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IBM Db2 on Cloud vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database comparison

 

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)
15th
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
134
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 on Cloud is 2.1%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 9.9%, down from 15.9% 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 Database9.9%
IBM Db2 on Cloud2.1%
Other88.0%
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?
Thomas Sawyer - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive Director, Platform Architecture at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group
Automatic tuning and multi-region availability have reduced manual workloads and improved performance management
The features of Microsoft Azure SQL Database that I like the most are easy scaling and high availability. I appreciate those features because it's easy to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database readily available in a multi-region infrastructure. Using Microsoft Azure SQL Database is very easy; it's much easier than SQL on-premise because I don't have to worry about deploying infrastructure, and I can rapidly deploy via infrastructure as code. I am using the automatic tuning feature in Microsoft Azure SQL Database. We are using the new feature of data encryption in Microsoft Azure SQL Database with customer-managed keys only. The reliability and stability of Microsoft Azure SQL Database platform are rock-solid; it's as good, if not better, than what our on-premise stability has been from an uptime perspective.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 reliability is the most valuable feature. It is also user-friendly."
"The reliability is the most valuable feature; it is also user-friendly."
"Provisioning the instance, connecting to it, and deploying full-stack applications end-to-end on Azure is much easier than AWS."
"I like that Microsoft Azure SQL Database is almost identical to an on-premise SQL Server except for a few things, like how you edit rows and some jobs that you can't run."
"The impact of the automatic tuning feature on my database performance has increased performance while keeping costs at realistic levels, and it has removed some of the engineering workloads for our DBAs who would have had to worry about manually performing tuning."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database has significantly reduced our total cost of ownership by eliminating the need for a dedicated environment to host SQL."
"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10."
"The most valuable feature is PolyBase."
"The ability to maintain different environments, such as development and production databases, is valuable."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is integrated into other Azure capabilities and has a great foundation being on SQL Server with a long history of security, performance, and usability from a DBA perspective."
 

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."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database could be improved by offering an easier way to view all existing roles in the database without needing complex queries found online."
"The management is entirely controlled by Microsoft, so there are some restrictions."
"SQL Azure only supports distributed transactions with other instances of SQL Azure."
"What would make SQL Azure better is users having the capability of managing the database solution from the cloud, instead of having to do it from an actual machine because currently, database management via SQL Azure is done on a virtual machine or a PC. The solution should have the data functionality of managing SQL databases inside the cloud."
"There are compatibility issues that prevent Azure SQL Database from being a direct replacement for SQL Server running on a virtual machine."
"Integration needs to be improved for this solution."
"A potential area for improvement could be integrating with third-party clouds. Adding a feature to bring Azure SQL in Azure with SQL on-premises would be helpful."
"The initial setup is complex."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"We have had some issues with the licensing of the solution."
"If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive."
"It is beneficial in terms of cost because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing."
"The pricing is actually complicated, and that is probably one downside of it. In some respects, although we can plan for the costs on a month-by-month basis, we are finding it hard to project our costings for it. Fundamentally, Microsoft is offering two pricing models, and it is challenging to understand the differences between the two. We're basically on the DTU model at the moment. That may change in the future as the size grows, but it is one of those things that we'll end up monitoring as we progress. At the moment, to get a reasonable response, generally, the price is a little high for us, but it is one of those things for which we know that we can do improvements on our code. So, it is not just the service that's the problem; it is some of the things that we need to do as well."
"It's reasonably priced and when you compare it with other products in the cloud environment, it's cheaper."
"There is a license required to use the solution and it cost $30 to do the installation."
"The solution is expensive."
"When you go with SQL Azure Database, you can create a small database, which is around $4 to $5 per month for development purposes."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise61
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Db2 on Cloud?
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 e...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Db2 on Cloud?
Since I have worked with almost every product, including IBM, Teradata is far better than any other data warehouse product. It's a separate database with its own features, architecture, and working...
What is your primary use case for IBM Db2 on Cloud?
It's a multi-node logical database clustered in three physical nodes. We use a lot of services already provided in our private cloud environment. It's a multi-node architecture.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
I would say I am at a basic experience level with the pricing, setup costs and licensing because while I am the administrator for the service, I do not provision the services and worry about the co...
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
I have no comments at the moment on how Microsoft Azure SQL Database can be improved. I have no comments on additional features that I would like to see released in the next release. I do not have ...
What is your primary use case for SQL Azure?
My main use cases for Microsoft Azure SQL Database are third-party applications.
 

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: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.