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

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)
14th
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 June 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 9.5%, down from 15.6% 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 Database9.5%
IBM Db2 on Cloud2.1%
Other88.4%
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

"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 solution has become easier to use over time and it's also reasonably priced."
"The initial setup was straightforward. We did not migrate from an existing system but implemented it from scratch and did not require Microsoft support. We were building Power Platform apps using SharePoint databases and Excel. And after that, we realized that we had to integrate it with SQL. It wasn't too hard, and our partners have people with experience."
"The automated scalability feature of SQL Azure has proven to be highly beneficial, particularly when deployed in the cloud."
"Its easy usage is the most valuable."
"We have multiple applications running for our customers that we can integrate into Azure SQL."
"The initial setup was straightforward. Deployment takes about one hour."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database has significantly improved our operations by allowing us to extract data and generate comprehensive reports in Power BI."
"The main advantage of it is that there is no infrastructure cost; we don't have to host it here, and we can grow it or shrink it depending on the demand with no restraint on capacity."
 

Cons

"Nobody is going to like the price."
"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."
"I would give their support a ten if they had more tutorials available."
"What worked with Microsoft Azure SQL Database is good, but the challenge I faced is that it does not fit for a large-scale or tier-one business application."
"One area for improvement is the need for accurate cost estimates."
"While the cost versus benefit debate continues, Microsoft Azure SQL Database has been cost-driven for a very long time rather than value-driven."
"The solution requires familiarity with its language so can be tricky."
"I think that the cost management in SQL is not clear because we may use some tax to identify products, but in some cases identifying the transactions in SQL is not easy for some financial cost centers."
"If we need to deploy data management or services with SQL Azure we need InterSecure."
"Its price could be better. It is expensive. I am not sure if Microsoft Master Data Services is included in this. If not, Master Data Services can be integrated with Azure SQL. I have only used Master Data Services on-premises."
"It would help if the solution was more secure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Offers options for paying the license on a yearly or a monthly basis."
"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."
"I'm not sure what the exact price is, but it's a moderate amount. It's not too expensive."
"I am not aware of the exact pricing, but our monthly bill for Azure is around 80,000. It is less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."
"The cost is around $2,000 per month."
"It is beneficial in terms of cost because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing."
"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."
"I would like it to be cheaper, but comparatively, it is reasonably priced."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database as a Service (DBaaS) solutions are best for your needs.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.