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Databricks vs IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud comparison

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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

Databricks
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (1st), Data Management Platforms (DMP) (3rd), Streaming Analytics (1st)
IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud
Ranking in Cloud Data Warehouse
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Cloud Data Warehouse category, the mindshare of Databricks is 9.5%, up from 8.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud is 2.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Data Warehouse Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Databricks9.5%
IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud2.0%
Other88.5%
Cloud Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

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.
FM
Database Engineer at Meezan Bank
Enhancing analytics with seamless data dumping and reliable support
Our primary use case is data storage and analytics The organization has decided to purchase a full stack solution from IBM due to positive responses, which helped them upgrade from the previous version. The data dumping into the raw zone and the feature of BigQuery is quite attractive. There…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We like that this solution can handle a wide variety and velocity of data engineering, either in batch mode or real-time."
"I think what I value is more about the technology itself because you don't need to have too much knowledge to be able to use the solution."
"Having one solution for everything, from data engineering to machine learning, is beneficial since everything comes under one hood."
"Databricks is a truly essential platform for data engineering needs, and I recommend it to anyone looking to advance in the data engineering field."
"Databricks also offers exceptional performance and scalability."
"The solution offers a free community version."
"It's easy to increase performance as required."
"Databricks is a one-stop shop for everything data related, and it can scale with you."
"It will be MPP, so performance should improve."
"It is stable when there is support from IBM."
"The performance is okay as long as the volume of queries is not too high."
"The way that it scales will help a lot of customers that are stuck with Netezza boxes that can't grow any larger.​"
"One of the most amazing features of dashDB is how it uses compression to get results in lighting speed."
"Ease of migration from Netezza DB; IBM ported over all Netezza's functionality and made the warehouse DB/dashDB the best of breed of the two."
"DashDB is a good product to work with and the extra cost you spend on performance, technical support and tools to work with is worth it."
"Since my company is an IBM partner, it has enabled us to offer cloud data warehouse solutions on a 100% IBM stack."
 

Cons

"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."
"Databricks would have more collaborative features than it has. It should have some more customization for the jobs."
"The integration and query capabilities can be improved."
"The product could be improved by offering an expansion of their visualization capabilities, which currently assists in development in their notebook environment."
"My experience with the pricing and licensing model is that it remains relatively expensive. Though it's less expensive than AWS, we still need a more cost-effective solution."
"I think setting up the whole account for one person and giving access are areas that can be difficult to manage and should be made a little easier."
"There is room for improvement in the documentation of processes and how it works."
"They release patches that sometimes break our code. These patches are supposed to fix issues, but sometimes they cause disruptions."
"There are some limitations in adding data files to table spaces, and improvements are needed for regional support."
"Ultimately, the product itself has challenges and we are not currently satisfied with the support, either."
"With dashDB, scalability and uptime need more improvement."
"Db2 is not a solution that I recommend. We have a lot of experience and we are not satisfied with the product or the support that we received."
"Containers get corrupted very easily. Restoring them using GPFS can result in a lot of issues."
"I would like to see improvements in backup and authentication. It needs the ability to increase the number of retained backups to more than 2 days."
"I would rate the level of dashDB support 3.5/5. While they are very knowledgeable in many areas, you can still struggle to get the correct resolution."
"Right now, we are implementing on ESX VMware 6.0. Support for this platform is poor. Also, one of the backup/recovery options is broken and IBM is not addressing the issue."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing costs of Databricks is a tiered licensing regime, so it is flexible."
"Databricks uses a price-per-use model, where you can use as much compute as you need."
"I am based in South Africa, where it is expensive adapting to the cloud, and then there is the price for the tool itself."
"I would rate the tool’s pricing an eight out of ten."
"Licensing on site I would counsel against, as on-site hardware issues tend to really delay and slow down delivery."
"The product pricing is moderate."
"We only pay for the Azure compute behind the solution."
"We're charged on what the data throughput is and also what the compute time is."
"If your going to go with warehouse DB/dashDB, use the cloud or Sailfish version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise60
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

Which do you prefer - Databricks or Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Databricks gives you the option of working with several different languages, such as SQL, R, Scala, Apache Spark, or Python. It offers many different cluster choices and excellent integration with ...
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...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
Organizations of all sizes, especially those who are in need of powerful and elastic cloud data warehouse solutions that can help administrators maximize the efficiency of their data-based operatio...
What needs improvement with IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
There are some limitations in adding data files to table spaces, and improvements are needed for regional support.
What is your primary use case for IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud?
Our primary use case is data storage and analytics.
 

Also Known As

Databricks Unified Analytics, Databricks Unified Analytics Platform, Redash
IBM dashDB
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Elsevier, MyFitnessPal, Sharethrough, Automatic Labs, Celtra, Radius Intelligence, Yesware
Copenhagen Business School, BPM Northwest, GameStop
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks vs. IBM Db2 Warehouse on Cloud and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.