Azure Synapse-Databricks Integration Kit: Architecture Decision Guide: Synapse vs Databricks vs Both

Architecture Decision Guide: Synapse vs Databricks vs Both Datanest Digital | datanest.dev Purpose This guide provides a structured decision framework for determining which Azure analytics service to use for each workload in your data platform. Most mature Azure data platforms benefit from running both Synapse and Databricks. The question is not "which one" but "which workload goes where." Executive Summary Capability Synapse Wins Databricks Wins T-SQL analytics Yes No Serverless ad-hoc queries Yes No Large-scale Spark ETL No Yes ML model training No Yes Delta Lake management No Yes Power BI DirectQuery (DWH) Yes Comparable Real-time streaming No Yes Dedicated SQL warehousing Yes Comparable Cost at low scale Yes No Cost at high scale No Yes Governance (Unity Catalog) No Yes T-SQL stored procedures Yes No Decision Tree Use this tree top-down. Start with your workload type and follow the branches. Level 1: What is the primary workload? START HERE │ ├── T-SQL analytics / reporting ───────