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Apache Pulsar vs Databricks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Apache Pulsar
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
21st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Databricks
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Data Warehouse (4th), Data Science Platforms (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Apache Pulsar is 2.9%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Databricks is 8.1%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Databricks8.1%
Apache Pulsar2.9%
Other89.0%
Streaming Analytics
 

Featured Reviews

it_user1087029 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Vlaanderen connect.
The solution can mimic other APIs without changing a line of code
The solution operates as a classic message broker but also as a streaming platform. It operates differently than a traditional streaming platform with storage and computing handled separately. It scales easier and better than Kafka which can be stubborn. You can even make it act like Kafka because it understands Kafka APIs. There are even companies that will sell you Kafka but underneath it is Apache Pulsar. The solution is very compatible because it can mimic other APIs without changing a line of code.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution operates as a classic message broker but also as a streaming platform."
"The solution operates as a classic message broker but also as a streaming platform."
"The most valuable feature of Databricks is the integration with Microsoft Azure."
"Prior to using Azure Databricks in the cloud, we had Databricks installed in clusters, and since our implementation, the performance has increased and our cost has been reduced."
"I don't think you can find any other tool or any other service that is faster than Databricks."
"We like that this solution can handle a wide variety and velocity of data engineering, either in batch mode or real-time."
"I work in the data science field and I found Databricks to be very useful."
"The Delta Lake data type has been the most useful part of this solution. Delta Lake is an opensource data type and it was implemented and invented by Databricks."
"Databricks' capability to process data in parallel enhances data processing speed."
"Databricks' most valuable features are the workspace and notebooks. Its integration, interface, and documentation are also good."
 

Cons

"Documentation is poor because much of it is in Chinese with no English translation."
"Documentation is poor because much of it is in Chinese with no English translation."
"The first deployment is difficult. It is not straightforward and you have to think about a lot of stuff."
"Databricks is a very expensive solution. Pricing is an area that could definitely be improved."
"I would love an integration in my desktop IDE. For now, I have to code on their webpage."
"I would like more integration with SQL for using data in different workspaces."
"Anyone who doesn't know SQL may find the product difficult to work with."
"The product could be improved regarding the delay when switching to higher-performing virtual machines compared to other platforms."
"I would like it if Databricks adopted an interface more like R Studio. When I create a data frame or a table, R Studio provides a preview of the data. In R Studio, I can see that it created a table with so many columns or rows. Then I can click on it and open a preview of that data."
"The solution could improve by providing better automation capabilities. For example, working together with more of a DevOps approach, such as continuous integration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Licensing on site I would counsel against, as on-site hardware issues tend to really delay and slow down delivery."
"The price of Databricks is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"We implement this solution on behalf of our customers who have their own Azure subscription and they pay for Databricks themselves. The pricing is more expensive if you have large volumes of data."
"We find Databricks to be very expensive, although this improved when we found out how to shut it down at night."
"I would rate Databricks' pricing seven out of ten."
"Databricks' cost could be improved."
"The solution requires a subscription."
"I do not exactly know the costs, but one of our clients pays between $100 USD and $200 USD monthly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Insurance Company
7%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Healthcare Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise56
 

Questions from the Community

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Which do you prefer - Databricks or Azure Machine Learning Studio?
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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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks, Microsoft, Apache and others in Streaming Analytics. Updated: May 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.