Language & translation
Amazon Comprehend vs Azure Language
The Azure equivalent of Amazon Comprehend is Azure Language.
Note that Azure now labels sentiment, key phrases, summarization, and entity linking as "legacy" capabilities, supported for existing implementations.
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon Comprehend | Azure Language |
| Lifecycle | Topic modeling, event detection, and prompt safety classification are no longer available to new customers (maintenance, Mar 31, 2026). Other features are unaffected. | "Core" (recommended): PII, language detection, NER, custom NER, and Text Analytics for health. "Legacy" (supported for existing implementations): sentiment and opinion mining, key phrases, entity linking, summarization, custom text classification, question answering, CLU, and orchestration. |
| What it is | NLP. Entities, key phrases, sentiment and targeted sentiment, language detection, PII, syntax, toxicity, and custom classification/entity recognition. | Text NLP APIs, also exposed as tools via the Azure Language MCP server. |
| Pricing model | Per unit of text (100 characters), with a 3-unit minimum per request, by feature. Custom models add training and endpoint-hour charges. | Per text record (1,000 characters), by feature, with a free tier and commitment tiers. Custom features add training and hosting charges. |
| Docs | Amazon Comprehend docs | Azure Language docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon Comprehend pricing | Azure Language pricing |
| Exams | AIF-C01 | AI-901 AI-103 |
Key differences
- Azure's "core" (recommended) capabilities are PII, language detection, NER, custom NER, and Text Analytics for health. Sentiment and opinion mining, key phrases, entity linking, summarization, and custom text classification are "legacy".
- Comprehend topic modeling, event detection, and prompt safety classification are closed to new customers (Mar 31, 2026). AWS points to Bedrock LLMs and Guardrails instead.
- Both vendors steer new open-ended NLP (topics, events, summaries) toward LLMs (Bedrock or Foundry models).
- Azure Language capabilities are also available as agent tools through the Azure Language MCP server.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Per unit of text (100 characters), with a 3-unit minimum per request, by feature. Custom models add training and endpoint-hour charges. Amazon Comprehend pricing →
- Azure
- Per text record (1,000 characters), by feature, with a free tier and commitment tiers. Custom features add training and hosting charges. Azure Language pricing →
Certification exam mapping
| Exam | Provider | Level | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Certified AI Practitioner AIF-C01 | AWS | Foundational | current Italian and German versions retire after Oct 15, 2026 (per AWS cert page). |
| Microsoft Certified – Azure AI Fundamentals AI-901 | Azure | Fundamentals | current AI-901 replaces AI-900 for this certification (English version updated Apr 15, 2026). Covers Microsoft Foundry. |
| Microsoft Certified – Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate AI-103 | Azure | Associate | current Generative AI and agentic solutions with Microsoft Foundry using Python. Successor in scope to the retired AI-102. |
Relevance is based on each exam's published scope, not a line-by-line objective match. Check the official study guide.
Verification notes
- Unit sizes (100 vs 1,000 characters) come from each vendor's pricing structure. Confirm on the pricing pages.
FAQ
What is the Azure equivalent of Amazon Comprehend?
The Azure equivalent of Amazon Comprehend is Azure Language. Note that Azure now labels sentiment, key phrases, summarization, and entity linking as "legacy" capabilities, supported for existing implementations.
How does pricing compare between Amazon Comprehend and Azure Language?
AWS: Per unit of text (100 characters), with a 3-unit minimum per request, by feature. Custom models add training and endpoint-hour charges. Azure: Per text record (1,000 characters), by feature, with a free tier and commitment tiers. Custom features add training and hosting charges. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
Which certification exams cover this topic?
AWS Certified AI Practitioner (AIF-C01); Microsoft Certified – Azure AI Fundamentals (AI-901); Microsoft Certified – Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate (AI-103).