No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM Db2 on Cloud vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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)
22nd
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 September 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 9.1%, 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 Database9.1%
IBM Db2 on Cloud2.0%
Other88.9%
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."
"We've cut costs by around 70 percent."
"Azure Portal is most valuable."
"Microsoft is at the forefront of databases, and everyone uses SQL."
"I would recommend SQL Azure."
"It's easy to use and maintain. If we look at the development of the maintenance team, we are not directly responsible for any infrastructure issues. We have too many positive sides to that. No maintenance, easy to use, and we'll know the limits very well."
"It is very fast in replicating the data from one database to another; we do some extractions from multiple databases to a target database that we use for visualization, and it has a good speed."
"We like the collaborative nature of the solution."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is basically easy to use and user-friendly."
 

Cons

"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."
"Nobody is going to like the price."
"The Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not the latest version of Microsoft SQL Server; it's a really old engine that does not have the newest features, is very slow, and too expensive, so I really don't think it's a good solution for most cases, except when you specifically need to put your data on the cloud."
"The solution’s pricing needs improvement because it is too high."
"Sometimes, we encounter limitations due to our use of a government cloud environment, which differs from commercial cloud platforms."
"Scalability Cost efficiency Business continuity"
"The benefits I have realized from using Microsoft Azure SQL Database are currently limited since we've only done it in test and dev environments right now, and we haven't moved to production, so we haven't realized the full gain just yet."
"There are some limitations for cross-database queries and features. The migration of data from older systems should be easier. For deployment, there are too many options, which sometimes makes it difficult to figure out the best option. There is not enough information to help you to find the best option for deployment. There should be more documentation about this."
"I would like to see the cloud connectivity environment improved."
"We've noticed an unexpected increase in the cost of running the server over the past few months."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is flexible and can be adapted based on our requirements but the pricing options are complex especially if we are using a VM."
"The solution is moderately expensive."
"It is expensive for us. We are looking for something less expensive and thinking of migrating the whole system."
"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."
"There is no licensing cost for the solution."
"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."
"In terms of the cost, SQL Azure is a pay-per-use solution, particularly because it's a cloud subscription, so you pay as much as you use it."
"We have a three-year contract. The cost was somewhere around $70-80,000 for the original deployment, which was about two years ago"
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database as a Service (DBaaS) solutions are best for your needs.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
I am not involved in the pricing part of Microsoft Azure SQL Database, so I have not heard anything.
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
I have not worked much on Microsoft Azure SQL Database's ability to power next-generation AI applications. I cannot suggest anything about improvements in Microsoft Azure SQL Database because I am ...
What is your primary use case for SQL Azure?
I find the data migration part for Microsoft Azure SQL Database very good for connecting one database to another database. For the integration with other Microsoft applications, we are using SQL Se...
 

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.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.