Machine Learning · alternatives
Alternatives to Databricks
22 machine learning tools sit alongside Databricks in this directory. Below is what separates each from Databricks on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 18
- Cheaper to start
- 0
- Databricks starts at
- Free
Why people look past Databricks
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. Databricks has a free tier, and starts at Free against a category median of $17/month. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Build, train, and deploy machine learning models at scale
- Starts $0.04 a hour dearer, at $0.04/hour.
Unified ML platform to build, deploy, and scale AI models
- No free tier, where Databricks has one.
Microsoft's managed platform for training, tracking and deploying models on Azure
Priced and rated the same as Databricks on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Enterprise AI platform for automated machine learning
- No free tier, where Databricks has one.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than usage-based.
Open-source MLOps platform for experiment tracking and orchestration
- Sold on a Open-source self-hosted, with paid hosted and enterprise tiers model rather than usage-based.
- 1 tier to Databricks's 2.
LLM engineering platform for testing and evaluating AI agents in production
- Starts $29 a month dearer, at €29/month.
- Sold on a Tiered subscription with usage-based overage charges model rather than usage-based.
- 3 tiers to Databricks's 2.
Every Databricks alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Databricks (this page) | Free | Usage-based | 2 | |
| AWS SageMakerBuild, train, and deploy machine learning models at scale | Free, then $0.04/hour | - | - | vs Databricks |
| Google Vertex AIUnified ML platform to build, deploy, and scale AI models | On request | - | - | vs Databricks |
| Azure Machine LearningEnterprise-grade machine learning service | Free | Usage-based | 2 | vs Databricks |
| DataRobotEnterprise AI platform for automated machine learning | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs Databricks |
| ClearML | Free | Open-source self-hosted, with paid hosted and enterprise tiers | 1 | vs Databricks |
| Langwatch | Free, then €29/month | Tiered subscription with usage-based overage charges | 3 | vs Databricks |
| Haystack | Free | Open-source with optional paid enterprise support | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Semantic Kernel | Free | Open source, no pricing | 1 | vs Databricks |
| H2O.ai | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Dask | Free | Open-source | 1 | vs Databricks |
| IBM SPSS | Free, then $99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Databricks |
| JMP | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Anaconda | Free, then $15/month | - | 3 | vs Databricks |
| BentoML | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Dataiku | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Comet ML | Free, then $19/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Databricks |
| Hugging Face | Free | - | - | vs Databricks |
| BigQuery ML | Free | Usage-based | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Domino Data Lab | Free | Subscription | 2 | vs Databricks |
| DVC | Free | Open-source | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Fal AI | $1.89/hour | Usage-based | 2 | vs Databricks |
| Groq | On request | Quote | - | vs Databricks |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Databricks badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (18)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- AWS SageMaker , Free, then $0.04/hour
- Azure Machine Learning , Free
- ClearML , Free
- Langwatch , Free, then €29/month
- Haystack , Free
- Semantic Kernel , Free
- H2O.ai , Free
- Dask , Free
What you would be giving up
Databricks is most often brought in for running spark data engineering pipelines on managed clusters, building a lakehouse over data in cloud object storage, training and serving machine learning models alongside the data. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Databricks is broadly right and the question is cost, the Databricks pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Machine Learning category lists everything the directory holds, and best machine learning tools ranks them.
Databricks runs on web, aws, azure, gcp. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Databricks alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Databricks?
- 22 other machine learning tools are listed in this directory, led by AWS SageMaker, Google Vertex AI, Azure Machine Learning, DataRobot. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Databricks?
- 18 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: AWS SageMaker, Azure Machine Learning, ClearML, Langwatch, Haystack.
- Is there a reason to switch away from Databricks?
- Nothing in the data flags one. Databricks has a free tier, and starts at Free against a category median of $17/month. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from Databricks?
- Databricks is most often brought in for running spark data engineering pipelines on managed clusters, building a lakehouse over data in cloud object storage, training and serving machine learning models alongside the data. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Databricks?
- Dask, DVC are recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these Databricks alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Machine Learning, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Databricks against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Databricks covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every machine learning tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Machine Learning category, 22 tools beside Databricks. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.