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MariaDB 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

MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (4th)
SQL Server
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
269
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 6.3%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 16.9%, down from 22.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

KumarManish - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products
We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Kapil Dev Khatri - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps monitor queries and identify which indexes need to be created in the databases
SQL Server is very simple due to its GUI, which is available for users. It allows for modifications and has execution plans available, along with options such as activity monitoring. This helps monitor queries and identify which indexes need to be created in the databases, tables, or columns to improve performance.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"MariaDB is a user-friendly solution. Performance wise, it's better than SQL. With SQL, I would need to write a number of queries. In contrast, MariaDB is light."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is an open-source product and offers its users great online community support."
"There is the need for a robust IDE for MongoDB. The existing PHP admin console doesn't meet the client's requirements effectively."
"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is that it is open-source and we can easily migrate from other databases, such as Oracle to MariaDB."
"MariaDB is stable and the initial setup is straightforward."
"We like the easy way that we can collect data from other databases."
"It is a stable solution."
"Installation is straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is easy installation. It was very easy to install."
"The features that we have found the most valuable are reliability, availability perspective, and current scalability."
"The solution is valuable because it seamlessly extracts reports and enables the collection of information from different tables."
"The performance of SQL Server is perfect."
"It's a very stable solution."
"I value the ability it gives me to test on small machines and easily scale up to larger devices for live applications."
"It will do clustering, so you can have two database servers looking at the same data simultaneously."
"SQL Server is a good solution for me."
 

Cons

"The scaling for database online transactions needs improvement."
"The product needs more features and more functionality. It's imperative that it supports more platforms, and supports more operating systems."
"The features available are very basic."
"MariaDB's GUI is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The ability to create stored procedures in MariaDB is an area where the tool lacks a bit."
"It doesn't have the same level of maturity metrics as Postgres."
"In the next release, I would like to see improvements in the scalability and redundancy features."
"The difficult part related to the product stems not from the tool itself but is related to learning how to implement the product in the right way without creating any wrong configuration that could cause security issues or performance issues."
"Debugging from the debugger tool functionality should be enhanced."
"The solution could improve by having better integration."
"The product performance can become slow when the data reaches sizes like a terabyte."
"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."
"The scalability could be better."
"I would like to see the performance improved. Migrating should be easier and the scalability needs improvement."
"The stored procedure integration with our development could be better. Things are always changing very fast at Microsoft, and it takes a lot of resources to get on top of it. We're struggling with version control. In terms of new features, we don't have any feature requests. We are not focusing on the database."
"The solution could be more secure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is approximately $4000.00 per year and the licensing is based on the software and the number of posts that you make."
"It's an open-source solution."
"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."
"MariaDB is an open-source software, meaning I don't need to pay for the product."
"I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price, and ten is high price since there are some support costs involved, even though it isn't an open-source solution."
"MariaDB is available for free."
"This is an open-source product, which can be used free of charge."
"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."
"I don't know the exact prices because my focus is essentially technical and not on the bills. A few years ago, they changed the billing policy for the Enterprise Edition, and it became less attractive. But I believe they are still cheaper than Oracle. SQL Server isn't cheap, but it's not expensive either."
"We did a one-time payment. Its price, in general, can be reduced."
"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."
"You need to pay for the license. It most probably has per-core licensing."
"The price of the solution is very expensive. If I went with the cloud version of SQL a license would cost me approximately 11,000 Riyals per month."
"SQL Server is a cost-effective solution for a small database."
"SQL Server is an expensive solution."
"I rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
19%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often prefer the Community Edition because it's free.
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper.
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

No data available
Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
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 MariaDB vs. SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
862,452 professionals have used our research since 2012.