MySQL vs SAP SQL Anywhere comparison

Oracle and SAP are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Oracle is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2, while SAP is ranked #31. Oracle holds a 5.7% mindshare in SQL, compared to SAP’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Oracle users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of SAP users who would recommend it.

MySQL

Read 152 MySQL reviews

9,424 Views
4,241 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

SAP SQL Anywhere

Read 6 SAP SQL Anywhere reviews

772 Views
757 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

MySQL

SAP SQL Anywhere

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

SAP SQL Anywhere and MySQL are both database management systems catering to different business needs, with MySQL often seen as superior due to its feature-rich offerings that justify its cost for a broader user base.

Features: SAP SQL Anywhere includes features like synchronization and mobile application support, making it ideal for remote and embedded environments. MySQL offers extensive scalability, data replication, and benefits from a strong community-driven development platform, making it broadly applicable.

Room for Improvement: SAP SQL Anywhere could improve its pricing model to be more competitive and expand its scalability options. It may also enhance community support as it relies on vendor support. MySQL, on the other hand, could simplify its deployment process for smaller setups, improve documentation for niche use cases, and enhance mobile app integration features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP SQL Anywhere provides an easier setup for smaller implementations, favoring those in need of lightweight databases. MySQL's complex architecture supports large-scale deployments, benefiting from an extensive community providing abundant resources. SAP offers direct vendor support, which is more tailored.

Pricing and ROI: SAP SQL Anywhere involves higher upfront costs but may offer better ROI for specialized deployments due to tailored support. MySQL, being open-source, usually incurs lower setup costs with its extensive features and scalability, resulting in efficient operations and potentially superior long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed MySQL vs. SAP SQL Anywhere Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

MySQL vs. SAP SQL Anywhere

March 2026

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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

MySQL

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

152

Ranking in other categories

Open Source Databases (1st)

SAP SQL Anywhere

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

31st

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of MySQL is 5.7%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SQL Anywhere is 1.2%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
MySQL	5.7%
SAP SQL Anywhere	1.2%
Other	93.1%

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

Prabir Kumar Kundu

SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd

Offers robust security and availability with impressive replication capabilities

Regarding their documentation and interface, there is room for improvement. Documentation is definitely required when running multiple databases on a cluster system. The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation. When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly. It's there, but only technical persons with deep knowledge of the MySQL database can implement it. Most of the community users or ISVs who use MySQL don't have many technical persons or DBA experts, so they face some challenges for the high availability of connecting high available databases from high available applications. That documentation should be simplified.

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Crewmem67

IT Consultant at College Notre Dame de Nazareth

Reliable and able to expand but needs to be more secure

It is not as good as a SQL Server. I prefer to work with the SQL Server for Microsoft or Oracle. These are better as there are some comments on SQL Anywhere that makes me feel that I'm blocked. We'd like to have them update to a new version. They should update more often. I find I can't move to a new version without running tests as there are chances of bugs that can get into my system. The initial setup is not simple or straightforward, and it took a while to deploy. It is not as secure as it could be. This is an aspect they need to improve. There needs to be more encryption.

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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

"MySQL is an easy-to-use solution that provides stability, reliability, flexibility, performance, security, and high availability."

"The solution is a small application and is very easy to deploy."

"MySQL is the best option for the Laravel PHP framework."

"It was easy to install."

"The most valuable feature of MySQL is its reliability and performance."

"The most valuable feature of MySQL is auto-scaling."

"The easy access to the data and the ability to sort the data with multiple methods are very valuable features."

"The main advantage is the very large user base. This enables users to fix about any issue by answering any question."

More MySQL pros

"The auto-backup replication is a perfect feature. That is the feature I liked the most."

"We've found the solution very reliable overall. It's very fast."

"The most valuable features of SAP SQL Anywhere are the ease of use and the user interface is intuitive."

"It works well in general."

"SAP SQL Anywhere is very helpful."

Cons

"The full-text search feature must be improved."

"The interface could be improved."

"At times, the autoscaling does not happen when there is a surge in load."

"The solution could improve the monitoring. At the present time, you need to use third-party monitoring solutions."

"The GUI interface probably can be improved. Let us say I want to see the relationships in the database. In the query analyzer, I would like to go and drop the tables and create relationships between the tables. I haven't found a feature like that in MySQL. It was a shortcoming even in SQL Server. MySQL can have more performance monitoring tools. I know Google has these tools, but within MySQL, there are not that many tools to monitor things like performance and database locking. They might be in there, and I might not be familiar enough to know where they are. I am a pretty new user of MySQL."

"Some problems with big table operations, and a struggle to keep the servers responding in peak situations."

"Sometimes, I get lost in the toggles and buttons, and a better visual design would be nice. The layout is not user-friendly or efficient."

"I find the Microsoft solution a bit better. But mostly in terms of the UI layout, I would say. I just find it a little bit more efficient."

More MySQL cons

"It is not as secure as it could be."

"We have had some stability issues with SAP SQL Anywhere, but I am not sure if it is an application or network issue. We sometimes have a large amount of data being queried and it cannot handle it."

"The interface is not easy in comparison to the SQL Server. It could be more user-friendly."

"SAP SQL Anywhere needs to incorporate functionalities like SAP S/4HANA."

"A problem we are experiencing now is when doing a backup in SQL 2012 and 14."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the solution's pricing as four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. For our basic needs, it's quite affordable. However, the cost increases when we need to scale up or require high availability. Our developer team of about 600 people uses MySQL without much issue. The pricing becomes more of a concern on the business side, as we have more end users and need constant database availability and scaling. In those cases, the solution gets a bit more expensive, even though it provides good value for the business."

"The pricing is not much expensive, it's cheap."

"When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support."

"I use the open-source free community version."

"For the on-premise version, no license is required."

"It is open source. We prefer it for POCs because it saves the license cost."

"The solution does not come with a licensing fee."

"The tool is open source."

More MySQL pricing and cost advice

"SQL Anywhere cost us about $400."

"SAP SQL Anywhere is affordable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

11%

University

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	75
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	61

No data available

Questions from the Community

Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?

MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...

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Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?

I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...

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What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?

One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...

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Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MySQL

Compared 21% of the time

PostgreSQL vs MySQL

Compared 8% of the time

MariaDB vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

SQL Server vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle Database vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

SQL Server vs SAP SQL Anywhere

Compared 28% of the time

Oracle Database vs SAP SQL Anywhere

Compared 18% of the time

SAP HANA vs SAP SQL Anywhere

Compared 12% of the time

MariaDB vs SAP SQL Anywhere

Compared 9% of the time

SAP IQ vs SAP SQL Anywhere

Compared 7% of the time

More SAP SQL Anywhere Competitors

Product Reports

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MySQL

March 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Relational Databases Tools

March 2026

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Also Known As

No data available

Sybase SQL Anywhere

Overview

MySQL is an open-source database known for its ease of use and high performance. It offers features like replication and clustering, making it ideal for diverse applications. Its cost-effectiveness and LAMP integration are key advantages for businesses.

MySQL supports a variety of languages and platforms, providing reliable, scalable data management. Its graphical interface and LAMP architecture integration enhance its usability, while community support further strengthens its appeal. Challenges include scalability issues with large databases, lack of advanced clustering, and limited high-availability features. Complex queries may affect performance, and integration can pose difficulties. The outdated interface and insufficient documentation are also concerns, along with replication and backup reliability issues.

What are MySQL's key features?

Open-source nature: Freely available and customizable.
Cross-platform compatibility: Supports multiple operating systems.
Scalability: Capable of handling large volumes of data.
Replication and clustering: Ensure data redundancy and load balancing.
Full-text search: Provides powerful search capabilities.
LAMP integration: Seamlessly integrates with Linux, Apache, and PHP.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost-effectiveness: Reduces expenses due to its open-source nature.
High performance: Efficiently processes large volumes of data.
Active community support: Access to a wide range of resources and expertise.
Versatile use cases: Suitable for varied applications including web development and IoT.

MySQL is widely implemented in industries such as web development, e-commerce, and finance. It's used for managing dynamic websites, powering e-commerce platforms, and supporting financial applications. Its compatibility with PHP and cost-effectiveness make it suitable for CMS platforms like WordPress. With cloud services integration, MySQL is a backend choice for scalable applications in various sectors.

Oracle

SAP SQL Anywhere enables companies to develop custom mobile and IoT application and rapidly design and deploy embedded database applications. The RDBMS solutions can provide secure, reliable data management and synchronization for thousands of mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, and remote environments. They let business users work uninterrupted, even without a network connection.

SAP

Sample Customers

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.

AOK Bundesverband, Surgutneftegas Open Joint Stock Company, Molson Coors Brewing Company, City of Buenos Aires, ASR Group, Citrix, EarlySense, Usha International Limited, Automotive Resources International, Wªrth Group, Takisada-Osaka Co. Ltd., Coelba, RZD Russian Railways, National Basketball Association, TALLY WEiJL

Buyer's Guide

MySQL vs. SAP SQL Anywhere

March 2026

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