

Microsoft Azure SQL Database and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB are highly competitive in the cloud database sector, with each offering unique advantages. Azure SQL Database holds a stronger position in structured data handling and integration within the Microsoft ecosystem.
Features: Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers native SQL support, high availability, and extensive integration options, making it suitable for transactional systems with advanced querying capabilities and scalability. Notable features include Business Intelligence features, native SQL support, and a wide range of integrations. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB provides a globally distributed NoSQL service with multi-model support and low-latency access, ideal for real-time data distribution across regions. It supports multiple APIs like SQL, MongoDB, and Gremlin, making it efficient for handling unstructured data. It also offers global distribution, multi-model support, and low-latency capabilities.
Room for Improvement: Microsoft Azure SQL Database could improve its documentation, cost efficiency, and scalability for larger instances. Enhancing integration capabilities and providing more user-friendly migration tools are also suggested. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB users highlight the need for improved auto-scaling of Request Units (RUs), better interoperability, and more transparent pricing documentation to avoid unexpected costs.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is easy to deploy across various cloud models, offering flexibility in public, private, and hybrid environments. It benefits from extensive documentation and responsive technical support. Azure Cosmos DB also provides easy deployment and robust global distribution, with good technical support, though more specific deployment guidance is desired.
Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure SQL Database's pay-as-you-go pricing model aligns with variable workloads, contributing to ROI by reducing infrastructure overheads and enhancing scalability. However, users find the pricing complex and desire clearer cost projections. Azure Cosmos DB's competitive pricing is confounded by its RU-based structure, prompting calls for better cost management strategies. Both solutions offer substantial cost savings over on-premises alternatives, with Azure SQL Database providing consistent ROI due to its structured data handling and Cosmos DB being praised for its real-time distribution capabilities.
Getting an MVP of that project would have taken six to eight months, but because we had an active choice of using Azure Cosmos DB and other related cloud-native services of Azure, we were able to get to an MVP stage in a matter of weeks, which is six weeks.
You can react quickly and trim down the specs, memory, RAM, storage size, etc. It can save about 20% of the costs.
When I have done comparisons or cost calculations, I have sometimes personally seen as much as 25% to 30% savings.
It is ensuring we receive what we pay for through the blend of price, performance, and features.
If you're managing your own data center, you always have to overprovision your systems and pay for storage space you're not using.
We've reduced costs by about 20 percent after two or three years.
Premier Support has deteriorated compared to what it used to be, especially for small to medium-sized customers like ours.
The response was quick.
I would rate customer service and support a nine out of ten.
Microsoft played a significant role, even from a training perspective, and provided resources that directed us toward the right deployment path.
Once I reach the right people, the support is incredibly knowledgeable and thorough.
Microsoft provides excellent service and is always available to support us.
The system scales up capacity when needed and scales down when not in use, preventing unnecessary expenses.
We like that it can auto-scale to demand, ensuring we only pay for what we use.
We have had no issues with its ability to search through large amounts of data.
Scaling the solution is incredibly simple and involves just clicking a button or dragging a slider.
Azure's scalability features like Elasticity are essential.
Microsoft Azure SQL Database is cloud-based, so it's great for scaling workloads.
We have multiple availability zones, so nothing goes down.
Azure Cosmos DB would be a good choice if you have to deploy your application in a limited time frame and you want to auto-scale the database across different applications.
I would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of availability and latency.
We can't tell the difference between running on-prem or Azure because we no longer have those latency issues.
SQL never crashes or suddenly becomes unavailable.
I would assess the reliability of Microsoft Azure SQL Database in terms of maintaining uptime and availability as being excellent with zero complaints.
We must ensure data security remains the top priority.
You have to monitor the Request Units.
The dashboard could include more detailed RU descriptions, IOPS, and compute metrics.
It would be helpful if CPU performance were not pinned to the amount of storage you're using, and we could scale different properties of the Azure SQL database independently.
As a customer, I believe something which has been established, stable, and rugged for a very long time also needs cost optimization.
I could not get an accurate quote on what my monthly costs would be based on my needs.
Initially, it seemed like an expensive way to manage a NoSQL data store, but so many improvements that have been made to the platform have made it cost-effective.
Cosmos DB is expensive, and the RU-based pricing model is confusing.
Cosmos DB is great compared to other databases because we can reduce the cost while doing the same things.
Azure Hybrid Benefit reduced costs by facilitating an easy transition of on-premises databases to the cloud.
Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap.
It greatly reduces the total cost of ownership through efficient licensing depending on the client, the cost savings, and hybrid benefits.
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is its real-time analytics capabilities, which allow for turnaround times in milliseconds.
Performance and security are valuable features, particularly when using Cosmos DB for MongoDB emulation and NoSQL.
The performance and scaling capabilities of Cosmos DB are excellent, allowing it to handle large workloads compared to other services such as Azure AI Search.
The simplicity in usability, along with improved organizational productivity where we no longer need to maintain on-premises SQL servers, is invaluable.
The Software as a Service model is more effective and easier to access in terms of security, as Azure provides security at the security layer, reducing the risk of breach.
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.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure SQL Database | 11.3% |
| Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB | 4.1% |
| Other | 84.6% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 33 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 21 |
| Large Enterprise | 58 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 59 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 17 |
| Large Enterprise | 61 |
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB offers scalable, geo-replicated, multi-model support with high performance and low latency. It provides seamless Microsoft service integration, benefiting those needing flexible NoSQL, real-time analytics, and automatic scaling for diverse data types and quick global access.
Azure Cosmos DB is designed to store, manage, and query large volumes of both unstructured and structured data. Its NoSQL capabilities and global distribution are leveraged by organizations to support activities like IoT data management, business intelligence, and backend databases for web and mobile applications. While its robust security measures and availability are strengths, there are areas for improvement such as query complexity, integration with services like Databricks and MongoDB, documentation clarity, and performance issues. Enhancements in real-time analytics, API compatibility, cross-container joins, and indexing capabilities are sought after. Cost management, optimization tools, and better support for local development also require attention, as do improvements in user interface and advanced AI integration.
What are the key features of Azure Cosmos DB?Industries use Azure Cosmos DB to support business intelligence and IoT data management, using its capabilities for backend databases in web and mobile applications. The platform's scalability and real-time analytics benefit sectors like finance, healthcare, and retail, where managing diverse datasets efficiently is critical.
Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a relational database-as-a-service that delivers predictable performance, scalability, business continuity, data protection, and near-zero administration to cloud developers and solution architects. This is the deep technical library for Azure SQL Database.
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