Spark is directly available from spark.apache.org as an open-source solution. Databricks is the leading provider of the commercial solution of Spark. For those who are familiar with programming in Python, R, Java, or Scala, the time required to start using Spark is minimal due to efficient interfaces, such as the PySpark API that allows users to work in Spark using just Python.

Cloud-based Spark platforms, such as the Databricks Community Edition, provide an easy and simple means to work on Spark without the additional work of installing and configuring Spark. Hence, users who wish to use Spark for programming and related tasks can get started much more rapidly without spending time on administrative tasks.