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Cloudera Data Platform vs Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 6, 2025

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
5.6
Users experience varied ROI from Cloudera Data Platform, with outcomes depending on deployment specifics and infrastructure usage.
Sentiment score
5.5
Measuring ROI from Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is complex due to diverse applications, pricing, and evaluation difficulties.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Cloudera support is generally helpful but varies, with paid services rated better; interaction with engineers is highly valued.
Sentiment score
6.5
Cloudera's Hadoop support receives mixed reviews, with users praising responsiveness while noting concerns on quality and accessibility.
I have communicated with technical support, and they are responsive and helpful.
The technical support is quite good and better than IBM.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.6
Cloudera Data Platform is highly scalable and efficient, outperforming Hortonworks despite minor upgrade challenges that are manageable with support.
Sentiment score
7.7
Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is highly scalable and flexible, suitable for large deployments but can be costly to expand.
Integration with other tools works well for us and we successfully scaled the solution after two to three years without any issues.
For scalability, I rate Cloudera Data Platform at an eight out of ten as it is an on-premise solution.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
Cloudera Data Platform is stable with minimal issues, mostly related to hardware or updates, and is highly rated for reliability.
Sentiment score
7.3
Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop has mixed stability reviews, with hardware issues noted, but support and workarounds are available.
We faced challenges but overcame those challenges successfully.
 

Room For Improvement

Cloudera Data Platform needs improvements in usability, security, cloud integration, cost, and support for broader industry application.
Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop struggles with stability and integration, needing better performance, security, documentation, and modern deployment solutions.
Cloudera Data Platform should include additional capabilities and features similar to those offered by other data management solutions like Azure and Databricks.
We aim to address these issues with a Kubernetes-based platform that will simplify the task of upgrading services.
Integrating with Active Directory, managing security, and configuration are the main concerns.
 

Setup Cost

Cloudera Data Platform's pricing is complex yet affordable, valued for open-source aspects and professional service needs for optimization.
Cloudera's Hadoop distribution is costly, aimed at large enterprises, lacking a community version, with per-node licensing.
Initially, CDH had a straightforward pricing model based on nodes, but CDP includes factors like processors, cores, terabytes, and drives, making it difficult to calculate costs.
It can be deployed on-premises, unlike competitors' cloud-only solutions.
 

Valuable Features

Cloudera Data Platform excels in flexibility, scalability, and comprehensive features for efficient data management, secure containerization, and AI support.
Cloudera for Hadoop offers easy installation, robust security, tool integration, scalability, and supports on-premises and cloud environments.
By using the Hadoop File System for distributed storage, we have 1.5 petabytes of physical storage with 500 terabytes of effective storage due to a replication factor of three.
The foremost benefit is offloading data from the warehouse to Cloudera Data Platform, which allows for cheaper storage.
It is scalable, ready for vertical scaling, and very powerful, offering numerous functionalities and configurations for generative AI.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cloudera Data Platform
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Master Data Management (MDM) Solutions (10th), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (5th)
Cloudera Distribution for H...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Hadoop (2nd), NoSQL Databases (8th)
 

Featured Reviews

Miodrag-Stanic - PeerSpot reviewer
Distributed computing improves data processing while upgrade complexity needs addressing
There are challenges with upgrading or updating various services like Spark, Impala, and Hive on on-premise and bare metal solutions. We aim to address these issues with a Kubernetes-based platform that will simplify the task of upgrading services. We also wish to implement lakehouse capabilities with Iceberg or Delta Lake frameworks.
Rok Dolinsek - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables on-premise implementation with powerful data processing capabilities
This is the only solution that is possible to install on-premise. Cloudera provides a hybrid solution that combines compute on cloud or on-premises. It includes all machine learning algorithms in the Spark machine learning library. All functionalities needed for a big data platform and ETL are on the platform, eliminating the need for other tools. It is scalable, ready for vertical scaling, and very powerful, offering numerous functionalities and configurations for generative AI.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
11%
Transportation Company
9%
University
7%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Educational Organization
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Hortonworks Data Platform?
Distributed computing, secure containerization, and governance capabilities are the most valuable features.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hortonworks Data Platform?
The pricing model for Cloudera Data Platform is complex and has increased significantly compared to CDH. Initially, CDH had a straightforward pricing model based on nodes, but CDP includes factors ...
What needs improvement with Hortonworks Data Platform?
Cloudera Data Platform should include additional capabilities and features similar to those offered by other data management solutions like Azure ( /products/microsoft-azure-reviews ) and Databrick...
What do you like most about Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
The tool can be deployed using different container technologies, which makes it very scalable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
The price for Cloudera is average, yet it is very good compared to other solutions. It can be deployed on-premises, unlike competitors' cloud-only solutions.
What needs improvement with Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
It is quite complicated to configure and install. Integrating the platform into an information system is always a challenge, especially when starting with on-premise implementation. Integrating wit...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
37signals, Adconion,adgooroo, Aggregate Knowledge, AMD, Apollo Group, Blackberry, Box, BT, CSC
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