Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Neo4j Graph Database comparison

Microsoft and Neo4j are both solutions in the NoSQL Databases category. Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while Neo4j is ranked #9 with an average rating of 9.0. Microsoft holds a 3.3% mindshare in ND, compared to Neo4j’s 4.9% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Neo4j users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Read 91 Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews

495 Views
185 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Neo4j Graph Database

Read 6 Neo4j Graph Database reviews

716 Views
503 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Neo4j Graph Database

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Neo4j Graph Database and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB both compete in the domain of data management systems, each focusing on different priorities. Neo4j has the upper hand in relationship-focused graph analytics due to its native graph technology, while Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is better suited for scalable, multi-model data environments due to its multi-model support and global distribution capabilities.

Features: Neo4j Graph Database provides native graph storage, excellent graph processing capabilities, and the ability to handle complex data relationships with ease. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB offers multi-model database support, global distribution with low latency, and high availability, making it ideal for organizations needing diverse data model support and extensive geographic distribution.

Room for Improvement: Neo4j Graph Database could enhance its support for non-graph data models and improve its initial scalability options for broader applications. It would also benefit from expanding its global distribution capabilities. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB may require easier configuration settings to simplify integration, a more intuitive setup process to lower complexity for new users, and improved cost-management features to optimize expenses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Neo4j Graph Database is straightforward to deploy, with strong documentation and an active community. Its graph-focused use cases benefit from specialized support. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is integrated well within the Azure ecosystem, offering robust global distribution support. Its complexity may pose challenges, but its enterprise-level support offers significant advantages for larger organizations needing extensive backing.

Pricing and ROI: Neo4j Graph Database presents lower setup costs, capturing ROI from graph-driven insights efficiently. Its strong ROI stems from the advanced understanding of data relationships. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB involves higher costs due to its global scalability and multi-model capabilities but promises higher returns for large-scale operations that leverage these features, providing value through enterprise-level scalability and responsiveness.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. Neo4j Graph Database Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. Neo4j Graph Database

April 2025

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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

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Ranking in NoSQL Databases

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database as a Service (DBaaS) (6th), Managed NoSQL Databases (1st), Vector Databases (3rd)

Neo4j Graph Database

Ranking in NoSQL Databases

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the NoSQL Databases category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 3.3%. The mindshare of Neo4j Graph Database is 4.9%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NoSQL Databases

Featured Reviews

MichaelJohn

Director | Data & AI at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Very efficient for application-facing scenarios

There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, having a local development emulator or simulator for Azure Cosmos DB would be beneficial. It would be very handy to have a Docker container that developers can use locally. Although, I know there is a free tier and so on and so forth, having a local environment would be nice. For example, SQL Server is very portable. You can even install it on your machine. That is the number one thing that is missing in Azure Cosmos DB. The second improvement area is the IDE of choice. That means how you interact with Azure Cosmos DB. For example, with SQL Server, you have SQL Server Management Studio. I know there is a little bit of support for Azure Cosmos DB in Azure Data Studio, but it is not heavily advertised or it does not feel like first-class citizen support. Developer experience or developer tooling is missing in terms of interacting with the database. Better developer tools or an IDE for interacting with Azure Cosmos DB would enhance the developer experience. Lastly, there is some mixed messaging about what Azure Cosmos DB is, given its multiple APIs. There are so many Azure Cosmos DB APIs available. There is NoSQL. There are MongoDB, Gremlin, and others. There is still some mixed messaging for others who are new to Azure Cosmos DB about what Azure Cosmos DB is. Is this like MongoDB, but then there is also MongoDB in Azure Cosmos DB? I know it well, and I know that the default one is just NoSQL, but others I have interacted with over the last ten years or so get confused.

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Raju Tsn

VP odfTechnology at Enterpi Software Solutions Private Limited

Delivers superior search and data aggregation capabilities

Neo4j helps with advanced search needs, providing good search results and aggregates compared to MongoDB. Aggregating with MongoDB can be difficult; however, with Neo4j, it's easier. Aggregating data, backing up, and creating new clusters are user-friendly from the back end. In DevOps web deployment, we noticed no database issues. We created Docker instances and set them up efficiently, managing databases up to 50 gigabytes.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB simplifies the process of saving and retrieving data."

"Cosmos DB has helped our organization handle large amounts of data."

"The graphical representation of data is the most valuable feature of the solution."

"Cosmos DB is a pretty stable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten."

"The global synchronization feature of Azure Cosmos DB stands out as the most valuable for me."

"Switching to the cloud significantly improved scalability, flexibility, and uptime."

"With Azure you can start small and grow as you need."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is its ability to handle concurrency and consistency."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pros

"The solution's best feature is how it differs from traditional SQL databases. It's hard to map people and find those near me in SQL, which requires long, complex queries. Neo4j Graph Database makes this easier with simpler queries. It also supports more data types, like JSON, which SQL doesn't."

"It is good for search-based tasks, providing solid search results and aggregate results."

"For now, the tool doesn't break down or stop, so it is quite stable."

"As a graph database, I am surprised at their performance and response time."

"Enables people to understand what the business problem is and how the technology helps."

"Creates the ability to visualize outputs."

Cons

"One area of improvement for Cosmos database is the auto-scaling of RUs during high loads. It would be beneficial if the database could automatically scale resources rather than requiring manual adjustments."

"It's still new, and good training resources are harder to find. Even the most recent books on Cosmos DB are several years old, which is ancient in IT terms."

"There are no specific areas I believe need improvement as I am happy with what I am getting currently. However, I am open to new features in future versions, like possibly integrating AI features natively into Cosmos DB. Any improvement would be beneficial."

"There is room for improvement in Microsoft's maintenance aspect. For example, we had a major incident at the end of December where the entire South Central region was down for our application, causing many problems due to a lack of access to the database."

"It is not as easy to use as DynamoDB."

"I would like the speed of transferring data to be improved."

"The support tickets are not cheap."

"Better documentation on how to integrate with other components would be helpful because I was struggling with this."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB cons

"There are concerns about performance and whether the tool can necessarily scale to provide the solution."

"So far, we have not had any issues and are happy with the product in general."

"The only problem is that the community is quite small."

"The tool could improve by having more resources, especially for Golang, which we use. It lacks good basic libraries and doesn't have an ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) tool, which many NoSQL databases have. We thought about building an ORM for the Neo4j Graph Database but are too busy."

"For me, when the tool was deployed on an on-premises model, it was a little bit difficult the first time."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cosmos DB is a highly cost-optimized solution when used correctly."

"Cosmos DB is a PaaS, so there are no upfront costs for infrastructure. There are only subscriptions you pay for Azure and things like that. But it's a PaaS, so it's a subscription service. The license isn't perpetual, and the cost might seem expensive on its face, but you have to look at the upkeep for infrastructure and what you're saving."

"Its cost is transparent. Pricing depends on the transaction and data size, but overall, it is cheaper compared to hosting it on your corporate network due to other factors like power consumption."

"The pricing is perceived as being on the higher side. However, if you have large data operations, it might reduce costs due to performance efficiencies."

"It is cost-efficient as long as you understand the right setup to optimize usage. Knowing the data needs of the organization and adjusting the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB usage accordingly helps save costs, but if you don't know, you could end up spending more than necessary."

"Our experience with the pricing and setup cost is that it aligns with what we expect based on the pricing we see. However, I would absolutely like it to be less if possible."

"Pricing is one of the solution's main features because it is based on usage, scales automatically, and is not too costly."

"You need to understand exactly the details of how the pricing works technically to stay within reasonable pricing."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pricing and cost advice

"The tool is not expensive."

"The solution is open source so that you can use it for free. They also offer an enterprise version with its billing. If your company is earning well, I suggest using the enterprise version. Otherwise, you can deploy it on your own cloud and pay based on usage."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Legal Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Energy/Utilities Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

The initial setup is simple and straightforward. You can set up a Cosmos DB in a day, even configuring things like availability zones around the world.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

It is cost-efficient as long as you understand the right setup to optimize usage. Knowing the data needs of the organization and adjusting the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB usage accordingly helps save...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

What is missing in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is definitely cold storage. We know it's coming, but that's currently what is missing—the possibility to park older data in a cold tier. Aside from the ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Neo4j?

The solution is open source so that you can use it for free. They also offer an enterprise version with its billing. If your company is earning well, I suggest using the enterprise version. Otherwi...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Neo4j Graph Database?

The only problem is that the community is quite small.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Neo4j Graph Database?

We have used Neo4j in microservices. In one of the microservices, we used Neo4j since we have some requirements similar to MongoDB plus Elasticsearch. It performs both functions. Instead of doing t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Chroma vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 15% of the time

Pinecone vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon Neptune vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon DynamoDB vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 5% of the time

Neo4j AuraDB vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Competitors

SQL Server vs Neo4j Graph Database

Compared 14% of the time

MongoDB vs Neo4j Graph Database

Compared 12% of the time

Aerospike Database 7 vs Neo4j Graph Database

Compared 10% of the time

Cassandra vs Neo4j Graph Database

Compared 10% of the time

InfluxDB vs Neo4j Graph Database

Compared 7% of the time

More Neo4j Graph Database Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

May 2025

Download Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB product report

Buyer's Guide

Neo4j Graph Database

May 2025

Download Neo4j Graph Database product report

Also Known As

Microsoft Azure DocumentDB, MS Azure Cosmos DB

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service providing scalability, user-friendliness, and seamless integration, suitable for managing large volumes of structured and unstructured data across diverse applications.

Azure Cosmos DB is renowned for its scalability, stability, and ease of integration, offering robust support for multiple data models and APIs. Its capacity for handling unstructured data efficiently and providing real-time analytics makes it ideal for applications requiring high performance and global distribution. With features like automatic failover and integration with Microsoft products, users benefit from cost optimization and secure data handling. Enhancement opportunities include simplifying queries, improving documentation, and expanding backup and analytics functionalities.

What are the most important features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

Scalability and Autoscaling: Efficiently handles growing data and user demands.
Multi-Model Support: Adapts to different data models seamlessly.
Global Distribution: Provides low-latency access across multiple regions.
Automatic Failover: Ensures high availability and reliability.
Integration with Microsoft Products: Offers seamless connectivity with Azure services.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews?

Performance and Speed: Exceptionally fast processing for real-time data analytics.
Cost Optimization: Tools for managing expenses effectively.
Secure Data Handling: Implements strong data security measures.
Flexible Data Ingestion: Supports diverse data ingestion methods.

Azure Cosmos DB is frequently used in sectors like web, mobile, IoT, and analytics. It supports applications as a key-value store, processes real-time data, and enables global scalability with low-latency access. Its big data management capabilities and integration with Azure services enhance its utility across industries.

Microsoft

Neo4j is the graph database solution allowing the analysis of complex relationships and patterns in data, leading to better decision-making and improved business processes. The graph database offers easy data integration from multiple sources, providing a more comprehensive view.

The most valuable aspect of a graph database is its performance and response time, as it does not use the join function and only has nodes and raw data. Overall, Neo4j, as a global first-ranking solution, has helped organizations become more efficient and effective in data analysis and decision-making processes.

Neo4j

Sample Customers

TomTom, KPMG Australia, Bosch, ASOS, Mercedes Benz, NBA, Zero Friction, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Kinectify

Walmart, Telenor, Wazoku, Adidas, Cerved, GameSys, eBay, Schleich, ICIJ, die Bayerisch, Megree, InfoJobs, LinkedIn

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. Neo4j Graph Database

April 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. Neo4j Graph Database

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