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Machine Learning & Data Science · head to head

Databricks vs Ollama

Databricks logo

Databricks

Machine Learning & Data Science

Unified analytics platform for data engineering and data science

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ollama logo

Ollama

Machine Learning & Data Science

Open-source tool for running LLMs locally on desktop and servers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Databricks cloud compute is billed separately by the cloud provider on top of Databricks DBU charges; Ollama requires user to provide computational hardware; no free cloud compute; models may not fit in available RAM on typical machines

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Databricks and Ollama actually diverge.

Attributes where Databricks and Ollama differ
AttributeDatabricksOllama
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, Aws, Azure, GcpmacOS, Windows, Linux, Cloud (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, self-hosted)
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Machine Learning & Data Science).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Databricks

  • Delta Lake
  • Apache Spark
  • MLflow
  • Unity Catalog
  • Photon Engine
  • Collaborative Notebooks
  • Auto-scaling
  • AWS

Only in Ollama

Nothing recorded that Databricks does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Databricks

  • Running Spark data engineering pipelines on managed clustersnot Ollama
  • Building a lakehouse over data in cloud object storagenot Ollama
  • Training and serving machine learning models alongside the datanot Ollama

Ollama

  • Local development and testing without API costs or rate limitsnot Databricks
  • Privacy-sensitive applications requiring data to remain on-devicenot Databricks
  • Cost-sensitive deployments where computational resources are already availablenot Databricks
  • Fully offline environments or air-gapped networksnot Databricks

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Databricks

  • Cloud compute is billed separately by the cloud provider on top of Databricks DBU charges
  • The free trial lasts 14 days
  • Discounts require a Committed Use Contract, with larger commitments needed for larger discounts
  • Azure Databricks pricing is set by Microsoft rather than by Databricks
  • Security and compliance capabilities are sold as separate platform add ons rather than included in the base rate

Ollama

  • Requires user to provide computational hardware; no free cloud compute; models may not fit in available RAM on typical machines
  • No hosted service option for inference; all computational burden falls to user
  • Limited to open-weight models; cannot run proprietary models like GPT-4 or Claude locally
  • Performance depends entirely on user's hardware; no SLAs or guarantees on speed

Pricing, plan by plan

Databricks

Free
  • Community EditionFree
    • Limited cluster
    • Notebook environment
    • Community support
  • Standard$0.07/DBU
    • Jobs compute
    • SQL compute
    • Standard support

Ollama

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Ollama review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Databricks if

  • You need delta lake.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp.
  • You also want apache spark.
Databricks review

Choose Ollama if

  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Windows, Linux, Cloud (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, self-hosted).
Ollama review

Questions people ask

Is Databricks or Ollama better?
Neither clearly leads. Databricks starts at Free and Ollama at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Databricks or Ollama?
Databricks starts at Free and Ollama at Free.
Does Databricks or Ollama run on more platforms?
Databricks runs on Web, Aws, Azure, Gcp. Ollama runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, Cloud (AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, self-hosted).
Can I use Databricks for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Databricks best used for?
Databricks is most often used 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. Of those, running spark data engineering pipelines on managed clusters and building a lakehouse over data in cloud object storage are not what Ollama is typically brought in for.
What can Databricks do that Ollama cannot?
Databricks covers Delta Lake, Apache Spark, MLflow, Unity Catalog.
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