This page is the Azure overview. Fabric and OneLake, Azure Synapse, Azure SQL Database, and SQL Server each have their own page.
What Azure gives you natively
Purview Unified Catalog data quality is the native answer. It profiles columns, offers out-of-the-box and AI-generated rules across six quality dimensions, and rolls scores up from columns to data products and governance domains. Governance teams like it for good reason.
The limits are specific. A scan applies at most 200 rules per data asset. Scans authenticate only with a managed identity, and the source has to sit in the same Azure region as the Purview account. On-premises SQL Server and Oracle get scans but no profiling (supported sources, checked October 2026). DataKitchen’s post on the nineteen Microsoft data quality features adds that Purview custom SQL rules can’t join tables.
Tools worth considering on Azure
| Tool | Profiling | Generated data tests | Observability monitors | Data quality dashboards | Runs in-platform | Open source | Price basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DataOps TestGen | 55 column characteristics | 34 test types | Freshness, volume, schema, custom metrics | Scorecards per table group | SQL inside Synapse, Azure SQL, SQL Server, OneLake endpoint | Apache 2.0 | Free for one connection; $100 per user and $100 per connection per month |
| Microsoft Purview | Yes, except on-premises sources | AI-generated rules | Freshness rule, scheduled scans | Scores by asset, product, domain | Microsoft-managed SaaS | No | Pay-as-you-go processing units |
| Monte Carlo | Yes | Partial | ML-based; Synapse, Azure SQL, SQL Server | Yes | SaaS | No | Credits; pricing on request |
| Soda | Yes | Partial | Metric monitoring and anomaly detection | Yes | Self-hosted runner option | Soda Core, Elastic License 2.0 | Free plan; Team $750 per month |
Sources, checked October 2026: Monte Carlo integrations, which list Azure Synapse, Azure SQL Database, and SQL Server, plus its Microsoft Fabric docs, which label that integration a public preview; Soda data sources, which list MS SQL Server, Azure Synapse, and Microsoft Fabric; and Soda pricing. “Partial” ratings come from DataKitchen’s Monte Carlo and Soda comparisons, reviewed June 2026.
Who should pick what
Pick Purview if governance is the job: catalog, lineage, glossary, and a score per data product that an executive reads. Pick Monte Carlo if you want a managed service with ML anomaly detection, and the budget fits: DataKitchen’s comparison estimates $120,000 to $250,000 a year for 10 users and 1,000 tables. Soda supports Fabric and has a free plan.
Pick TestGen if you want the tests written for you, across every Azure database you run, with one dashboard. It generates tests from the profile and runs them as SQL in your database. The core profiling, testing, and monitoring engine is free and open source. Enterprise adds team access, security, Commercial Pharma tests, source-data controls for AI, and support.
Most Azure shops end up running both. DataKitchen’s Purview post lays out the split: Purview is the system of record, TestGen writes the checks. Add DataOps Observability agents on Data Factory and Synapse pipelines, and you see the run that loaded the bad table, not just the table. To stop a Data Factory pipeline on a failed test, run TestGen from Data Factory.
See also: which databases TestGen supports, the OneLake medallion post, Purview comparison, and install TestGen.
Documentation: Azure SQL and Synapse quickstart, Connect your Data, Access Requirements, Manage Connections, Observability integration agents.