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IBM Watson Machine Learning vs Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 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

IBM Watson Machine Learning
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Machine Lea...
Ranking in AI Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the AI Development Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM Watson Machine Learning is 1.8%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is 7.3%, down from 13.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AI Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Anurag Mayank - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly efficient solution that delivers the desired results to its users
I had not considered how the solution could be improved because I was focused on how it was helping me to solve my issues. If I consider how we want to use it in our organization, certain areas of improvement can be addressed. For instance, we want to use it with Generative AI, not like ChatGPT, but in a way intended for industrial use. It would be beneficial to incorporate more AI into the solution.
Takayuki Umehara - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined workflows with drag and drop convenience but needs enhancements in AI
I use Machine Learning Studio for system reselling and integration Machine Learning Studio is easy to use, with a significant feature being the drag and drop interface that enhances workflow without any complaints. It provides a return on investment and cost savings, proving beneficial for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable aspect of the solution's the cost and human labor savings."
"I was particularly interested in trying the AutoML feature to see how it handles data and proposes new models. The variety of models it provides is impressive."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"It is has a lot of good features and we find the image classification very useful."
"The solution is very valuable to our organization due to the fact that we can work on it as a workflow."
"We can enable and change developer productivity with artificial intelligence-recommended code based on natural language input or exciting source code."
"It has improved self-service and customer satisfaction."
"In terms of what I found most valuable in Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio, I especially love the designer because you can just drag and drop items there and apply the logic that's already available with the designer. I love that I can use the libraries in Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio, so I don't have to search for the algorithms and all the relevant libraries because I can see them directly on the designer just by dragging and dropping. Though there's a bit of work during data cleansing, that's normal and can't be avoided. At least it's easy to find the relevant algorithm, apply that algorithm to the data, then get the desired output through Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio. I also like the API feature of the solution which is readily available for me to expose the output to any consuming application, so that takes out a lot of headache. Otherwise, I have to have a developer who knows the API, and I have to have an API app, so all that is completely taken care of by the Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio designer. With the solution, I can concentrate on how to improve the data quality to get quality recommendations, so this lets me concentrate on my job rather than focusing on the regular development of APIs or the pipelines, in particular, the data pipelines pulling the data from other sources. All the data is taken care of and you can also concentrate on other required auxiliary activities rather than just concentrating on machine learning."
"Regarding the technical support for the solution, I find the documentation provided comprehensive and helpful."
"The UI is very user-friendly and that AI is easy to use."
"Scalability, in terms of running experiments concurrently is good. At max, I was able to run three different experiments concurrently."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Machine Learning Studio for me is its convenience. I can quickly start using it without setting up the environment or buying a lot of devices."
"Machine Learning Studio is easy to use, with a significant feature being the drag and drop interface that enhances workflow without any complaints."
"It is very easy to test different kinds of machine-learning algorithms with different parameters. You choose the algorithm, drag and drop to the workspace, and plug the dataset into this component."
"The learning curve is very low. Operationalizing the model is also very easy within the Azure ecosystem."
 

Cons

"Scaling is limited in some use cases. They need to make it easier to expand in all aspects."
"If I consider how we want to use it in our organization, certain areas of improvement can be addressed. For instance, we want to use it with Generative AI, not like ChatGPT, but in a way intended for industrial use."
"Sometimes training the model is difficult."
"In future releases, I would like to see a more flexible environment."
"They should add more GPU processing power to improve performance, especially when dealing with large amounts of data."
"The supporting language is limited."
"Honestly, I haven't seen any comparative report that has run the same data through two different artificial intelligence or machine learning capabilities to get something out of it. I would love to see that."
"Stability-wise, you may face certain problems when you fail to refresh the data in the solution."
"In terms of improvement, I'd like to have more ability to construct and understand the detailed impact of the variables on the model. Their algorithms are very powerful and they explain overall the net contribution of each of the variables to the solution. In terms of being able to say to people "If you did this, you'll get this much more improvement" it wasn't great."
"Improvement in integration is crucial, and it'll be interesting to see how it develops, especially with SAP's move towards cloud-based solutions like SAP Rise and its collaboration with hyper scalers like AWS. Integrating SAP with hyperscaler machine learning solutions could simplify operations, although SAP's environment is complex. SAP has initiated deals with AWS for this purpose, but I'm not as familiar with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio's involvement."
"The data cleaning functionality is something that could be better and needs to be improved."
"We can create a label job, but we still have to use the Azure Machine Learning REST APIs, which are not yet supported in the Python SDK version 2."
"The interface is a bit overloaded."
"Operability with R could be improved."
"The product must improve its documentation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I've only been using the free tier, but it's quite competitive on a service basis."
"The pricing model is good."
"The licensing cost is very cheap. It's less than $50 a month."
"Last year, we paid 60,000 for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio in our department."
"The pricing for Microsoft products can be complex due to changes and being cloud-based, so it's not straightforward. I've been familiar with it for years, but sometimes details about product licenses and distribution can be unclear. For Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio specifically, I would rate the price a six out of ten."
"My team didn't deal with the licensing for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio, so I'm unable to comment on pricing, but the money that was spent on the tool was worth it."
"In terms of pricing, for any cloud solution, you should know the tricks of the trade and how to use it, otherwise, you'll end up paying a lot of money irrespective of the cloud provider, so at least for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio pricing versus AWS, I would rate it three out of five, with one being the most expensive, and five being the cheapest. It could be cheaper, but you also have to be careful when choosing the plans, for example, consider the architecture and a lot of other factors before choosing your plan, if you don't want to end up paying more. If your cloud provider has an optimizer that seems to be available in every provider, that would keep alerting you in terms of resources not being used as much, then that would help you with budgeting."
"There is a lack of certainty with the solution's pricing."
"The platform's price is low."
"There is a license required for this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Educational Organization
11%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Watson Machine Learning?
I was particularly interested in trying the AutoML feature to see how it handles data and proposes new models. The variety of models it provides is impressive.
What needs improvement with IBM Watson Machine Learning?
Sometimes training the model is difficult. We need to have at least a few different components to evaluate and understand the behavior of different users to have a very, very high accuracy in the m...
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 ...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
The learning curve is very low. Operationalizing the model is also very easy within the Azure ecosystem.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Pricing is considered to be top-segment and should be improved. I rate the pricing as three or four on a scale of one to ten in terms of affordability.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Machine Learning, MS Azure Machine Learning Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Schneider Electric, BP
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Watson Machine Learning vs. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.