Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Database as a Service comparison

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service

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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 SQL Database

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

117

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Oracle Database as a Service

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 15.9%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database as a Service is 8.8%, up from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

Charley Hanania

Data Platform Specialist at QS2 AG - Quality Software Solutions

It is very easy to implement, manage, and offers great insights into what is happening inside the engine

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. Once you've set up a server, adding databases is easy. There's a minor challenge with having data in separate databases that you want to connect like we do on premises. I'm looking forward to using some of these new AI-driven functions that have come out around vectorization. Having the data closer to my transactional databases or data makes it easy to augment and enhance the Database and applications I currently use. It's great that Azure SQL now seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Fabric. It's a first-tier service in the cloud that connects to web applications and other databases. The data transformation orchestration capabilities within Database Factory and similar capabilities make it effortless to move that stuff forward.

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Duy AnhMai

Product Owner at Heineken

Offers security and good performance

Price-wise, the tool is expensive, and I feel it is an area where improvements are needed. Oracle Database as a Service is not as popular as other tools because we use AWS and GCP. Oracle is okay in terms of performance for banking businesses and some big companies. As I use the tool in Heineken, I know Oracle is an okay security solution. We use and deploy some applications and features from Oracle that are better than what others offer. The data in the tool is actually stored in the production part, so it is always kept a secret. I don't think that AI has been integrated into the tool. The AI used by Oracle is not as strong as that used by AWS. I recommend the tool to others, especially banking, finance, and insurance companies where the security needs to be better. There is maintenance for the tool required, but I don't know which company does it for our organization. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

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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

"SQL Azure can integrate well with other Microsoft Windows services."

"It is good for scalability and high availability. It is also secure because of Microsoft's cloud investment. It is easy to use because it is on the cloud. Creation or making it available through web services is super easy. Azure SQL can be quickly published as web services for APIs to connect with other applications. Because it is in Microsoft Cloud, you can easily integrate with Microsoft stack."

"Coding does not require much effort."

"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10."

"Microsoft's expertise in SQL Server is a significant advantage."

"Their technical support is the most valuable."

"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."

"We're a Microsoft customer, so it fits in with everything else we work with."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

"It has significantly enhanced our application development process by introducing substantial time savings and streamlining routine tasks."

"Oracle Database as a Service is stable."

"Oracle has helped our organization by being a reliable solution that is stable with zero crashes. The differentiation between Oracle's database and other databases is that Oracle needs more attention. It's not a click here, click there solution, it needs more time put in, but once you do that, it's ready to go and you can forget about it."

"It's a scalable product."

"The most valuable feature of Oracle Database as a Service is its use as a provisioning database."

"If the solution is installed in your environment correctly, you are not going to have any issues whatsoever. It's problem-free."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"When we want more information on something that we are using, it is easy to find related topics on the internet."

More Oracle Database as a Service pros

Cons

"Operational cost needs improvement."

"The solution could improve by allowing the export of the data more seamlessly. It is difficult to copy and back up data."

"There needs to be a hybrid model for situations where not all customers want a cloud-based SQL solution."

"Integration needs to be improved for this solution."

"It should have better profiling capabilities."

"There is probably more functionality in our on-prem SQL Server than SQL Azure."

"The initial setup is complex."

"Microsoft Azure SQL Database would benefit from enhanced documentation, along with ongoing improvements to scalability and cost-effectiveness."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"I would like the tool to improve the setup because it is complex."

"The product is very expensive."

"The tool's AI part has shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."

"The interface can be difficult and there may be so many features that users and even vendors are unaware that they exist."

"There is room for improvement in PL/SQL. It is not user-friendly and it is hard to understand."

"I would like to improve the stability of the Oracle database."

"When migrating to a different instance, the internal machine learning is lost."

"I would like to see a better dashboard for the storage. It need to be more complete overall."

More Oracle Database as a Service cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is flexible and can be adapted based on our requirements but the pricing options are complex especially if we are using a VM."

"You can use it for smaller instances and pay less. You can also go for the premium product with all the security, scalability, and business continuity features, but you have to pay a premium amount."

"In terms of the cost, SQL Azure is a pay-per-use solution, particularly because it's a cloud subscription, so you pay as much as you use it."

"The cost is around $2,000 per month."

"Microsoft services are costly, which is the only problem we face. So, pricing is an area of improvement."

"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap."

"SQL Azure is an expensive solution."

"It is quite expensive. I would definitely recommend not using the pay-as-you-go model because this will just mean all your money will go to Microsoft. So, really make sure to control resource usage as much as possible."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

"What has been done is that an annual subscription model has been launched, which includes the payment of both the AML (Annual Maintenance Fee) and the subscription fee, paid on a yearly basis."

"There should be a standard way to license the database in a virtual environment (e.g. VMware) and there should be a low-end version (like Standard Edition One) again."

"The cost for Oracle Database as a Service is higher than that for other similar solutions."

"The licensing is a nightmare. Tons of options which need to be licensed individually, and no real offering for VMware or other Hypervisors."

"Oracle Database is less expensive than the previous solution we used."

"It is a very expensive tool."

"Oracle Database as a Service is always a bit costly, but it's an excellent service. My company used the on-premises version, and that was costly."

"The solution is based on an annual fee."

More Oracle Database as a Service pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

73%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SQL Azure?

The automated scalability feature of SQL Azure has proven to be highly beneficial, particularly when deployed in the cloud.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?

The price for running the server increased more than expected in recent months, and better alignment of pricing expectations is needed. Notably, costs related to IT staff coming into the office on ...

What needs improvement with SQL Azure?

We're trying to manage our costs better. We've noticed an unexpected increase in the cost of running the server over the past few months. Addressing pricing clarity and alignment would help us. Als...

What do you like most about Oracle Database as a Service?

It has significantly enhanced our application development process by introducing substantial time savings and streamlining routine tasks.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database as a Service?

Prices are high. Technical support from Oracle tends to be high in quality.

What needs improvement with Oracle Database as a Service?

It would be beneficial if Oracle could offer features similar to those provided by open-source platforms like Postgres, such as a multi-core-based platform and a shared node database. While Oracle ...

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Comparisons

Compared 43% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 27% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 16% of the time

vCloud Air vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 2% of the time

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

Amazon RDS vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 46% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 18% of the time

Google Cloud SQL vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 11% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 4% of the time

Redis vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 4% of the time

More Oracle Database as a Service Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Oracle Database as a Service

Download Oracle Database as a Service product report

Also Known As

No data available

Oracle DBaaS, Oracle Database Cloud

Overview

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.

Microsoft

Oracle Database Cloud Service combines the power of Oracle Database, with the unique capabilities of the Oracle Cloud. The service provides a secure, automated data management platform that leverages on demand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services via a simple web based user interface and RESTful API. Oracle Database Cloud Service provides elastic database services for development, test, and production environments of custom and packaged online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing, and mixed workload applications. It enables businesses to reap all Oracle Platform as a Service (PaaS) benefits including subscriptionbased, self-service access to reliable, scalable, and elastic cloud environments and accelerates time to value by simplifying the provisioning and administration of Oracle databases.

Oracle

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH

Solution-Soft, DX Marketing, Suredell and Partners, Frontiers, SettleOurEstate.com, Demand Analysis Ltd, endlich IT & Projekt Service OHG

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service