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IBM Watson Studio vs Starburst Galaxy 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

IBM Watson Studio
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
AI Development Platforms (10th)
Starburst Galaxy
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
13th
Average Rating
9.8
Reviews Sentiment
1.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Streaming Analytics (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM Watson Studio is 2.0%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Starburst Galaxy is 0.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Abilio Duarte - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly robust and well-documented platform that simplifies the complex world of AI
The main challenge lies in visibility and ease of use. Providing training sessions can be immensely helpful in helping users navigate and understand the tool's potential. This approach would empower users to explore and make the most of the tools and technologies at their disposal. Another area where IBM could enhance its offering is by providing more visibility to end users regarding the vast potential that Watson offers.
Stephen-Howard - PeerSpot reviewer
Federated querying delivers integrated data at record speed and reduces processing time
The biggest win has been the ability to combine data from multiple sources and deliver it to the business at record speed. This capability has allowed us to query directly through Starburst Galaxy, enabling teams to access integrated data that would otherwise be hard to pull together. This has reduced both our ETL processing time and storage costs. We are answering questions that would have been hard, if not impossible, to answer previously because the data came from disparate, disconnected sources.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Stability-wise, it is a great tool."
"Watson Studio is the most complete tool for AI projects."
"It has a lot of data connectors, which is extremely helpful."
"Technical support is great. We have had weekly teleconferences with the technical people at IBM, and they have been fantastic."
"The main benefit is the ease of use. We see a lot of engineers in our site and customers that really like the way the tools are able to work with the people."
"It is a stable, reliable product."
"The scalability of IBM Watson Studio is great."
"It is a very stable and reliable solution."
"Starburst Galaxy is becoming a cornerstone of our data platform, empowering us to make smarter and faster decisions across the organization."
"Starburst Galaxy serves as our primary SQL-based data processing engine, a strategic decision driven by its seamless integration with our AWS cloud infrastructure and its ability to deliver high performance with low-latency responses."
"Starburst Galaxy has improved our organization by unifying access to all major data sources, reducing the need for complex ETL processes."
"Starburst Galaxy has improved our organization by unifying access to all major data sources, reducing the need for complex ETL processes."
"Starburst on Trino, combined with our SQL-native data transformation tool SQLMesh, has delivered anywhere from a two to five times improvement in compute performance across our transformation DAG."
 

Cons

"Some of the solutions are really good solutions but they can be a little too costly for many."
"So a better user interface could be very helpful"
"The decision making in their decision making feature is less good than other options."
"I want IBM's technical support team to provide more specific answers to queries."
"Watson Studio would be improved with a clearer path for the deployment of docker images."
"We would like to see it less as one big, massive product, but more based on smaller services that we can then roll out to consumers."
"IBM Watson Studio, while powerful, lacks user-friendliness. It is not easy to use, particularly for medium or small enterprises or less experienced staff."
"The initial setup was complex."
"Cluster startup time can be slow, sometimes taking over a minute."
"The most persistent issue is the cluster spin-up time."
"Cluster startup time is another pain point, typically 3 to 5 minutes, which is not the worst with proper planning but can be annoying for ad-hoc work."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Watson Studio's pricing is reasonable for what you get."
"IBM Watson Studio is an expensive solution."
"IBM Watson Studio is a reasonably priced product"
"The pricing is generally reasonable and straightforward but can vary significantly depending on the specific workloads in use."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
32%
Computer Software Company
15%
University
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Watson Studio?
IBM Watson Studio is considered rather expensive, with a rating of six or seven. The pricing could be optimized relative to the features and capabilities of the product.
What needs improvement with IBM Watson Studio?
IBM Watson Studio, while powerful, lacks user-friendliness. It is not easy to use, particularly for medium or small enterprises or less experienced staff. Another aspect that requires improvement i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Starburst Galaxy?
You pay for cluster uptime. It is important to be aggressive about autoscaling, as a single worker will get you a long way. I recommend never connecting a BI tool to your Galaxy cluster. Instead, w...
What needs improvement with Starburst Galaxy?
As a hosted option, I wish I had more control over the cluster configuration, specifically regarding some of the more advanced options. Trino is extremely flexible and powerful, but some of this fu...
What is your primary use case for Starburst Galaxy?
I use Starburst as a cost-efficient hosted option for Trino for data integration and ad-hoc analysis across a broad range of data sources. It is surprisingly useful to query SQL Server, a Google Sh...
 

Also Known As

Watson Studio, IBM Data Science Experience, Data Science Experience, DSx
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GroupM, Accenture, Fifth Third Bank
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Watson Studio vs. Starburst Galaxy and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.