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IBM Db2 on Cloud vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Db2 on Cloud
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
23rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
138
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 on Cloud is 2.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 9.2%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database9.2%
IBM Db2 on Cloud2.0%
Other88.8%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

FM
Database Engineer at Meezan Bank
Multi-node architecture and it is good from a security point of view
I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. Most of the issues we faced during troubleshooting were due to specific bugs in the environment, and the only solution was to upgrade the database environment or services. But it is not easy to upgrade the database level when third-party applications are involved, as they are not always comfortable with upgrading. There should be some cumulative solution provided by IBM for their customers, just like other vendors. Upgrading to a certain version doesn't always resolve the issue. It might get resolved at the database level, but what about the other applications integrated with that database that are only compatible with older versions?
Matthew Parker - PeerSpot reviewer
Ai Team Lead at Phoenix Software
Integrates with familiar tools and supports reliable data storage for AI applications
Microsoft Azure SQL Database can be improved overall by being able to compete with some of the features that come from things such as PostgreSQL. From my team's perspective in terms of building AI applications, more native integrations with some of the newer AI data types, such as vectors for storing embeddings, would be beneficial. I think all of that is coming. It is just a big product, so I think it is naturally a little bit behind the curve. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of customers, because it has been around for so long, they trust it and they are willing to wait until those features become available.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The reliability is the most valuable feature. It is also user-friendly."
"Multiple business departments rely on reports and predictive analysis to make decisions for future business based on their data warehouse and Db2 network analytics tool. It helps our business department make decisions."
"The stability is excellent because it is easier for us to connect to the cloud rather than connecting to MSSP."
"It's user-friendly. Compared to other solutions, it's based more on clicks, not on scripts. It's easy to manage."
"The stability is good and the performance is fantastic, and even when we try to do an inquiry into issues we can do it easily."
"The feature I like the most in Microsoft Azure SQL Database is the recovery point of time to recover the database when needed, which has benefited my organization by improving response time in seconds and milliseconds, and this will improve customer experience and satisfy the commercial team as well."
"Their technical support is the most valuable."
"My impression is that this solution is quite stable."
"The solution effectively handles storing and maintaining information in databases."
"Its easy usage is the most valuable."
 

Cons

"Nobody is going to like the price."
"I would give their support a ten if they had more tutorials available."
"In other environments like Oracle or Teradata, they provide their own solutions for troubleshooting issues. They provide built-in AI services or autonomous databases, which I don't see in the Db2 environment."
"Its price could be better. It is expensive."
"The only problem we have with Azure is regarding the price."
"I think Microsoft Azure SQL Database should be cheaper. The license is expensive, but not always; it depends on the case regarding pricing and licensing."
"It would help if the solution was more secure."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is one of those solutions that helps consolidate our infrastructure, though unfortunately it is not the only solution we use."
"There is so much information that it becomes confusing at times. The information can be more friendly. They could also provide additional training, especially at the beginning."
"Our data warehouse in total is about two terabytes, and the tables we're referring to are around 60 million rows, which are approximately 60 to 70 gigabytes."
"One area for improvement is data virtualization. Companies use different data sources, creating a separate data virtualization layer, and there are more data sources behind that layer. For example, we have different data layers for Excel, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, etc. Creating a data virtualization layer would help because you retain the metadata of your source data."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"When you go with SQL Azure Database, you can create a small database, which is around $4 to $5 per month for development purposes."
"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."
"There is a license required to use the solution and it cost $30 to do the installation."
"I have an annual spend number, and it is in the hundred thousand dollar range. There are no additional costs to the standard licensing fees. Even though you have to look at the cost numbers of what you're going to be charged on a monthly basis, what you have to also remember is that your application may need a lot of rewriting and things like that. You get charged not just for the monthly costs but also for the transactions that occur. If your access to the data layer is not so efficient, your costs will go up because you're pulling far more data than you potentially need. These are hidden costs that nobody ever considers. If your application is not written very efficiently, you may actually increase your costs over on-prem versus cloud."
"There is no licensing cost for the solution."
"It is quite expensive. I would definitely recommend not using the pay-as-you-go model because this will just mean all your money will go to Microsoft. So, really make sure to control resource usage as much as possible."
"With one being expensive and five being competitive, I would give the product a four out of five as it's relatively competitive. It is also important to note that pricing is based on usage."
"The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business62
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise65
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
For pricing, it is a good benefit. You can decrease the price by approximately 25% or 30% maximum. It is a good opportunity for us. Software Assurance and Azure Hybrid Benefit is a good opportunity...
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
This question is complicated. Some developers know the SQL language, but they are not database managers. They can develop with some queries, which is acceptable for us, but management of SQL engine...
What is your primary use case for SQL Azure?
We work in Azure on our applications. We work with SQL, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, and we work with some services: AKS, Kubernetes services, managed Kubernetes, which we use in our applications. We use...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Owens-Illinois, KONE Corp., Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue, Canon Europe, Delhaize America, Wimbledon
adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Db2 on Cloud vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,383 professionals have used our research since 2012.