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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer comparison

Microsoft and Oracle are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6, while Oracle is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.8. Microsoft holds a 13.0% mindshare in DS, compared to Oracle’s 4.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Oracle users who would recommend it.
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Read 118 Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews
  • 3,076 Views
  • 3,045 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Cus...
Read 7 Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer reviews
  • 959 Views
  • 959 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Microsoft Azure SQL Database and Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer are leading cloud database solutions. Users report higher satisfaction with Microsoft Azure SQL Database in terms of pricing and customer support, while Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer excels in features and is considered worth its premium price.

Features: Microsoft Azure SQL Database users highlight its scalability, integration with other Microsoft services, and ease of use as valuable features. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is praised for its performance, advanced analytics, and strong security features.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest Microsoft Azure SQL Database could improve its offline capabilities and database performance during high loads. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer users feel there's room for better integration with non-Oracle applications and more simplified management tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is noted for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer has a more complex deployment process but offers extensive support and documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is favored for its cost-effectiveness and quick ROI due to flexible pricing models and lower initial setup costs. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer has higher upfront costs but delivers a significant ROI over time due to its superior performance and comprehensive features.

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To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer Report (Updated: September 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
September 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 SQL Database
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
118
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Cus...
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
10th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.9
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 13.0%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is 4.3%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database13.0%
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer4.3%
Other82.7%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Charley Hanania - PeerSpot reviewer
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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RODRIGOPETERSON - PeerSpot reviewer
Leverages cloud capabilities and offers minimal latency with operation model
Customers have less operational burden and more responsibility regarding the management of hardware. Increasing the scale of Oracle Exadata Cloud provides more capacity, higher performance, and expanded storage, CPU, and memory resources. If you need to scale Oracle's capacity up or down, the appliance can be adjusted on-premise. When you purchase Oracle Exadata Cloud, you must acquire either a half or full rack. If you need to increase capacity, you can scale up by adding more hardware. This hardware commitment lasts four to five years, meaning you must maintain this infrastructure and continue payments for that period. While you can scale up to meet increased demands, scaling down is more challenging. I recommend the solution when the customer desires to transition to a cloud-native solution but needs to retain their data in OpenEdge due to compatibility issues or the requirement to interact with on-premise systems to minimize latency. This solution offers minimal latency and modernizes Oracle capabilities through a gateway. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Shifting our corporate programs to the cloud is more or less the same due to the ease of implementation. We've cut costs by around 70 percent."
"SQL is a simpler database. We use it more than other databases."
"The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is its accessibility."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It took less than one day for deployment."
"Its cost benefit is most valuable because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing. You can easily migrate your on-premise SQL to the cloud with a managed instance. That's what it is designed to do. It is easy to take your on-premise or older SQL instance and move it to the cloud. It makes it easy to get off your on-premise SQL and start utilizing the cost benefit of the cloud."
"The on-premise SQL Server licenses can be used since it is on Azure, so it's a significant savings for the customers."
"The most valuable aspects of this solution are the integration with the darknet stack especially Microsoft, table groups, supports major capability requirements, and SQL always-on feature."
"The most valuable feature is PolyBase."
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros
"The operation model is the most valuable feature."
"Exporting and importing is easy because of its cleanliness, making the process easier. However, setting up the Data Guard was more difficult. Despite this, the client experienced lower downtime."
"The most valuable feature is that it is based on Exadata infrastructure, which is Oracle 's leading engineered system that is trusted, fault-tolerant, and has unique performance features."
"I am particularly fond of the intelligent capabilities that enhance the backend, utilizing technology to analyze SQL queries."
"Performance has significantly improved."
"I like that Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is a stable, well-positioned product in the market today, and it's very scalable."
 

Cons

"The solution has to scale up its expertise for hosting Oracle."
"Support isn't that great. They need to work on this aspect of their service. It can be challenging to reach them."
"Price definitely will be the negative point. It is quite expensive."
"A potential area for improvement could be integrating with third-party clouds. Adding a feature to bring Azure SQL in Azure with SQL on-premises would be helpful."
"In terms of improvement, making Microsoft Azure SQL Database faster would cater to big companies that require speed."
"The default 1433 port for communication should be customizable because most hacks or attacks are attempted when creating any application or database on the default port."
"I feel that the price is high and it could be reduced."
"Azure SQL can improve by adding more machine learning features like other databases, such as Cassandra or Cosmos DB."
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons
"As a customer, you can't see the boot messages of your virtualized guest machines."
"The solution is expensive."
"We had some problems in the developer's environment. We had some problems with the initial installation environment."
"Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is stable, but the only problem occurs during OS patching. If you encounter issues, the VMC (virtual machine cluster) becomes unusable."
"Scalability is not straightforward."
"For the data migration, we used ZDM. It was not integrated with the databases, and the documentation lacks clarity."
"A room for improvement in Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is that they need to train more partners to gain more knowledge because currently, they are keeping a lot to themselves. For example, they are still keeping a lot of information on their campus, so information sharing is limited."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It only has a subscription-based license."
"It requires a license. As compared to its competitors, such as Oracle, it is affordable and reasonable."
"The price in general of Azure SQL could improve."
"SQL Azure's licensing cost is expensive."
"The cost is around $2,000 per month."
"When you go with SQL Azure Database, you can create a small database, which is around $4 to $5 per month for development purposes."
"I would like it to be cheaper, but comparatively, it is reasonably priced."
"I'm not sure what the exact price is, but it's a moderate amount. It's not too expensive."
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice
"The price is too much."
"The machine and the cloud model itself already have licensing advantages."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Retailer
7%
Financial Services Firm
32%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business55
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise50
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise4
 

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.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
The pricing of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap, affecting user uptake. A gradual reduction in price could improve accessibility and user numbers, making it easier for users to adopt the s...
See all answers
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
I have used the Microsoft Azure SQL Database for two years now, and I don't find it satisfactory. It's slow and expensive. The Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not the latest version of Microsoft SQ...
See all answers
What do you like most about Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer?
Exporting and importing is easy because of its cleanliness, making the process easier. However, setting up the Data Guard was more difficult. Despite this, the client experienced lower downtime.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer?
The pricing is reasonable due to a universal agreement, which often positions Oracle solutions better against others. I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer?
In future updates for Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer, I would like to see another feature for the different costs for the non-CDB models, because if you are not using the non-CDB models, you have...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 24% of the time
Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 19% of the time
MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 17% of the time
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 7% of the time
Couchbase Capella vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
Couchbase Capella vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 3% of the time
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors
Amazon RDS vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer Logo
Amazon RDS vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
Compared 33% of the time
Oracle Database as a Service vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer Logo
Oracle Database as a Service vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
Compared 19% of the time
MongoDB Atlas vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer Logo
MongoDB Atlas vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
Compared 19% of the time
Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer Logo
Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
Compared 9% of the time
Google Cloud Spanner vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer Logo
Google Cloud Spanner vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
Compared 6% of the time
More Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
September 2025
Microsoft Azure SQL Database reportDownload Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report
Buyer's Guide
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
September 2025
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer reportDownload Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer product report
 

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 Cloud@Customer brings Oracle’s complete portfolio of public cloud infrastructure, fully managed cloud services, and Oracle Fusion SaaS applications into your data center. It enables you to run applications faster and lower your costs using the same high-performance capabilities, autonomous operations, and low-cost subscription pricing in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). You get all this while maintaining complete control of your data so you can address data residency, security, and connectivity concerns.

Oracle
 

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
IBVI, illycaffe, Scottish Water, trueblue, AirAsia, droptank
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
September 2025
Free Report: Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
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