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Apache Spark Streaming vs Azure Stream Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 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

Apache Spark Streaming
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
10th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Azure Stream Analytics
Ranking in Streaming Analytics
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Streaming Analytics category, the mindshare of Apache Spark Streaming is 2.7%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Stream Analytics is 10.4%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Streaming Analytics
 

Featured Reviews

AbhishekGupta - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy integration, beneficial auto-scaling, and good open-sourced support community
The service structure of Apache Spark Streaming can improve. There are a lot of issues with memory management and latency. There is no real-time analytics. We recommend it for the use cases where there is a five-second latency, but not for a millisecond, an IOT-based, or the detection anomaly-based. Flink as a service is much better. Apache Spark Streaming does not have auto-tuning. A customer needs to invest a lot, in terms of management and maintenance.
SantiagoCordero - PeerSpot reviewer
Native connectors and integration simplify tasks but portfolio complexity needs addressing
There are too many products in the Azure landscape, which sometimes leads to overlap between them. Microsoft continuously releases new products or solutions, which can be frustrating when determining the appropriate features from one solution over another. A cost comparison between products is also not straightforward. They should simplify their portfolio. The Microsoft licensing system is confusing and not easy to understand, and this is something they should address. In the future, I may stop using Stream Analytics and move to other solutions. I discussed Palantir earlier, which is something I want to explore in depth because it allows me to accomplish more efficiently compared to solely using Azure. Additionally, the vendors should make the solution more user-friendly, incorporating low-code and no-code features. This is something I wish to explore further.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Apache Spark Streaming is versatile. You can use it for competitive intelligence, gathering data from competitors, or for internal tasks like monitoring workflows."
"Apache Spark's capabilities for machine learning are quite extensive and can be used in a low-code way."
"Apache Spark Streaming was straightforward in terms of maintenance. It was actively developed, and migrating from an older to a newer version was quite simple."
"As an open-source solution, using it is basically free."
"It's the fastest solution on the market with low latency data on data transformations."
"Spark Streaming is critical, quite stable, full-featured, and scalable."
"The solution is very stable and reliable."
"The platform’s most valuable feature for processing real-time data is its ability to handle continuous data streams."
"I like the IoT part. We have mostly used Azure Stream Analytics services for it"
"I like all the connected ecosystems of Microsoft, it is really good with other BI tools that are easy to connect."
"Any time I needed assistance, they were helpful."
"It's a product that can scale."
"The most valuable aspect is the SQL option that Azure Stream Analytics provides."
"The most valuable features of Azure Stream Analytics are the ease of provisioning and the interface is not terribly complex."
"The most valuable features are the IoT hub and the Blob storage."
"It's scalable as a cloud product."
 

Cons

"The debugging aspect could use some improvement."
"It was resource-intensive, even for small-scale applications."
"The service structure of Apache Spark Streaming can improve. There are a lot of issues with memory management and latency. There is no real-time analytics. We recommend it for the use cases where there is a five-second latency, but not for a millisecond, an IOT-based, or the detection anomaly-based. Flink as a service is much better."
"The solution itself could be easier to use."
"In terms of improvement, the UI could be better."
"We don't have enough experience to be judgmental about its flaws."
"We would like to have the ability to do arbitrary stateful functions in Python."
"Integrating event-level streaming capabilities could be beneficial."
"It is not complex, but it requires some development skills. When the data is sent from Azure Stream Analytics to Power BI, I don't have the access to modify the data. I can't customize or edit the data or do some queries. All queries need to be done in the Azure Stream Analytics."
"I would like to have a contact individual at Microsoft."
"There may be some issues when connecting with Microsoft Power BI because we are providing the input and output commands, and there's a chance of it being delayed while connecting."
"More flexibility in terms of writing queries and accommodating additional facilities would be beneficial."
"The only challenge was that the streaming analytics area in Azure Stream Analytics could not meet our company's expectations, making it a component where improvements are required."
"The solution doesn't handle large data packets very efficiently, which could be improved upon."
"There are too many products in the Azure landscape, which sometimes leads to overlap between them."
"Its features for event imports and architecture could be enhanced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Spark is an affordable solution, especially considering its open-source nature."
"People pay for Apache Spark Streaming as a service."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive, or not cost-effective, and ten is cheap, I rate the price a seven."
"I was using the open-source community version, which was self-hosted."
"We pay approximately $500,000 a year. It's approximately $10,000 a year per license."
"The cost of this solution is less than competitors such as Amazon or Google Cloud."
"The current price is substantial."
"Azure Stream Analytics is a little bit expensive."
"I rate the price of Azure Stream Analytics a four out of five."
"There are different tiers based on retention policies. There are four tiers. The pricing varies based on steaming units and tiers. The standard pricing is $10/hour."
"The licensing for this product is payable on a 'pay as you go' basis. This means that the cost is only based on data volume, and the frequency that the solution is used."
"When scaling up, the pricing for Azure Stream Analytics can get relatively high. Considering its capabilities compared to other solutions, I would rate it a seven out of ten for cost. However, we've found ways to optimize costs using tools like Databricks for specific tasks."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
6%
University
5%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apache Spark Streaming?
Apache Spark Streaming is versatile. You can use it for competitive intelligence, gathering data from competitors, or for internal tasks like monitoring workflows.
What needs improvement with Apache Spark Streaming?
We don't have enough experience to be judgmental about its flaws, as we've only used stable features like batch micro-batch. Integration poses no problem; however, I don't use some features and can...
What is your primary use case for Apache Spark Streaming?
We use Spark Streaming in a micro-batch region. It's not a full real-time system, but it offers high performance and low latency.
Which would you choose - Databricks or Azure Stream Analytics?
Databricks is an easy-to-set-up and versatile tool for data management, analysis, and business analytics. For analytics teams that have to interpret data to further the business goals of their orga...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Stream Analytics?
I have no problem with pricing. We sell the data analytics value and operational value to customers, focusing on productivity and efficiency from the cloud, rather than just the infrastructure or p...
What needs improvement with Azure Stream Analytics?
There is a lack of technical support from Microsoft's local office, particularly in Taiwan. We often have to learn online, and language can be a communication barrier since not many IT staff can sp...
 

Also Known As

Spark Streaming
ASA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, Alibaba Taobao, Kenshoo, eBay Inc.
Rockwell Automation, Milliman, Honeywell Building Solutions, Arcoflex Automation Solutions, Real Madrid C.F., Aerocrine, Ziosk, Tacoma Public Schools, P97 Networks
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Spark Streaming vs. Azure Stream Analytics and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.