No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Amazon RDS vs Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Amazon RDS is 12.6%, down from 17.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Google Cloud SQL is 6.4%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 9.0%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database9.0%
Amazon RDS12.6%
Google Cloud SQL6.4%
Other72.0%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Donny Trijatmiko - PeerSpot reviewer
Dev Ops Engineer at MyRobin.ID
Managed databases have simplified recovery and high availability for AI recruitment workloads
The features of Amazon RDS that I have found most valuable and useful so far are its fully managed service, point-in-time restore, and other serverless features such as snapshots and backups, which have eased my job to manage databases. The automated backups of Amazon RDS help in data recovery by mitigating disaster recovery. I can revert to the nearest time if there is any data corruption or other issues, and this helps tremendously. I assess Amazon RDS's read replica feature for improving application performance as good. For standby nodes in Amazon RDS, I am using them for high failover, and so far it has been performing well. I have used Amazon RDS's Multi-AZ deployments, and it helps enhance data availability by providing high failover. It enhances high availability for my application as well.
RituRaj - PeerSpot reviewer
SDE 2 at Virtusa
Drag and drop workflows have simplified data mapping and currently improve my cloud database work
The IPaaS Connector, which I have found most valuable, is part of Google Cloud SQL. Google Cloud's user interface is really good, which improves efficiency in my database operations. The UI is excellent, making it easier to understand what we are doing. Currently, I am working on IPaaS Connector, so it is really just a clickable interface without writing any code. I simply use drag and drop and connecting lines, and it is working. Google Cloud SQL's global infrastructure improves our database's latency metrics because we are using Gemini in our project. Since both are products of Google, it makes our product faster.
Matthew Parker - PeerSpot reviewer
Ai Team Lead at Phoenix Software
Integrates with familiar tools and supports reliable data storage for AI applications
Microsoft Azure SQL Database can be improved overall by being able to compete with some of the features that come from things such as PostgreSQL. From my team's perspective in terms of building AI applications, more native integrations with some of the newer AI data types, such as vectors for storing embeddings, would be beneficial. I think all of that is coming. It is just a big product, so I think it is naturally a little bit behind the curve. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing because a lot of customers, because it has been around for so long, they trust it and they are willing to wait until those features become available.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable aspect of Amazon RDS is it is on the cloud."
"The Amazon RDS features I found most valuable are snapshots and automatic backups."
"The biggest advantage of Amazon RDS, which is basically an AWS service, is that you can customize it."
"It is very easy to set up initially."
"It handles large-scale data migrations perfectly. Amazon RDS's performance is quite good. Charges are incurred after you utilize the service"
"Amazon RDS is easy to manage, and it has customizable performance, high availability, and duality."
"Very easy to start with."
"With RDS, everything is turnkey and always available."
"The main benefit to our organization is the fact that we no longer need DB admins that take care of the physical servers, backups etc... All this is managed by GCP."
"Ease of management and the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL."
"The solution is easy to use. I am impressed with the tool's features and functionality."
"The speed is very good, it's useful in terms of the simplicity of doing backups, you can have redundant databases for reports or posts, it's SQL which is easy to learn if you know something about databases, I like the cloud aspect, the pricing of the solution seems reasonable, and the solution is stable."
"The most valuable features are that it's easy to use, simple, and user-friendly."
"Google Cloud SQL enhances our AI-driven projects by providing features like query optimization and scalability for efficiently processing large datasets."
"The deployment model allows for significant control and flexibility."
"Its most valuable feature is that it's scalable; I can start off with a base of a lot of data and move as much as I want without a lot of infrastructure changes, so I can run a release model experiment on a thousand people and, if that experiment is a success, run it on a million people without any changes while keeping it much more cost-sensitive for me to do it."
"SQL Server's ability to automate data processing and validation through virtual agents and integration with other Microsoft applications like Power Virtual Agents and Azure SQL has dramatically improved efficiency."
"SQL is easy to use and easily integrates with many systems. There aren't many code changes needed when you're using SQL databases. Integrating Azure SQL with other Microsoft applications is instant because they're all Microsoft solutions."
"Your return on investment from SQL Azure would depend on your business applications. The solution will give you more scalability, and more functionality, and would reduce costs from on-premises to cloud databases, so there are a lot of cost reductions."
"It has significantly streamlined our disaster recovery plans, making it much more straightforward to spin up new instances as opposed to setting up a new VM with all necessary packages. The normal cost of our VMs with storage has been significantly reduced."
"Because the solution is cloud-based it's highly manageable, it makes maintenance of logs, space, storage, and backups much easier compared to a traditional SQL server installation."
"The overall value comes from combining managed database operations with accessible, reliable data for business reporting and decision-making."
"The interface is awesome."
"I prefer using Microsoft SQL Server because I like the experience and the way Microsoft handles the query tuning and security."
 

Cons

"I also don't think it's very scalable."
"The setup might be a bit challenging for multi-level applications."
"The running cost could be improved."
"Perhaps more platforms in terms of database engine versions would be beneficial."
"The product must add more older versions of the database engines."
"AWS support is decent, but it's not as good as before. Sometimes, we get junior staff who are unable to answer our questions. It also depends on the support team you get. Support based in Europe and Australia is better than US support. For example, European support is quick to deliver the right answer. US support handles routine maintenance issues, and it's mostly junior staff who don't know the product well."
"If Amazon RDS can be provided as a service platform, it would be beneficial for years. Instead of focusing on infrastructure, they can assist backend engineers and those with varying technical expertise in utilizing it effectively. It would be helpful if Amazon could provide a more predictable pricing strategy."
"I think Amazon RDS can be improved or enhanced if it can be implemented with other monitoring tools such as Percona."
"The purging of the data could be better."
"The customer support should be improved."
"In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users."
"The only room for improvement here is that they need to connect to more existing data sources so that it becomes easier for a layman to get a more realistic understanding of what's happening."
"The monitoring part could be better."
"I would like to see better availability of the product in different regions. It should also improve the security with encryption."
"To create a seamless data integration, the title integration of these databases with the data integration platforms is essential. This is what we would like to have in a future release."
"When discussing media files, such as images and audio files, stored in Google Cloud, concerns about handling large amounts of data arise."
"Some issues with scalability."
"Some data types are not available on SQL Azure while it's available on SQL Server."
"While the cost versus benefit debate continues, Microsoft Azure SQL Database has been cost-driven for a very long time rather than value-driven."
"I would like to see integration with Snowflake."
"Azure SQL can improve by adding more machine learning features like other databases, such as Cassandra or Cosmos DB."
"The default 1433 port for communication should be customizable because most hacks or attacks are attempted when creating any application or database on the default port."
"I need Microsoft to allow their network to access open source technologies."
"I was using a user list for connecting a program in OTF for getting information. The connection in SQL Azure can improve by being easier because at the moment I have to use private certificates for user authentication. I had to do additional configuration to have the connections."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"By using a combination of Reserve Instances and On-Demand pricing, you can reduce the cost."
"It is less expensive than SQL Server. We pay based on the usage on a monthly basis."
"The solution's price is good."
"AWS is becoming pretty expensive because cheap or absolutely free services have become paid services. Amazon RDS is not an expensive product, but Amazon's ecosystem is becoming increasingly expensive."
"The solution is fairly priced."
"The price of Amazon RDS is expensive."
"The cost is manageable because you can see the expense associated with each instance and utilize tools for tagging and cost control."
"Amazon RDS is not a very expensive solution."
"While the platform’s pricing may be higher, it aligns with industry standards, considering the quality of service and features provided."
"You need to pay extra costs for backup and replication."
"From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side."
"The solution is affordable."
"It's really cheap. It wouldn't be more than, I believe it's around 50 euro per month for running a cloud SQL."
"The pricing is very much an important factor as to why we use this solution."
"It is not expensive, especially considering the significant reduction in database management time."
"The licensing for this solution is based on subscription."
"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."
"I have an annual spend number, and it is in the hundred thousand dollar range. There are no additional costs to the standard licensing fees. Even though you have to look at the cost numbers of what you're going to be charged on a monthly basis, what you have to also remember is that your application may need a lot of rewriting and things like that. You get charged not just for the monthly costs but also for the transactions that occur. If your access to the data layer is not so efficient, your costs will go up because you're pulling far more data than you potentially need. These are hidden costs that nobody ever considers. If your application is not written very efficiently, you may actually increase your costs over on-prem versus cloud."
"It is beneficial in terms of cost because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing."
"It requires a license. As compared to its competitors, such as Oracle, it is affordable and reasonable."
"The solution is expensive."
"The license is based on the number of users."
"It only has a subscription-based license."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database as a Service (DBaaS) solutions are best for your needs.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
Educational Organization
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business65
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise68
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Amazon RDS?
I think Amazon RDS can be improved or enhanced if it can be implemented with other monitoring tools such as Percona. ...
What is your primary use case for Amazon RDS?
Amazon RDS is typically used for AI applications. I am developing it for an AI recruitment agent and for collecting d...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud SQL?
We have set up automated patch management for Google Cloud SQL, and it does on a daily basis what needs to be done, s...
What needs improvement with Google Cloud SQL?
I would to improve a few glitches in Google Cloud SQL that I have recently noticed. There are a few UI glitches that ...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud SQL?
I am not working with Oracle; everything I am working on is on Google. I would like to improve a few glitches in Goog...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
I think Microsoft Azure SQL Database is affordable, not expensive. Regarding migration, I am just keeping a professio...
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
The automatic tuning feature in Microsoft Azure SQL Database impacts database performance sometimes. What happens wit...
What is your primary use case for SQL Azure?
I am a system integrator using Microsoft Azure SQL Database for my customers. The major use case for Microsoft Azure ...
 

Also Known As

RDS
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edmodo
BeDataDriven, CodeFutures, Daffodil, GenieConnect, KiSSFLOW, LiveHive, SulAm_rica, Zync
adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MongoDB and others in Database as a Service (DBaaS). Updated: October 2026.
921,523 professionals have used our research since 2012.