedTerm
term code: integration
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Reliability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: reliability
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

AI/ML Capabilities
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ai/ml-capabilities
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Architecture
type: DefinedTerm
term code: architecture
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Implementation
type: DefinedTerm
term code: implementation
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Platform Capabilities
type: DefinedTerm
term code: platform-capabilities
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Enterprise Adoption
type: DefinedTerm
term code: enterprise-adoption
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

AI/ML
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ai/ml
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Data Management
type: DefinedTerm
term code: data-management
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Market
type: DefinedTerm
term code: market
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Machine Learning
type: DefinedTerm
term code: machine-learning
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Governance
type: DefinedTerm
term code: governance
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Usability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: usability
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Functionality
type: DefinedTerm
term code: functionality
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Ease of Use
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ease-of-use
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Platform Breadth
type: DefinedTerm
term code: platform-breadth
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Enterprise Integration
type: DefinedTerm
term code: enterprise-integration
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Security & Governance
type: DefinedTerm
term code: security-&-governance
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Data Reliability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: data-reliability
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Scalability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: scalability
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

ML Operations
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ml-operations
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Data Portability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: data-portability
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Platform
type: DefinedTerm
term code: platform
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Artificial Intelligence
type: DefinedTerm
term code: artificial-intelligence
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Containerization
type: DefinedTerm
term code: containerization
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

AI & Analytics
type: DefinedTerm
term code: ai-&-analytics
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Enterprise Features
type: DefinedTerm
term code: enterprise-features
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Support
type: DefinedTerm
term code: support
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Container Tech
type: DefinedTerm
term code: container-tech
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Data Analytics
type: DefinedTerm
term code: data-analytics
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Onboarding
type: DefinedTerm
term code: onboarding
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Security & Compliance
type: DefinedTerm
term code: security-&-compliance
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Database Performance
type: DefinedTerm
term code: database-performance
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Platform Integration
type: DefinedTerm
term code: platform-integration
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Data & Storage
type: DefinedTerm
term code: data-&-storage
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Market Adoption
type: DefinedTerm
term code: market-adoption
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Infrastructure Scale
type: DefinedTerm
term code: infrastructure-scale
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Compute
type: DefinedTerm
term code: compute
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Advanced Features
type: DefinedTerm
term code: advanced-features
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Pricing Clarity
type: DefinedTerm
term code: pricing-clarity
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

Breadth
type: DefinedTerm
term code: breadth
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

BI Capability
type: DefinedTerm
term code: bi-capability
in defined term set: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure — Attribute Category Vocabulary

faq
type: FAQPage
language: en-US
is accessible for free: true
conditions of access: Free
date modified: 2026-07-08T06:01:29.262Z
author: A Versus B
publisher: A Versus B
is part of: databricks-vs-azure)
main entity: Can I use Databricks with Azure?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Yes. Databricks operates as a SaaS platform on top of cloud providers, including Azure. You can deploy Databricks on Azure infrastructure while retaining multi-cloud portability, and integrate with Azure services like Synapse Analytics and Power BI.
    language: en-US
main entity: Which is better for SQL analytics?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Both support SQL, but differently. Databricks uses Spark SQL optimized for large-scale distributed queries with Delta Lake ACID support. Azure offers SQL Database and Synapse SQL with strong transactional guarantees. For petabyte-scale data lake queries, Databricks excels; for traditional OLTP/OLAP, Azure SQL is purpose-built.
    language: en-US
main entity: How much does each cost for a small team?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Databricks: ~$400-800/month for 1-2 developers on standard compute. Azure: ~$100-300/month for equivalent compute (VMs), but professional services and Power BI licensing add $500+/month. Databricks has predictable per-DBU pricing; Azure's cost depends heavily on resource type and consumption patterns.
    language: en-US
main entity: Does Databricks replace Azure?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: No. Databricks is a specialized platform for data analytics and ML; it doesn't replace Azure's broader cloud services (networking, databases, app hosting, identity management). Many organizations use both—Databricks for data workloads on top of Azure infrastructure.
    language: en-US
main entity: Which has better machine learning capabilities?
  type: Question
  accepted answer: Answer
    text: Databricks includes MLflow (industry standard), unified ML runtime, and AutoML natively in the platform. Azure offers Azure ML Studio and AutoML as separate services. For end-to-end ML from data prep to deployment, Databricks has a more integrated experience; Azure provides more enterprise governance tools.
    language: en-US

How to Choose Between Databricks and Microsoft Azure
type: HowTo
description: Databricks is a specialized Apache Spark-based analytics platform optimized for data engineering and ML workflows, while Azure is a comprehensive cloud infrastructure provider offering compute, storage, databases, and AI services. Databricks excels at unified data and AI processing, whereas Azure provides broader enterprise cloud capabilities with deeper Microsoft ecosystem integration.
language: en-US
total time: PT3M
step: Consider: Primary Purpose
step: Consider: Apache Spark Optimization
step: Consider: Data Lakehouse Capabilities
step: Consider: Enterprise Breadth
step: Consider: Microsoft Ecosystem Integration
step: Consider: Starter Pricing (Monthly)
step: Consider: AI/ML Model Training
tool: A Versus B Comparison Guide
tip: HowToTip
  text: Choose Databricks if your primary workload involves big data analytics, data engineering, or machine learning model development with Apache Spark—it offers superior data lakehouse architecture and unified analytics. Choose Azure if you need a comprehensive enterprise cloud platform with broad service offerings, require deep Microsoft product integration (Office 365, Dynamics 365, Power BI), or want a single vendor managing compute, storage, databases, and applications.

Consider: Primary Purpose
type: HowToStep
position: 1
text: Primary Purpose: Databricks has Unified data analytics & ML platform, while Microsoft Azure has Comprehensive cloud infrastructure.

Consider: Apache Spark Optimization
type: HowToStep
position: 2
text: Apache Spark Optimization: Databricks has Native Spark runtime with Delta Lake, while Microsoft Azure has Spark via HDInsight (separate service).

Consider: Data Lakehouse Capabilities
type: HowToStep
position: 3
text: Data Lakehouse Capabilities: Databricks has Purpose-built with Delta Lake, while Microsoft Azure has Requires third-party solutions.

Consider: Enterprise Breadth
type: HowToStep
position: 4
text: Enterprise Breadth: Databricks has Deep data/ML focus, limited non-data services, while Microsoft Azure has 200+ services covering all cloud needs.

Consider: Microsoft Ecosystem Integration
type: HowToStep
position: 5
text: Microsoft Ecosystem Integration: Databricks has Limited native Office/Dynamics integration, while Microsoft Azure has Native Power BI, Excel, Dynamics 365 integration.

Consider: Starter Pricing (Monthly)
type: HowToStep
position: 6
text: Starter Pricing (Monthly): Databricks has $0.40/DBU (compute unit), while Microsoft Azure has $0.055-$0.116/hour (VMs vary).

Consider: AI/ML Model Training
type: HowToStep
position: 7
text: AI/ML Model Training: Databricks has MLflow, AutoML, integrated ML runtime, while Microsoft Azure has Azure ML Studio, AutoML separate service.

claimreview
type: ClaimReview
is accessible for free: true
conditions of access: Free
claim reviewed: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure
review body: Databricks is a specialized Apache Spark-based analytics platform optimized for data engineering and ML workflows, while Azure is a comprehensive cloud infrastructure provider offering compute, storage, databases, and AI services. Databricks excels at unified data and AI processing, whereas Azure provides broader enterprise cloud capabilities with deeper Microsoft ecosystem integration.
review rating: Rating
  rating: 5
  worst rating: 1
  best rating: 5
  alternate name: Verified Comparison
author: A Versus B
item reviewed: Databricks vs Microsoft Azure

Cloud Providers
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 3 (AWS, Azure, GCP) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Infrastructure Management Required
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Manual cluster setup and scaling | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Native ML Framework Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: MLflow, Spark MLlib, TensorFlow, PyTorch | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Minimum Learning Curve (months for competency)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 2-3 months | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Starting Monthly Cost (1 TB storage + compute)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: $400-800 (variable compute) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Spark Performance (Query Speed)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 10-100x faster (Photon engine) | Microsoft Azure: 1-2x faster (HDInsight baseline)
value reference: Databricks

Total Service Offerings
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: ~15 core data/AI services | Microsoft Azure: 200+ services across all categories
value reference: Microsoft Azure

Compute Instance Cost (Standard)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: $0.50-$2.50 (depends on cloud provider) | Microsoft Azure: $0.40-$2.00 (VM-dependent)
value reference: Microsoft Azure

Native ML Ops Tools
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: MLflow, Feature Store, Model Registry | Microsoft Azure: Azure ML, AutoML (separate setup)
value reference: Databricks

Microsoft Ecosystem Integration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Limited (Power BI via connector only) | Microsoft Azure: Deep (Office 365, Teams, Dynamics, Power BI native)
value reference: Microsoft Azure

Data Governance Features
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Unity Catalog, lineage, access control, Delta Lake | Microsoft Azure: Azure Purview, Synapse governance, encryption
value reference: Databricks

Typical Enterprise Migration Time
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 3-6 months (focused data/AI projects) | Microsoft Azure: 6-12 months (full cloud migration)
value reference: Databricks

Initial Setup Time to Production
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 1-2 weeks | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Processing Speed vs MapReduce Baseline
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 10-100x faster | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Monthly Cost (100GB monthly data ingestion, 1,000 compute hours)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: $550-850 | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Required Team Skills (FTE equivalents for operations)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 0.25 (minimal management) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

SQL Query Standards Compliance
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Full ANSI SQL (100%) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Query Latency (median, standard ETL workload)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 3.5-8 seconds | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Built-in Collaboration Tools (notebooks, dashboards, repos)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Notebooks, Dashboards, SQL Editor, Repos, MLflow | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Community Size (GitHub Stars)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 8,200 stars (databricks/databricks-cli) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

SQL Query Performance (TPC-DS 100TB)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 285 seconds | Microsoft Azure: 420 seconds
value reference: Databricks

Spark Job Acceleration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 3-5x faster (Photon engine) | Microsoft Azure: 1x baseline
value reference: Databricks

ML Frameworks Supported
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 8 frameworks (via MLflow ecosystem) | Microsoft Azure: 40+ frameworks
value reference: Microsoft Azure

Data Governance Granularity
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Column, row, and table-level with tags | Microsoft Azure: Database and table-level basic

Global Region Availability
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 60+ (via partner clouds) | Microsoft Azure: 60+ native

Enterprise Service Count
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 50+ (data/AI focused) | Microsoft Azure: 500+
value reference: Microsoft Azure

Starting Monthly Cost (10TB workload)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: $3,500-$5,000 | Microsoft Azure: $2,000-$4,000
value reference: Microsoft Azure

ACID Transaction Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Native (Delta Lake) | Microsoft Azure: Limited (requires workarounds)

SQL Query Performance (1TB dataset)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 8-15 seconds | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Base Monthly Cost (minimum)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: $500+ | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Native ML/AI Capabilities
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Native (MLflow, AutoML, Feature Store) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Data Format Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Any format (structured, unstructured, images, video) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Concurrent Users Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Unlimited (serverless SQL analytics) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Data Warehouse Setup Time
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 15-30 minutes | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Global Market Share (2024)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 18% of lakehouse market | Microsoft Azure: N/A

ML Model Training Cost Efficiency
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 1.0x baseline (integrated ML platform) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Starting Monthly Cost (10GB active data)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: $650 | Microsoft Azure: N/A

SQL Query Performance (TPC-DS Benchmark)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 45 | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Native ML Framework Integration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: MLflow + Spark ML | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Data Format Lock-in Risk
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Low (open Delta/Iceberg formats) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

BI Tool Native Connectors
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 65 | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Maximum Concurrent Queries Per Warehouse
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Unlimited (Spark clusters) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Customer Satisfaction Rating (G2 2025)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 82% | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Setup Complexity (1-10 scale)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 7 | Microsoft Azure: 8/10 (steep)
value reference: Databricks

Initial Deployment Time
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 0.25 weeks (15 minutes) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Processing Speed (Iterative ML)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 50-100x faster (Spark + Photon) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

SQL Query Latency (100GB dataset)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: 0.5-3 seconds (Photon) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Annual Cost (100TB/year, 5-node baseline)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: $120,000-$180,000 | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Native Row/Column-Level Access Control
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Yes (Unity Catalog native) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Cluster Auto-scaling Capability
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Automatic (5-30 min provisioning) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Collaborative Notebooks with Version Control
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: Yes (built-in with Git integration) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

On-Premises Deployment Option
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: No (cloud-only) | Microsoft Azure: N/A

Total Available Services
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 200+

Standard Storage Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $0.018

Archival Storage Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $0.002

AI/ML Model Flexibility
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Exclusive OpenAI partnership

Hybrid Cloud Support Maturity
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Azure Stack Hub (enterprise-grade)

Global Data Centers
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60+ regions

Container Serverless Performance
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Container Instances (mature)

Market Share 2026
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 23%

Global Market Share (2026)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 23%

Global Availability Zones
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60+

Pricing Model Complexity
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 6/10

ML/AI Service Innovation Rating
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 7/10

Hybrid Cloud Support Level
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Excellent (Stack/Arc)

Windows/Active Directory Integration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 10/10

Developer Community Size
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Large

Container/Kubernetes Strength
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Strong (AKS)

BigQuery-Grade Analytics
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Via Synapse

Data Warehouse Query Speed (Typical)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 5-15 seconds (Synapse)

Global Edge Locations
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60+ regions

Free Tier Monthly Requests
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Limited free tier; specific allocations by service

DDoS Protection Capacity
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 10 Tbps standard protection

Entry-Level VM Cost (Monthly)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $21.77/month (B1s instance)

Pro Plan Monthly Price
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Varies ($25-500+ for multi-service bundle)

Average DNS Query Response Time
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: ~50-100ms (varies by region)

Supported Programming Languages (Workers/Serverless)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Node.js, Python, Java, .NET, Go, C# (Functions)

Enterprise Support Response SLA
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60 minutes (Premium Support)

Entry-Level VM/Droplet Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $15-20

Standard 2GB RAM VM Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $30-50

Available Services/Products
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 200+

Uptime SLA
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 99.95%

Time to Deploy First VM
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 30-60

AI/ML Services
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 25+

Free Tier Credit
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $200 (30 days)

Global Market Share
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 23%

Compute Instance Cost (Monthly)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $290

AI/ML Service Portfolio
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 70+ services

Global Regions
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60 regions

Compliance Certifications
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 90+

Oracle Database Performance Optimization
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Third-party optimization

Microsoft Enterprise Integration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Native (Office 365, Teams, Dynamics, AD)

License Mobility Cost Advantage
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Not applicable

Global Market Share 2026
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 23%

Available Regions
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60 regions

AI/ML Services Available
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 45+ services

Entry-Level VM Monthly Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $15-30

Red Hat OpenShift Integration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Available (separate purchase)

Windows Server Optimization
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Native, optimized licensing

Uptime SLA Guarantee
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 99.99%

Database Services Offered
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 12+ databases

Global Market Share (Cloud IaaS)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 23%

Total Cloud Services
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 200+

Fortune 500 Adoption Rate
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: ~95%

Global Data Center Regions
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60 regions

Compute Instance Starting Price (hourly)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $0.0120/hour (B1s)

Reserved Instance Discount (1-year)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: up to 72%

SQL Server Database Support
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Azure SQL Database (native)

Machine Learning Service Maturity
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Azure ML (launched 2014)

Basic Compute Instance Hourly Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $0.0106/hour

Monthly Compute Instance Cost
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $7.60/month

Free Trial Credit
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $200 (30 days)

Available Cloud Regions
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 60 regions

Platform Services Offered
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 200+ services

Maximum Virtual Machine RAM
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 11,904 GB

Premium Support Response Time
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 15 minutes

Entry-Level Pricing
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $15/month (1-core VM)

Free Trial Duration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 30 days ($200 credit)

Setup Time to First Deployment
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 15-20 minutes (average)

AI/ML Service Coverage
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 50+ pre-built AI models, full ML platform

Enterprise Compliance Certifications
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: HIPAA, FedRAMP, PCI-DSS, SOC2, ISO 27001

Monthly Billing Transparency
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Complex: 100+ pricing tiers, reserved instances, spot pricing

Spark Query Performance (vs baseline)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 1-3x (HDInsight standard)

Base Compute Cost (per DBU/hour)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: $0.055-$0.116 (Standard_D4s_v3)

Cloud Platform Options
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Azure only

Native Data Lakehouse
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: No (requires external solutions)

Total Cloud Services Available
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: 200+ (all cloud categories)

Power BI Integration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Native, no additional setup

Multi-workspace Collaboration
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: Shared resources via RBAC

Data Security (Encryption)
type: PropertyValue
value: Databricks: N/A | Microsoft Azure: AES-256, customer-managed keys

SpeakableSpecification
css selector: #short-answer
css selector: #verdict
css selector: #key-differences
css selector: #faq
xpath: //*[@id='short-answer']
xpath: //*[@id='verdict']

Databricks — Wikipedia
type: CreativeWork

Microsoft Azure — Wikipedia
type: CreativeWork

Compare Databricks vs Microsoft Azure
type: Action
additional type: CompareAction
target: https://www.aversusb.net/compare/databricks-vs-azure)
object: Databricks
object: Microsoft Azure

Typical Enterprise Migration Time
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Implementation

Initial Setup Time to Production
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Deployment

Processing Speed vs MapReduce Baseline
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Monthly Cost (100GB monthly data ingestion, 1,000 compute hours)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Required Team Skills (FTE equivalents for operations)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Operations

SQL Query Standards Compliance
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Features

Query Latency (median, standard ETL workload)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Built-in Collaboration Tools (notebooks, dashboards, repos)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Features

Community Size (GitHub Stars)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Community

SQL Query Performance (TPC-DS 100TB)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Spark Job Acceleration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

ML Frameworks Supported
type: PropertyValue
value reference: AI/ML Capabilities

Data Governance Granularity
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Security & Governance

Global Region Availability
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Enterprise Service Count
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Platform Breadth

Starting Monthly Cost (10TB workload)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

ACID Transaction Support
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Data Reliability

SQL Query Performance (1TB dataset)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Base Monthly Cost (minimum)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Native ML/AI Capabilities
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Features

Data Format Support
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Flexibility

Concurrent Users Support
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Scalability

Data Warehouse Setup Time
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Ease of Use

Global Market Share (2024)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Market Position

ML Model Training Cost Efficiency
type: PropertyValue
value reference: ML Operations

Starting Monthly Cost (10GB active data)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

SQL Query Performance (TPC-DS Benchmark)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Native ML Framework Integration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Capabilities

Data Format Lock-in Risk
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Data Portability

BI Tool Native Connectors
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Integrations

Maximum Concurrent Queries Per Warehouse
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Customer Satisfaction Rating (G2 2025)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: User Experience

Setup Complexity (1-10 scale)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Deployment

Initial Deployment Time
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Operations

Processing Speed (Iterative ML)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

SQL Query Latency (100GB dataset)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Annual Cost (100TB/year, 5-node baseline)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Cost

Native Row/Column-Level Access Control
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Governance

Cluster Auto-scaling Capability
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Operations

Collaborative Notebooks with Version Control
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Collaboration

On-Premises Deployment Option
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Deployment

Total Available Services
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Platform

Standard Storage Cost
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Archival Storage Cost
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

AI/ML Model Flexibility
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Artificial Intelligence

Hybrid Cloud Support Maturity
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Global Data Centers
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Container Serverless Performance
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Containerization

Market Share 2026
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Market Position

Global Market Share (2026)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Market Position

Global Availability Zones
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Pricing Model Complexity
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

ML/AI Service Innovation Rating
type: PropertyValue
value reference: AI & Analytics

Hybrid Cloud Support Level
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Enterprise Features

Windows/Active Directory Integration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Enterprise Integration

Developer Community Size
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Support

Container/Kubernetes Strength
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Container Tech

BigQuery-Grade Analytics
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Data Analytics

Data Warehouse Query Speed (Typical)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Global Edge Locations
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Free Tier Monthly Requests
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

DDoS Protection Capacity
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Security

Entry-Level VM Cost (Monthly)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Pro Plan Monthly Price
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Average DNS Query Response Time
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Supported Programming Languages (Workers/Serverless)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Development

Enterprise Support Response SLA
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Support

Entry-Level VM/Droplet Cost
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Standard 2GB RAM VM Cost
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Available Services/Products
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Features

Uptime SLA
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Reliability

Time to Deploy First VM
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Usability

AI/ML Services
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Features

Free Tier Credit
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Onboarding

Global Market Share
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Market Position

Compute Instance Cost (Monthly)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

AI/ML Service Portfolio
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Platform Capabilities

Global Regions
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Compliance Certifications
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Security & Compliance

Oracle Database Performance Optimization
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Database Performance

Microsoft Enterprise Integration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Integration

License Mobility Cost Advantage
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Global Market Share 2026
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Market Position

Available Regions
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

AI/ML Services Available
type: PropertyValue
value reference: AI & Analytics

Entry-Level VM Monthly Cost
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Red Hat OpenShift Integration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Platform Integration

Windows Server Optimization
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Enterprise Integration

Uptime SLA Guarantee
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Reliability

Database Services Offered
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Data & Storage

Global Market Share (Cloud IaaS)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Market Position

Total Cloud Services
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Capabilities

Fortune 500 Adoption Rate
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Market Adoption

Global Data Center Regions
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure Scale

Compute Instance Starting Price (hourly)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Reserved Instance Discount (1-year)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

SQL Server Database Support
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Enterprise Features

Machine Learning Service Maturity
type: PropertyValue
value reference: AI/ML Capabilities

Basic Compute Instance Hourly Cost
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Monthly Compute Instance Cost
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Free Trial Credit
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Available Cloud Regions
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Platform Services Offered
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Features

Maximum Virtual Machine RAM
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Compute

Premium Support Response Time
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Support

Entry-Level Pricing
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Free Trial Duration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Onboarding

Setup Time to First Deployment
type: PropertyValue
value reference: User Experience

AI/ML Service Coverage
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Advanced Features

Enterprise Compliance Certifications
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Security

Monthly Billing Transparency
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing Clarity

Spark Query Performance (vs baseline)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Performance

Base Compute Cost (per DBU/hour)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Pricing

Cloud Platform Options
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Infrastructure

Native Data Lakehouse
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Architecture

Total Cloud Services Available
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Breadth

Power BI Integration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: BI Capability

Multi-workspace Collaboration
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Collaboration

Data Security (Encryption)
type: PropertyValue
value reference: Security