Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs PostgreSQL comparison

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Read 125 PostgreSQL reviews

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96% willing to recommend

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

PostgreSQL and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB compete in the database market with a focus on scalability and feature-rich infrastructures. Considering the strengths in scalability, Cosmos DB appears to have a slight edge, primarily due to its seamless Azure integration and auto-scaling capabilities.

Features: PostgreSQL is renowned for its extensive SQL standards support, ability to handle complex queries, and its diverse range of extensions. It offers comprehensive stored procedure capabilities and broad indexing solutions, making it a strong choice for scalable applications. Cosmos DB distinguishes itself as a multimodal NoSQL database with a focus on flexibility and integration with Azure services. It provides auto-scaling, geo-replication, and supports various data models for maximum versatility.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL users look for better query efficiency, improved GUI tools, and enhanced integrations and replication. Its complexity for new users and absence of certain SQL capabilities compared to other solutions are also seen as drawbacks. Cosmos DB could refine its cost management, provide better documentation, enhance advanced analytics, and improve cross-container querying to optimize performance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL is preferred for on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, although it requires significant technical knowledge and mostly relies on community support. Despite being open-source, a strong community underpins its usage. Conversely, Cosmos DB benefits from smooth deployment in Azure's public cloud, complete with robust integration in Azure's ecosystem and reliable, centralized technical support reflecting its managed service nature.

Pricing and ROI: PostgreSQL is open source, offering cost-free usage except for optional support or consulting fees, providing a fast ROI, especially valuable for startups and SMEs. Cosmos DB features flexible pricing that caters to enterprise needs but can be seen as costly due to its pay-as-you-go model. Its pricing necessitates careful planning to manage expenses effectively, but its reliability and extensive feature set justify the cost for larger enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. PostgreSQL Report (Updated: September 2025).

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. PostgreSQL

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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 Vector Databases

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

Database as a Service (DBaaS) (4th), NoSQL Databases (2nd), Managed NoSQL Databases (1st)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Vector Databases

12th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Open Source Databases (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Vector Databases category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 5.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 5.4%, up from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vector Databases Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB	5.0%
PostgreSQL	5.4%
Other	89.6%

Vector 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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PavithrarajShetty

Software Architect at Tetherfi

Offers simplicity and is cheaply priced

I haven't gone through the scalability aspect since I was using MySQL Server. I haven't worked to a high level in PostgreSQL, but with MySQL Server, I have managed clustering and partitioning. I think I haven't put much focus on PostgreSQL, so I am not sure how it behaves or how it works.

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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

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

"Cosmos is preferred because of its speed, robustness, and utilization. We have all the merchandising information in Cosmos DB, which provides concrete and optimized data when searching for new products on the site. It is faster than other relational databases."

"Cosmos is a PaaS, so you don't need to worry about infrastructure and hosting. It has various APIs that allow it to integrate with other solutions. For example, we are using a MongoDB-compatible API for customers, which makes it easier for developers on the team who previously used MongoDB or are accustomed to the old document storage paradigm."

"With Azure being our main cloud, the valuable features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB include integration with other Azure products that we're using and governance inside Azure. For integration with other products inside the Azure cloud, it was a better choice."

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

"The features most valuable to us in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB are the auto scale and change feed. These features allow us to do some operations that are not possible with SQL Server."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is scalable with multiple master files."

"I definitely recommend Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pros

"One of the most valuable features is real-time data capture; it optimizes database performance. I think using real-time data capture reduces job running time and the amount of data sent at once with batch loads."

"The solution is scalable, it is very good."

"The community support and the open-source community for it are good."

"The solution is quite stable."

"We are able to create many different types of jobs and items with this solution making it one of the most valuable features."

"Postgres is rock solid when deployed according to best practices as documented by the PostgreSQL community. When it's installed correctly, PostgreSQL is an enterprise-grade solution."

"It is very simple to manage."

"The solution has many valuable features such as it easy to use and the interface is intuitive."

Cons

"There aren't any specific areas that need improvement, but if there were a way to achieve the right cosine similarity score without extensive testing, that would be very beneficial."

"The built-in integration of the solution is tight."

"A limitation in Azure Cosmos DB is the 2 MB document size. Developers need more systemic support in chaining multiple documents if more than 2 MB is required."

"I have been a devoted Microsoft fan, but Redis DB's memory caching capabilities are really making progress. Even if Cosmos DB is continuously improving and is quite advanced in the field of internal memory optimization, I would still recommend Redis DB to a customer."

"The auto-scaling feature adjusts hourly. We have many processes that write stuff in batches, so we must ensure that the load is spread evenly throughout the hour. It would be much easier if it were done by the minute. I'm looking forward to the vector database search that they are adding. It's a pretty cool new feature."

"Currently, it doesn't support cross-container joins, forcing developers to retrieve data from each container separately and combine it using methods like LINQ queries."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's pricing model is complicated, which people don't understand."

"It is easy to use, but optimization has been a mixed experience. It has been more of trying to figure out how to do so. We have not found much support there, so we have to come up with our own way of optimizing it in different ways. That is one area of improvement."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB cons

"It could be improved by using parallelization. You want basically, distributed computing."

"I'm not really able to customize it."

"The performance of PostgreSQL could improve."

"The database and applications can become very slow."

"The solution needs to improve the query, documentation, and JSON data functionality."

"The search option is not very good."

"The user interface could be a bit better."

"It needs more integration."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cosmos DB is a managed offering, so its cost is understandably higher."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's licensing costs are monthly."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is moderately priced, where it is neither expensive nor cheap."

"If you are a small organization or startup building from scratch without the Microsoft Startup Founder Club support, it could be expensive."

"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."

"Its price is in the middle, neither too low nor too high."

"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."

"Cosmos DB's pricing structure has significantly improved in recent months, both in terms of its pricing model and how charges are calculated."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pricing and cost advice

"The community version of Postgre is basically free."

"The need for our customers to pay for licences is contingent on their projects and budgets."

"The solution requires a license."

"There is an annual license."

"It could be much cheaper. If you would like to build an application on Amazon today, PostgreSQL is the standard database with Redshift. If you want other databases, you can add them, but PostgreSQL is the basis of everything. It's a question of money, that's it."

"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."

"The licensing model is good."

"The tool is cheaply priced compared to other RDBMS providers in the market."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Legal Firm

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	55

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	58
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	45

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.

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

The pricing for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is good, but there is a developer factor to consider. It could be economical or expensive depending on usage. Guidance about query consumption of Request U...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

In terms of improvement for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, while it eliminates the burden of managing database infrastructure, we realized it might not be possible to use various models simultaneously ...

How does Firebird SQL compare with PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL was designed in a way that provides you with not only a high degree of flexibility but also offers you a cheap and easy-to-use solution. It gives you the ability to redesign and audit yo...

What do you like most about PostgreSQL?

It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?

The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.

Chroma vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

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Compared 6% of the time

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More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Competitors

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Compared 31% of the time

MySQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 12% of the time

MariaDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

MongoDB Enterprise Advanced vs PostgreSQL

Compared 2% of the time

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Download Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB product report

Download PostgreSQL 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

PostgreSQL is a versatile and reliable database management system commonly used for web development, data analysis, and building scalable databases.

It offers advanced features like indexing, replication, and transaction management. Users appreciate its flexibility, performance, and ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. Its robustness, scalability, and support for complex queries make it highly valuable.

Additionally, PostgreSQL's extensibility, flexibility, community support, and frequent updates contribute to its ongoing improvement and stability.

Sample Customers

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

1. Apple 2. Cisco 3. Fujitsu 4. Instagram 5. Netflix 6. Red Hat 7. Sony 8. Uber 9. Cisco Systems 10. Skype 11. LinkedIn 12. Etsy 13. Yelp 14. Reddit 15. Dropbox 16. Slack 17. Twitch 18. WhatsApp 19. Snapchat 20. Shazam 21. SoundCloud 22. The New York Times 23. Cisco WebEx 24. Atlassian 25. Cisco Meraki 26. Heroku 27. GitLab 28. Zalando 29. OpenTable 30. Trello 31. Square Enix 32. Bloomberg

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. PostgreSQL