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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs SAP HANA Cloud comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
6.8
Number of Reviews
140
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP HANA Cloud
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
3.3
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 9.0%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HANA Cloud is 2.0%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database9.0%
SAP HANA Cloud2.0%
Other89.0%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Matthew Parker - PeerSpot reviewer
Ai Team Lead at Phoenix Software
Integrates with familiar tools and supports reliable data storage for AI applications
Microsoft Azure SQL Database can be improved overall by being able to compete with some of the features that come from things such as PostgreSQL. From my team's perspective in terms of building AI applications, more native integrations with some of the newer AI data types, such as vectors for storing embeddings, would be beneficial. I think all of that is coming. It is just a big product, so I think it is naturally a little bit behind the curve. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of customers, because it has been around for so long, they trust it and they are willing to wait until those features become available.
reviewer2686500 - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP BI Architect at a government with 10,001+ employees
Flexibility and performance meet real-time analytics but documentation needs improvement
Currently, we don't have any AI-driven features, but that's something we are exploring. SCC is one of the computers, and we are looking into Machine Learning and predictive analytics from the user-base perspective. Regarding SAP HANA Cloud, one significant pain point is the lack of access to the database from the HANA Studio for developers. HANA Studio allows us to work with tables, whereas with SAP HANA Cloud, there isn't direct visibility of any tables. Documentation is another concern. There isn't much documentation compared to what we used to get in the past, including best practices. In the last few years, their documentation has not been up to the mark at all.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Power Virtual Agents help us go through documents and load data into SQL."
"The scalability is good, as we have 100 users and one can upgrade the system by performance and by the size of the storage, moving between different types of storage using block or docket in any way you choose without losing data, so the scalability is very good and we plan to increase our usage."
"The most valuable feature of SQL Azure is the user-friendly VMs."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database scales well, allowing us to increase our compute level or add more instances as required."
"The integration with Azure Data Factory is seamless and straightforward, described as just a click away."
"The automated scalability feature of SQL Azure has proven to be highly beneficial, particularly when deployed in the cloud."
"The features of Microsoft Azure SQL Database that I find most valuable are the ability to scale it up and down dynamically with customer load, which is necessary because during the day or business hours when there's more load, we need to scale it up and scale it back down at night for cost efficiency."
"The biggest return on investment from my perspective when using Microsoft Azure SQL Database comes from how easy it is to set up and how much of a foundation it already has in terms of being a trusted platform."
"The solution has integrated many different value chains across the organization, as previously there were multiple systems managing those value chains."
"SAP HANA Cloud provides a single version of truth, automation, intelligence, process control, and best practices."
"Using SAP HANA Cloud, we can replicate the data into HANA and use live data, which improves our business decision-making."
"The best features of SAP HANA Cloud are that its software is effective because it has tight integration between other functions, such as finance, materials, and sales."
"From my perspective, the best features of SAP HANA Cloud are that it's an ERP system connecting all departments together, making it a very smooth software for business operations."
"I would rate SAP HANA Cloud nine to ten out of ten."
"The real-time analytics feature is good; there is no doubt about it."
 

Cons

"The only thing that concerns me today is the pricing connected with Microsoft Azure SQL Database; everything else is all right."
"The customer support is hard to reach, with Microsoft’s technical support being difficult to get in touch with."
"The solution is somewhat user-friendly, but it's limited by the lack of full backward compatibility."
"It's very difficult to investigate if something wrong is going on behind the scenes. If we are facing a problem that our application is doing a CPU spike and when we look at the dump of the details, the processes that our application is generating are not consuming more than 40-50% of CPU. But we don’t know where it is going, who's generating it, and who's consuming the CPU. Even Microsoft says they don’t know."
"Price definitely will be the negative point. It is quite expensive."
"Lack of flexibility for developers in terms of performance assistance."
"The solution could improve by allowing the export of the data more seamlessly. It is difficult to copy and back up data."
"If the product could support applications requiring an SQL server for installation, by using SQL Azure as a backend, that would be useful."
"In future updates of SAP HANA Cloud, I would suggest some changes in the user interfaces to make it more user-friendly."
"From a UX point of view, there could be better improvements in the user experience and how users interact with the system."
"My opinion on SAP HANA Cloud is that it is a waste of time."
"The technical support from SAP is inadequate. We don't get timely responses, with support tickets taking more than 25 days to process."
"Regarding SAP HANA Cloud, one significant pain point is the lack of access to the database from the HANA Studio for developers."
"SAP HANA Cloud requires extensive documentation before connecting with a human being to troubleshoot an issue."
"I see some weaknesses in SAP HANA Cloud regarding innovations, as they take their own time compared to what the market brings in with new features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to other providers, the pricing is definitely on the affordable side."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The price in general of Azure SQL could improve."
"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 rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"I am not aware of the exact pricing, but our monthly bill for Azure is around 80,000. It is less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."
"I'm not sure what the exact price is, but it's a moderate amount. It's not too expensive."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business64
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise66
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
I think Microsoft Azure SQL Database is affordable, not expensive. Regarding migration, I am just keeping a professional service charge for that.
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
The automatic tuning feature in Microsoft Azure SQL Database impacts database performance sometimes. What happens with Microsoft Azure SQL Database's automatic tuning is that when SQL queries are e...
What is your primary use case for SQL Azure?
I am a system integrator using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for my customers. The major use case for Microsoft Azure SQL Database is that most of my clients have a lot of applications, so they are ...
What needs improvement with SAP HANA Cloud?
In future updates of SAP HANA Cloud, I would suggest some changes in the user interfaces to make it more user-friendly.
What is your primary use case for SAP HANA Cloud?
SAP HANA Cloud is used in many different organizations such as retail, manufacturing, and pharmacy; most businesses can use SAP HANA Cloud.
What advice do you have for others considering SAP HANA Cloud?
I am satisfied with SAP HANA Cloud and don't see any room for improvement. I don't use SAP HANA Cloud's machine learning feature at this moment. Currently, we don't use SAP HANA Cloud's ability to ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SAP HANA Cloud and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.