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Oracle Database vs SQL Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 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 April 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Oracle Database is 12.8%, down from 15.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 18.6%, down from 23.1% 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

Duy AnhMai - PeerSpot reviewer
Good storage and reliable but needs a better dashboard
I use Oracle Database just for storage of the corporate database data and the finance data I use Oracle Database just for storage of the corporate database data and the finance data. However, I find the dashboard to be complicated and not user-friendly. The dashboard is not user-friendly, and I…
Azizul Haque - PeerSpot reviewer
It has eliminated all kinds of inconsistencies, and it is reliable, secure, and fast
I don't know whether SQL Server can support large organizations where the database size is more than 100 GB. It might be because of SQL Server, or it might be because of the programming of the software vendor, but a lot of people think that it is a problem with SQL Server. It can't handle a large amount of data or large data size. In terms of its usage, about 90% of our applications are running on the SQL Server database. We have around 1,600 users for our software, and all the applications are connected to the SQL Server database.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Oracle Database is very flexible."
"The solution has an endless capacity."
"I have experienced good performance from the solution."
"Oracle is a good database with decent performance, which is fortunate because we are required to use this database for our ERP system. Even if we thought Oracle was the worst database in the world, we would still have to use it."
"The database capability and the security side of the database are the real valuable features. The cloud SaaS model is also valuable."
"I've never faced any stability issues with the product. I don't recall any bugs, glitches, or crashes. I'd say it's fairly stable and shouldn't cause anyone issues in that regard."
"The product provides high availability."
"As a database, the solution has been number one from the beginning."
"What I like most is the management, as it is very easy compared with other products."
"The SQL Server is low maintenance, it does not require advanced technical skills to maintain or use it as you might in other similar database solutions. You need some knowledge on how to access the solution and how to query it but it is fairly straightforward."
"can extract data from the server and store it in a local data source for BI purposes."
"We like business integration, database, and analysis."
"Agent service is a good feature of SQL Server, where you can schedule certain tasks."
"It is one of the most stable relational databases out there."
"SQL Server is similar to other Microsoft products, such as BI, they are easy to use. You do not need to have an expensive BD to maintain them. All the useful intuitive features you find in Microsoft solutions you will find in SQL Server."
"I use it to fine tune my procedures and functions."
 

Cons

"The cost of this solution needs to be improved."
"The quality of technical support could be better. They could respond faster."
"The monitoring of processes that are executing could be better. I find it very difficult to find processes that had been in a suspended state in order to stop them."
"The integration with other vendor solutions needs improvement. It is difficult to connect to other hardware."
"A lot of features have bugs or choose the wrong way to process data."
"CRM could be improved."
"Oracle is a costly product, and it requires a lot of resources."
"With the new version, we never came across any important limitations. There was nothing that needed improvement. However, in versions 9 and 10, we sometimes had problems, and big and complicated queries did not get through. In versions 11 and 12, I did not experience any problem. There could be some more information about load balancing and all these things. For me, it was just a part of the infrastructure maintained by other people. So, I cannot really say what they need."
"We have had problems implementing a data warehouse using SQL Server."
"The interface integration could be better."
"You do need to have technical knowledge in order to install the solution. It's not something a layperson can do."
"We want to move to Azure, and the solution could be made better to make the process easier for the migration from on-premise to the cloud."
"They have too many licensing options. They may want to simplify its licensing and bring it down to two, three, or four categories from ten to fifteen categories. Having so many different licensing options makes it difficult to decide which one to choose from. They can club things together. This is an area where they can make things easier for customers."
"I would like Microsoft to evolve SQL Server because stateful databases dying are in a way. We would like to find out if it can absorb Hadoop and other similar things. They should make it useful for data mining. Data is evolving forever, and how we store it is also changing constantly. So, SQL Server also needs to change."
"The performance needs some improvement and it needs more features integrated into it."
"It would be nice if they can reduce its price."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"​The license cost need to be optimized. The licensing cost is very high compared to other RDBMS."
"It is an excellent product, as long as the organization can afford the price tag."
"We need to pay an annual subscription for the solution, which is moderately priced."
"There are licensing costs."
"Our customers buy licenses from Oracle directly."
"The tool's pricing is high and yearly."
"It has an annual subscription. It is an Oracle solution, so it is a bit expensive, but that's fine."
"Our customers sometimes complain about the price of the license, as it is very high for them."
"The areas that need improvement are with regards to the commercial aspect of the solution, the licensing cost could be reduced in order to help customers to adopt it."
"There is a license required for this solution and we pay monthly. The price is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"It is expensive, but you get what you pay for."
"On a scale of one to ten, when one is cheap and ten is an expensive solution, I rate the product price as seven. The product is expensive."
"The price of SQL Server could be better in the African market. The licensing model needs to be improved, it is confusing."
"Pricing is reasonable for small organizations, but the scaling increases the price."
"The product’s price depends on the specific server requirements."
"The licensing price could be better, more user-friendly."
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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
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
53%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
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: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.