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SAP SQL Anywhere vs SQL Server comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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

SAP SQL Anywhere
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
35th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SQL Server
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
276
Ranking in other categories
Database Management Systems (DBMS) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of SAP SQL Anywhere is 1.6%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 10.2%, down from 14.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SQL Server10.2%
SAP SQL Anywhere1.6%
Other88.2%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

MT
Automation Project Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Scalable, easy to use, but stability could improve
We use SAP SQL Anywhere because we have a lot of Power BI reports that connect with the SQL database that we have for our robotic process automation data. We create procedures and other elements within the solution The most valuable features of SAP SQL Anywhere are the ease of use and the user…
Shakti Gupta - PeerSpot reviewer
SQL server database administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Hybrid data platform has strengthened performance, security, and incident response for production
SQL Server is very mature, but I see areas for improvement, especially in performance tuning, troubleshooting, and automation. Although tools such as Query Store and dynamic management views are powerful, some troubleshooting tasks still require senior SQL Server database administrator expertise. It would be valuable to have more intelligent, built-in recommendations for root cause analysis, indexing, blocking, and query optimization. I would also like to see simplified and consistent management across on-premises SQL Server and Azure SQL services, as managing hybrid environments sometimes requires different tools and approaches. Finally, improved patching, updates, monitoring, and cost and license transparency could make SQL Server easier to manage at the enterprise scale. One area I would improve in SQL Server is its documentation and troubleshooting guidance. SQL Server documentation is comprehensive, but for complex production issues, I would like to see more real-world troubleshooting examples, especially for scenarios such as Always On synchronization issues, blocking and deadlocks, performance degradation, and upgrade features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"SAP SQL Anywhere is very helpful."
"It's a great product to use if you are already have an integration with SAP's ERP/CRM systems."
"We've found the solution very reliable overall. It's very fast."
"It works well in general."
"The most valuable features of SAP SQL Anywhere are the ease of use and the user interface is intuitive."
"SQL Anywhere is easy and it did not cost as much as SQL Microsoft."
"The auto-backup replication is a perfect feature. That is the feature I liked the most."
"What I like most is the management, as it is very easy compared with other products."
"We always like to work with the best products, we are happy with SQL Server, and I recommend it."
"SQL Server is widely used and it's simple. You cannot do without Microsoft if you want to manage IT for a business customer."
"In general, we've been quite happy with its capabilities."
"The solution doesn't have too many surprises and is easy to understand."
"We have found the solution valuable because we are able to easily create a query, shrink, backup, and make new tables."
"This solution has proven stability and operational power."
"The product can scale if a company needs it to."
 

Cons

"It is not as secure as it could be."
"Performance issues when syncing the MBO packages to the server."
"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."
"SAP SQL Anywhere needs to incorporate functionalities like SAP S/4HANA."
"The interface is not easy in comparison to the SQL Server. It could be more user-friendly."
"It is not as secure as it could be; there needs to be more encryption and we can find passwords very easily."
"A problem we are experiencing now is when doing a backup in SQL 2012 and 14 there's a problem with the license."
"For a big amount of data, when we are speaking about IoT Segments, and Big Data projects, there are performance issues."
"The main area of SQL Server that can be improved is the price. The cost is substantial for using the tool."
"The solution's stability can be improved."
"The solution could offer better integration with other solutions - specifically Microsoft."
"SQL Server could improve by being more user-friendly, it is still geared towards specialists. Additionally, the monitoring system is difficult to use, not everyone can use it well. The configuration should be able to be done through the GUI."
"But I don't have a hundred percent trust in Microsoft products."
"There are a few use cases where we do need the Active-Active options instead of Active-Passive, yet those kinds of options are not available for Microsoft."
"The tool's support needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SAP SQL Anywhere is affordable."
"SQL Anywhere cost us about $400."
"The free version is cumbersome to use and maintain. But $5000 for a licence is more expense than the benefit I would get from a licensed version. A licence might be worth the price to simplify management and speed up searches."
"The SQL server is affordable. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"There is a subscription that needs to be purchased to use the solution."
"Their options for concurrency and locking are good, as well as their prices."
"The price for the Standard Edition is approximately $3,000 USD per core. Once you include technical support, SQL Server is cheaper than PostgreSQL and MySQL."
"The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive."
"If you are looking for a small setup and do not want an open-source solution or invest too much money in your database then SQL Server is a very good choice."
"There is no licensing cost for SQL Server."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Construction Company
9%
University
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
34%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business119
Midsize Enterprise60
Large Enterprise122
 

Questions from the Community

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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...
 

Also Known As

Sybase SQL Anywhere
Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
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 SAP SQL Anywhere vs. SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.