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Oracle Database vs SQL Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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

Oracle Database
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
289
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SQL Server
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
268
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Oracle Database is 12.8%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 17.9%, down from 23.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Q&A Highlights

SR
Oct 05, 2023
 

Featured Reviews

Ismail Aboulezz - PeerSpot reviewer
Continuous updates improve performance and add valuable features to meet workload demands
Oracle Database ( /products/oracle-database-reviews ) is easy to install, customize, troubleshoot, and maintain. Its data management capabilities include data quality, data integration, data architecture, modeling, and data security, which are very important for data-driven companies. Furthermore, Oracle Database's performance and scalability features meet workload demands, and its continuous updates improve performance and add valuable features.
AhmadTalha - PeerSpot reviewer
A robust and secure solution that helps to store data
The GUI needs improvement. From a technical perspective, it's quite complex, which may not be a problem for individuals with technical backgrounds like ours, especially since we've encountered similar interfaces. However, navigating the GUI can be challenging for newcomers or product owners without technical experience. For example, as someone transitioning from a developer role to a product management role, I find it relatively easy to use the GUI. But for those without a technical background, it's much more challenging to grasp what's happening.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's one of the leading databases on the market."
"One of the most valuable features of Oracle Database is the performance."
"Stability and availability are the features I like the most in the solution."
"Most of our customers have been using multitenant options. Advanced Compression and Advanced Security are the most valuable features in most customer environments."
"It is easy to set up on their engineered systems."
"I found the ease of backup, partitioning, and robust indexing most valuable. The main feature of Oracle is the structure of the database. The way your backups are taken on the online backup system and the way it restores and handles partitioning of your data are also valuable. Its performance is great, and it is also very flexible."
"It does what I want it to do. It has got a lot of features. Anytime I need a feature, I am able to find it in Oracle Database. It has never happened that I found a feature in any other database, but I was not able to find it in Oracle."
"The most valuable feature is that it is a complete product with all of the functionality that you need, and there is no need for any special features."
"The most valuable feature is easy installation. It was very easy to install."
"The product is easy to use."
"The solution's most valuable feature is that we can set up redundant databases and replication in the databases."
"I believe Always On is the most valuable feature. It's also easy to use and not very tricky."
"SQL Server provides good performance. Most of the SQL solutions can be integrated and this solution is no different, you are able to link other databases. For example, we have Oracle running a Postgres Server and it is linked. It follows the ISO standard when it comes to commands, it works well."
"Features like autoscaling, business continuity, and security are beneficial. The tool's compatibility with almost all of the enterprise-class applications is also beneficial for users."
"It's a very stable solution."
"SQL Server is widely used and it's simple. You cannot do without Microsoft if you want to manage IT for a business customer."
 

Cons

"It is expensive."
"The solution’s integration could be improved."
"In my opinion, the pricing of all the additional tools that Oracle provides is very complicated. The pricing model is very unfriendly for the user, and for the web vendors."
"Oracle needs to improve its cluster technologies. They need to improve in the cluster technology using ARC due to the fact that sometimes people think that they have a redundant server when they are using ARC with the cluster and think that will increase the performance. In reality, if they are using ii with a big workload, sometimes the performance is not increasing, and can sometimes actually impacts it in such a way that there's some degradation in the performance."
"Oracle could improve by providing better integration with other solutions, such as Angular platforms."
"It could be slightly more intuitive, but other than that, we really like it as a solution."
"They could provide ease of migration and competitive pricing for the database."
"The high availability features are a little complex to set up and manage."
"Price could be cheaper, and access to reporting tools should be better."
"The licensing costs are very high."
"The price could be better. It costs a lot, and competing databases like Postgres are free."
"Scalability is an area that needs improvement, and the deployment is difficult, which why I'm looking for an appliance to deploy it in a much more scalable way."
"The installation process should be simplified."
"The solution's stability can be improved."
"The solution’s pricing is high."
"I would like to see better integration between their link server and other platforms, such as IBM."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is very expensive. We pay in dollars, so the inflation and conversion cost is also there for us. They charge on a yearly basis for the license."
"The product is costly."
"The licensing is on a monthly basis. Improvement in pricing would be nice."
"My company has opted for perpetual licensing. We only need to make payments toward the licensing of the product."
"The price is very expensive for the support."
"The license is inexpensive."
"We have been paying for an annual enterprise license Oracle Database."
"The licensing costs are on a yearly basis."
"The price could always be lower."
"Its price is fine. You have to buy the license and support."
"The cost is high and because it's an expensive product, we are in the process of moving towards open-source solutions."
"It is something we have been using for a lot of years. If we're paying, it should be reasonable."
"Some of our clients purchase the license and others do not, they use Express SQL Server."
"Since we are a cloud-based company, there is AWS pricing on top of the SQL Server pricing. The Enterprise Edition can typically sell from around $1000 dollars a month, which is not cheap. Then, there is an additional one-time Windows cost, based on the code, which can go anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 for the license."
"The price could be better. Aside from the basic features, if you need any additional features that can be extended, for example, if you want to connect with the heterogeneous databases, they are being managed as separate services and not included in the package. If you manage a database in Azure, it's not providing SFS and reporting services. However, on-premises, if you purchase the SQL Server license, it includes SFIS and SFRS services. If you take Postgre SQL and MySQL, they provide almost all the same features even though they are both open source databases."
"We are on a monthly subscription and the price could improve. However, the price has worked out well in some deployments. The problem is you never know what kind of services been installed and you have to be in touch with many people, such as which servers are active or which are not. I did face a couple of issues in terms of subscriptions and the pricing model. They have improved over time."
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Answers from the Community

SR
Oct 5, 2023
Oct 5, 2023
Your decision should ideally be based on: - The specific needs and existing infrastructure of your organization. - Cost considerations. - Desired features and potential future scaling. - Expertise available within your organization or your hiring intentions. I can provide a comparison based on the characteristics of Microsoft SQL Server's Enterprise Edition and Oracle Database's Enterprise Edit...
See 2 answers
PG
Oct 2, 2023
As always, it depends: First look is the area: on-premise server (your own hardware) or in the cloud? If you want to use your own server, look at the operating system? In my opinion, SQL Server fits best on Windows; Oracle on Unix/Linux.  Next is your size of data and the application you want to use: rule of thumb: the more data, the more I tend to Oracle; but Oracle is not 'automatically better'! You need an expert to configure the system for optimal use! A simple setup is often not enough! (There are a lot of screws you can turn, but turning the wrong ones is a negative! And more Hardware is not the solution to a slow system). I think the first step is to look at which app creates and consume which data, where in your network is your data needed and then decide the RDBMS. I have worked for years in a mixed environment; we use a large Oracle RDBMS on AIX to store the large amount of data of several production systems; but also some SQL Server RDBMS to distribute data for some evaluations or reports. In the Oracle RDBMS are 30 Years of data of the whole production process; in SQL Servers are consolidated data for reporting. So first make a compilation of your existing data and application and the future requirements; then you can decide; and the result can also be a mixed world!
Abdellateef Hasan - PeerSpot reviewer
Oct 5, 2023
Your decision should ideally be based on: - The specific needs and existing infrastructure of your organization. - Cost considerations. - Desired features and potential future scaling. - Expertise available within your organization or your hiring intentions. I can provide a comparison based on the characteristics of Microsoft SQL Server's Enterprise Edition and Oracle Database's Enterprise Edition: 1. Licensing and Cost: - SQL Server: Historically, SQL Server has been considered to be more cost-effective than Oracle. Microsoft offers both core-based and CAL (Client Access License) based licensing options. - Oracle: Oracle is often perceived as more expensive, with its licensing based primarily on cores (with considerations for hyper-threading). There are also additional costs for add-on features which might be included in other platforms. 2. Platform Integration: - SQL Server: Tends to have better integration with other Microsoft products like Windows OS, .NET, Azure, etc. - Oracle: Oracle offers a wide range of integrated tools, but the integration might not be as smooth with non-Oracle products. 3. Performance: - Both databases are enterprise-grade and offer high performance, but the actual performance can depend on the specific use-case, database design, hardware, and many other factors. 4. Features: - SQL Server: SQL Server offers features like Always On Availability Groups, Columnstore Indexes, and integration with tools like Power BI. - Oracle: Offers advanced features like Real Application Clusters (RAC), Exadata optimizations, Advanced Compression, Partitioning, etc. Some of these features, however, come with additional licensing costs. 5. Ease of Use: - SQL Server: Often considered more user-friendly, especially for those organizations already embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem. - Oracle: Might have a steeper learning curve, but offers flexibility and depth for those familiar with it. 6. Cloud Integration: - SQL Server: Has tight integration with Azure, Microsoft's cloud solution. - Oracle: Oracle Cloud offers various services tailored to the Oracle Database, and the company has been pushing its cloud services aggressively.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
48%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How do you run Oracle Database at your organization and why?
My company has been using Oracle Exadata Database Service for some years now, and we are happy with it. I will allow myself to answer your questions about why and what benefits it provides us with ...
Do you know of any disadvantages of Oracle Database?
Undoubtedly, Oracle Database is a top product in its category. But it does have its disadvantages, and for me and my organization, that has been the limitations of the product. When it comes to Ora...
What is the best use for Oracle Database?
Oracle Database is flexible and can be used for many things. My company's main use case for this product is for storing data. We benefit from its high level of security as well as from the fact tha...
Would you say the price of SQL Server is high compared to that of similar products?
SQL Server is fairly priced because it has various editions, depending on the number of users, servers, or core packs you are using. If you compare the product to others in this category, the price...
Has using SQL Server helped your organization in any way?
SQL Server has helped my organization through partitioning to distribute the workload, as it splits them up into smaller pieces so the machines can easily deal with it. However, this comes with a h...
Which authentication mode is best for SQL Server?
My company connects through SQL Server authentication. We have company Windows accounts, but we do not want to connect the two, out of security concerns and to keep things separated for our own pur...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Oracle 12c, RDBMS
Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Agncia Nacional de guas, Anbima, Aria Systems, Asiana Airlines, Astelit LLC, Australian Finance Group, Banco Occidental de Descuento, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, BT, Caja de Seguros S.A., Casas GEO S.A.B. de C.V., Comic Relief UK, Corsair Components Inc., CSAM Health AS, CSOB Group, Datacraft Solutions, DenizBank A.S., Department of Treasury and Finance WA, Office of State Revenue, Deutsche B_rse AG, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Deutsche Messe AG, Digicel Haiti, DPR COSEA, Essar Group, Essatto Software Pty Ltd, Farmšcia e Drogaria Nissei Ltda., Fomento Econ‹mico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (FEMSA), FundaÊo Petrobras de Seguridade Social, Future Group, GFKL Financial Services AG, Grupo Posadas S.A.B. de C.V., Grupo Sinosserra, Guerra S.A. Implementos Rodovišrios, Hanatour International Service, Hays plc, Henan Mobile Co. Ltd, Hochschule Hof, Hong Kong and China Technology (Wuhan) Co. Ltd (Towngas Technology), Industries Corpa_al C.A., Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatstica, Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial, Kcell, LinkShare Corporation, MercadoLibre Inc., MetLife Inc., Nextgen Distribution, €BB-IKT GmbH, Octagon Research Solutions, Pacific Lutheran University, Paragon Data GmbH, Ping ltd., PJSC Trustbank, Prodaub _ Processamento de Dados de Uberl_ndia, Purdue University, Redknee Inc., Robi Axiata Limited, Shanghai Infoservice Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai Sihua Technologies Co. Ltd, Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de M_xico, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Suddenlink Communications, Suprajit Engineering Limited, Tallink Grupp, Terminales Ro de la Plata S.A., Therap Services LLC, Think Passenger Inc., Trafigura, Transmed S.A.L Lebanon, ValeShop, VelQuest Corporation, Vodafone Group plc, West Virginia Network, WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A
Microsoft SQL Server is used by businesses in every industry, including Great Western Bank, Aviva, the Volvo Car Corporation, BMW, Samsung, Principality Building Society, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario.
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Database vs. SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.