Microsoft Azure SQL Database Reviews

Name: Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Brand: Microsoft
Rating: 4.3 (118 reviews)

4.3 out of 5

118 reviews
96% willing to recommend

What is Microsoft Azure SQL Database?

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a relational database-as-a-service that delivers predictable performance, scalability, business continuity, data protection, and near-zero administration to cloud developers and solution architects. This is the deep technical library for Azure SQL Database.

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Microsoft Azure SQL Database is the #2 ranked solution in top Database as a Service vendors. PeerSpot users give Microsoft Azure SQL Database an average rating of 8.6 out of 10. Microsoft Azure SQL Database is most commonly compared to Amazon RDS: Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Amazon RDS. Microsoft Azure SQL Database is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 59% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 13% of all views.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

July 2025

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Helped 864,155 peers since 2012

Featured Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews

Charley Hanania

Data Platform Specialist at QS2 AG - Quality Software Solutions

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is integrated into other Azure capabilities and has a great foundation being on SQL Server with a long history of security, performance, and usability from a DBA perspective. Once you've set up a server, adding databases is easy. There's a minor challenge with having data in separate databases that you want to connect like we do on premises. I'm looking forward to using some of these new AI-driven functions that have come out around vectorization. Having the data closer to my transactional databases or data makes it easy to augment and enhance the Database and applications I currently use. It's great that Azure SQL now seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Fabric. It's a first-tier service in the cloud that connects to web applications and other databases. The data transformation orchestration capabilities within Database Factory and similar capabilities make it effortless to move that stuff forward.

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Maanda Ambani

Senior AI Specialist at Nedbank

Our migration to Azure for most databases has increased our organization's efficiency and reduced the maintenance required to manage on-premises infrastructure. With on-premises infrastructure, you have to build and maintain your setup. It has reduced our downtime. We've improved our productivity because we can automate database deployments and script execution within the database.

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Ryan Park

System Architect at Sugar Creek Packing Co.

The ability to maintain different environments, such as development and production databases, is valuable. The ability to use the same interface when connecting to on-premises databases or data lakes is very convenient. It's easy to use Azure SQL. Writing queries is the same as on-prem SQL. Azure SQL's ability to power next-generation AI applications is pretty nice. They're doing previews now for all that stuff in Fabric, so I could take all the data from there instead of Power BI reports. We don't use that for machine learning. Azure SQL integrates very well with other Microsoft applications. We have to take date from on-prem servers and forklift it into the cloud, which is pretty simple once you have it all set up. After that, it's copy and paste.

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Microsoft Azure SQL Database mindshare

As of August 2025, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category stands at 14.7%, down from 18.1% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

PeerResearch reports based on Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	Database as a Service (DBaaS)	Aug 1, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Aug 1, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Amazon RDS	Aug 1, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs MongoDB Atlas	Aug 1, 2025	Download
Comparison	Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Google Cloud SQL	Aug 1, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
Amazon RDS	4.2	22.2%	98%	56 interviews Add to research
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB	4.1	2.8%	95%	101 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers scalability, high availability, and seamless integration with Microsoft services. Its pay-as-you-go model reduces costs, while its easy setup and user-friendly interface enhance efficiency. Users benefit from robust security, automatic backups, and efficient data management. The cloud-based platform simplifies maintenance, promotes rapid deployment, supports diverse data processing needs, and facilitates integration with AI applications. Businesses appreciate cost-effective scalability and reduced physical infrastructure demands. Azure's extensive documentation enhances user support and technical integration.

"The database is extremely scalable, allowing seamless scaling up or down with a simple change in parameters."
"Azure SQL Database is very quick and easy to use."
"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10."

Room for Improvement

Microsoft Azure SQL Database needs enhancements in security and scalability. Users face challenges with cost and pricing structure, often resulting in high expenses. Technical documentation and support require significant improvements. Users experience difficulties with automation, integration, configuration, and performance monitoring. Compatibility with other systems and databases is lacking. There is a need for better performance optimization, cost management, and feature updates. The user interface and management tools could be more user-friendly and accessible.

"It's very slow and too expensive. I really don't think it's a good solution for most cases, except when you specifically need to put your data on the cloud."
"Pricing could be improved to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database more accessible."
"There are compatibility issues that prevent Azure SQL Database from being a direct replacement for SQL Server running on a virtual machine."

ROI

Organizations report significant cost savings and improved ROI with Microsoft Azure SQL Database. They experienced reductions in data center sizes, license costs, and total cost of ownership. The cloud model allows for scalability and flexibility, offering pay-per-use benefits. Users noted savings in time, backup, and security. Cost reductions from features like Elastic Pool and hybrid licensing were evident. ROI improvements ranged from 30-50% in the early years, with expectations of further savings over time.

Pricing

Enterprise users often find Microsoft Azure SQL Database's pricing complex yet somewhat competitive. Licensing is primarily subscription-based, with costs driven by usage and storage. While offering flexibility like Azure Hybrid Benefits, some users report challenges forecasting expenses, especially with growth. Initial costs may include training and plan purchases. Pricing can appear costly compared to some competitors, but Azure's pay-as-you-go model helps manage expenditures, potentially lowering total ownership costs, especially when leveraging existing licenses.

"From a licensing benefit standpoint, we have clients who are coming with their own SQL licensing with Software Assurance, and they are able to use those licenses for their Azure SQL and reduce costs."
"If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap."

Popular Use Cases

Organizations primarily use Microsoft Azure SQL Database for various purposes, such as hosting databases for web applications, storing sales and portfolio management data, supporting business intelligence, performing analytics, and managing databases for healthcare and ERP systems. Many entities are transitioning from AWS to expand on Azure, using it for cloud-based data warehousing, transactional systems, scalability, and integration of on-premises resources with cloud services.

Service and Support

Microsoft Azure SQL Database users appreciate the continuous, proactive technical support and vast online resources provided by Microsoft. While a few users report challenges with communication delays or reaching first-line support, feedback on advanced support tiers and personalized assistance is positive. Many mention Microsoft's documentation and knowledge base as tools, making direct support less frequent. Those with premium plans receive rapid response, emphasizing Microsoft's overall expertise and commitment to customer assistance.

Deployment

The setup of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is generally straightforward for users familiar with SQL. Many find it easy and fast, often taking just a few hours or days. Some complexities arise with advanced configurations and large-scale deployments, especially for enterprise environments. Users appreciate not needing installation since it's a cloud service. Challenges mentioned include initial portal navigation, security configurations, and specific custom requirements, but experienced users navigate these with minimal issues.

Scalability

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is highly scalable. Users can easily adjust resources, enhancing performance as needs grow. It accommodates various user volumes and supports multiple environments without issues. Businesses appreciate its flexibility, with the ability to modify memory, storage, and instances as required. Though some report cost concerns and transitional difficulties, many highlight its capacity to manage heavy workloads. While manual scaling might be required, its scalability remains a notable advantage for many enterprises.

Stability

Many find Microsoft Azure SQL Database stable, consistently reliable, with minimal bugs, crashes, or glitches. Users appreciate its strong performance and commend its dependable infrastructure. Though some mention potential instability with larger datasets or poor design, most experience robust uptime and high reliability. Latency and availability are typically satisfactory, except in geographically distant setups. Regular updates contribute to its favorable status. Users rate stability highly, often above 8 out of 10.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

Download our Microsoft Azure SQL Database Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.