MLOps & responsible AI
Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth vs Azure ML data labeling
Azure no longer has a first-party equivalent of SageMaker Ground Truth.
Azure Machine Learning data labeling retired on September 30, 2026, and Microsoft points to third-party labeling providers. Ground Truth itself is in maintenance (no new customers).
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth Maintenance | Azure ML data labeling Retired |
| Lifecycle | No longer open to new customers (lifecycle announcement June 30, 2026). Ground Truth Plus fully shut down June 30, 2026. The Mechanical Turk workforce option reached end of support Sep 30, 2026. | Retired Sep 30, 2026. Workloads and associated application data were deleted on that date. Microsoft directs customers to third-party labeling providers. |
| What it is | Human and ML-assisted data labeling with private, vendor, or (formerly) Mechanical Turk workforces. | Image and text labeling projects with ML-assisted labeling. |
| Pricing model | Existing Ground Truth customers pay per labeled object plus workforce costs. | Not applicable (retired). |
| Docs | Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth docs | Azure ML data labeling docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth pricing | — |
| Exams | MLA-C01 Retiring | — |
Key differences
- Both first-party labeling services are winding down. Azure's is retired and its data was deleted on Sep 30, 2026. AWS's Ground Truth accepts no new customers, Ground Truth Plus was shut down June 30, 2026, and the Mechanical Turk workforce option ended Sep 30, 2026.
- For new projects on either cloud, plan on a third-party or open-source labeling tool and copy the labels into your ML storage.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Existing Ground Truth customers pay per labeled object plus workforce costs. Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth pricing →
- Azure
- Not applicable (retired).
Certification exam mapping
| Exam | Provider | Level | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate MLA-C01 | AWS | Associate | retiring Being updated to MLA-C02 (beta registration opened Sep 1, 2026). Last day for MLA-C01 in English was Sep 28, 2026; Korean, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese remain until MLA-C02 GA. |
Relevance is based on each exam's published scope, not a line-by-line objective match. Check the official study guide.
FAQ
Does Azure have an equivalent to Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth?
Azure no longer has a first-party equivalent of SageMaker Ground Truth. Azure Machine Learning data labeling retired on September 30, 2026, and Microsoft points to third-party labeling providers. Ground Truth itself is in maintenance (no new customers).
How does pricing compare between Amazon SageMaker Ground Truth and Azure ML data labeling?
AWS: Existing Ground Truth customers pay per labeled object plus workforce costs. Azure: Not applicable (retired). Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
Which certification exams cover this topic?
AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate (MLA-C01) [retiring].