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Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2, while Microsoft is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.2. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 22.2% mindshare in DS, compared to Microsoft’s 2.8% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
Amazon RDS
Read 56 Amazon RDS reviews
  • 3,747 Views
  • 3,710 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
Read 102 Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews
  • 6,178 Views
  • 494 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

Amazon RDS and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB are both leading platforms in the database services category. Amazon RDS seems to have an advantage in terms of high availability and scalability due to its multi-availability zone feature, while Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB shines with its global distribution and low-latency access, particularly for NoSQL databases.

Features: Amazon RDS offers a fully managed database service for MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server with automated backups and easy scalability. Its multi-availability zone feature ensures no downtime, providing reliable service. It supports various database engines and automated CI/CD tools, aiding microservices architecture. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is a multi-model NoSQL database with global distribution and low-latency access. It supports multiple APIs and data models, offering high scalability and features like automatic failover and seamless integration with microservices, making it a versatile solution for modern applications.

Room for Improvement: Amazon RDS could improve by enhancing shell access for troubleshooting, adding features for alternative databases like Db2 and NoSQL, and offering more intuitive cost management. Technical support pricing and Microsoft product integration could also improve. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB faces pricing, indexing, and complex query support challenges. Improvements in cost management, integration capabilities, and optimization techniques are needed.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Amazon RDS and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB provide wide deployment flexibility on public cloud platforms. RDS supports on-premises setups, while Cosmos DB is preferred for public cloud deployments. Amazon RDS faces critiques for high technical support costs and variable response quality. In contrast, Microsoft Azure's support is consistent but costly, affecting user satisfaction. Deployment and support experiences differ, reflecting varying user priorities and operational needs.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon RDS uses a pay-as-you-go model with BYOL options, deemed cost-effective due to reduced management overheads and increased agility. Conversely, Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB provides a flexible pay-as-you-go model and reserved unit pricing, aligning costs with capacity. Its complex pricing and higher costs for some workloads pose challenges, though reserved unit discounts can mitigate these. Both solutions reveal trade-offs between upfront costs and long-term returns.

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Buyer's Guide
Amazon RDS vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
July 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.8
Amazon RDS reduces costs and enhances agility with scalable pay-as-you-go solutions, offering varied ROI based on usage.
Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reduces total cost through dynamic scaling, eliminating dedicated admins, and offering global distribution efficiency.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon RDS report
Getting an MVP of that project would have taken six to eight months, but because we had an active choice of using Azure Cosmos DB and other related cloud-native services of Azure, we were able to get to an MVP stage in a matter of weeks, which is six weeks.
You can react quickly and trim down the specs, memory, RAM, storage size, etc. It can save about 20% of the costs.
When I have done comparisons or cost calculations, I have sometimes personally seen as much as 25% to 30% savings.
For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB report
MichaelJohn - PeerSpot reviewer
BP
AH
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
Amazon RDS support varies; premium users receive better service, while free-tier users face limitations and slower response times.
Sentiment score
6.7
Feedback on Azure Cosmos DB's support varies, highlighting fast assistance with premium plans but inconsistency and delays otherwise.
The documentation is quite good.
The official AWS technical support for Amazon RDS is helpful, providing 24/7 assistance for all business support cases with tools such as the health dashboard and AWS trusted advisor.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon RDS report
Premier Support has deteriorated compared to what it used to be, especially for small to medium-sized customers like ours.
The response was quick.
I would rate customer service and support a nine out of ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB report
Kenan Çiftçi - PeerSpot reviewer
BS
reviewer2595951 - PeerSpot reviewerJoel Hulen - PeerSpot reviewerMichaelJohn - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Amazon RDS is praised for scalable performance, though some users note limitations with large datasets and prefer alternative features.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB offers scalable solutions with auto-scaling and partitioning, managing large workloads efficiently while reducing costs.
Its automated scaling, both in storage and instances, is vital as it eliminates manual interventions.
Despite being a strong feature, scalability could be improved due to the lack of full functionality in autoscaling.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon RDS report
The system scales up capacity when needed and scales down when not in use, preventing unnecessary expenses.
We like that it can auto-scale to demand, ensuring we only pay for what we use.
We have had no issues with its ability to search through large amounts of data.
For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB report
Samuel Ebite - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668191 - PeerSpot reviewerHashir Ali Shuja - PeerSpot reviewerTiago Duarte - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2678751 - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Amazon RDS is praised for its stability and reliability, with effective failure handling and strong backup features.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is highly stable, reliable, and globally robust, offering strong performance and low latency despite minor issues.
Amazon RDS is very stable when deployed correctly across different zones with the right configurations.
It is a stable product overall, with very few issues.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon RDS report
We have multiple availability zones, so nothing goes down.
Azure Cosmos DB would be a good choice if you have to deploy your application in a limited time frame and you want to auto-scale the database across different applications.
I would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of availability and latency.
For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB report
Samuel Ebite - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668191 - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2596239 - PeerSpot reviewerHarshitGaur - PeerSpot reviewerAroosh Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon RDS users desire better migration tools, database support, customization, scalability, security, cost management, and user-friendly interfaces.
Azure Cosmos DB needs better cost models, performance, documentation, query capabilities, integration, analytics, security, and operational features.
Simplifying migration for those transitioning from on-premises to cloud environments.
Having native Change Data Capture (CDC) support would be beneficial, allowing for seamless integration with Kafka without relying on external technologies like Debezium.
Enabling performance insights to view query formats where the bottlenecks occur, identifying the fixes, slow queries, and missing indexes.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon RDS report
We must ensure data security remains the top priority.
You have to monitor the Request Units.
The dashboard could include more detailed RU descriptions, IOPS, and compute metrics.
For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB report
Samuel Ebite - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2668191 - PeerSpot reviewer
BS
Mohamed Ait Salah - PeerSpot reviewer
BP
FG
 

Setup Cost

Amazon RDS offers flexible pricing but requires careful provisioning for cost-effectiveness and improved pricing predictability and alerts.
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's pricing is complex yet flexible, offering scalability and cost-effectiveness with efficient resource management.
While Azure provides great services, long-term plans on AWS are 20% to 30% cheaper.
I find the pricing of Amazon RDS fair, as AWS operates on a pay-for-what-you-use model.
I rate the price for Amazon as eight on a scale from one to ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon RDS report
Initially, it seemed like an expensive way to manage a NoSQL data store, but so many improvements that have been made to the platform have made it cost-effective.
Cosmos DB is expensive, and the RU-based pricing model is confusing.
Cosmos DB is great compared to other databases because we can reduce the cost while doing the same things.
For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB report
Karthikeyan Katkam - PeerSpot reviewerSamuel Ebite - PeerSpot reviewerKenan Çiftçi - PeerSpot reviewerJoel Hulen - PeerSpot reviewerChristian Gomez Rua - PeerSpot reviewer
RC
 

Valuable Features

Amazon RDS offers a fully managed, scalable service with multiple database support, backup automation, and AWS integration for efficiency.
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB offers scalable, secure, and high-performance features with seamless integration, enhancing application efficiency and global user satisfaction.
Amazon RDS provides data encryption using services like KMS, crucial for securing high-sensitive data and meeting compliance requirements such as HIPAA or PCI DSS.
Database management is effective in Amazon RDS because it offers automated backups, high availability, read replicas, and support from multiple database engineers, while also providing security, monitoring and metrics, scalability.
Amazon RDS makes it easier for me to manage databases compared to traditional databases like MongoDB or local host servers.
For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon RDS report
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is its real-time analytics capabilities, which allow for turnaround times in milliseconds.
Performance and security are valuable features, particularly when using Cosmos DB for MongoDB emulation and NoSQL.
The performance and scaling capabilities of Cosmos DB are excellent, allowing it to handle large workloads compared to other services such as Azure AI Search.
For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB report
Samuel Ebite - PeerSpot reviewer
BS
Karthikeyan Katkam - PeerSpot reviewerreviewer2227599 - PeerSpot reviewerChristian Gomez Rua - PeerSpot reviewerTiago Duarte - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon RDS
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
NoSQL Databases (3rd), Managed NoSQL Databases (1st), Vector Databases (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Amazon RDS is 22.2%, down from 26.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 2.8%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Samuel Ebite - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensure high availability with robust encryption and seamless backups
Amazon RDS provides data encryption using services like KMS, crucial for securing high-sensitive data and meeting compliance requirements such as HIPAA or PCI DSS. The best practices we've employed with RDS help design a well-architected framework, encompassing security, encryption, scalability with multi-availability zone deployment, and operational excellence with automated backups. RDS features, such as reserved instances, storage auto-scaling, monitoring with technologies like CloudWatch, and proxies, contribute to cost optimization. The solution enhances security with IAM authentication and offers high availability to end users.
Read full review
MichaelJohn - PeerSpot reviewer
Very efficient for application-facing scenarios
There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, having a local development emulator or simulator for Azure Cosmos DB would be beneficial. It would be very handy to have a Docker container that developers can use locally. Although, I know there is a free tier and so on and so forth, having a local environment would be nice. For example, SQL Server is very portable. You can even install it on your machine. That is the number one thing that is missing in Azure Cosmos DB. The second improvement area is the IDE of choice. That means how you interact with Azure Cosmos DB. For example, with SQL Server, you have SQL Server Management Studio. I know there is a little bit of support for Azure Cosmos DB in Azure Data Studio, but it is not heavily advertised or it does not feel like first-class citizen support. Developer experience or developer tooling is missing in terms of interacting with the database. Better developer tools or an IDE for interacting with Azure Cosmos DB would enhance the developer experience. Lastly, there is some mixed messaging about what Azure Cosmos DB is, given its multiple APIs. There are so many Azure Cosmos DB APIs available. There is NoSQL. There are MongoDB, Gremlin, and others. There is still some mixed messaging for others who are new to Azure Cosmos DB about what Azure Cosmos DB is. Is this like MongoDB, but then there is also MongoDB in Azure Cosmos DB? I know it well, and I know that the default one is just NoSQL, but others I have interacted with over the last ten years or so get confused.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
University
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Legal Firm
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon RDS?
The product's installation phase is easy.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon RDS?
The pricing for Amazon RDS is reasonable.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Amazon RDS?
User interface needs improvement for using IPS and cloud watch to scale and utilize read replicas, enabling performance insights to view query formats where the bottlenecks occur, identifying the f...
See all answers
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?
The initial setup is simple and straightforward. You can set up a Cosmos DB in a day, even configuring things like availability zones around the world.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?
The pricing for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is good, but there is a developer factor to consider. It could be economical or expensive depending on usage. Guidance about query consumption of Request U...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?
The only area Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB can improve on is its documentation; while it is solid and very useful, enhancements in the indexing documentation would help users save costs and make it mo...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 17% of the time
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Compared 14% of the time
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Compared 6% of the time
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Compared 11% of the time
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Compared 10% of the time
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Compared 6% of the time
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Amazon DynamoDB vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Logo
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Compared 6% of the time
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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Amazon RDS
August 2025
Amazon RDS reportDownload Amazon RDS product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
August 2025
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reportDownload Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB product report
 

Also Known As

RDS
Microsoft Azure DocumentDB, MS Azure Cosmos DB
 

Overview

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a web service that makes it easier to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient, resizeable capacity for an industry-standard relational database and manages common database administration tasks.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service providing scalability, user-friendliness, and seamless integration, suitable for managing large volumes of structured and unstructured data across diverse applications.

Azure Cosmos DB is renowned for its scalability, stability, and ease of integration, offering robust support for multiple data models and APIs. Its capacity for handling unstructured data efficiently and providing real-time analytics makes it ideal for applications requiring high performance and global distribution. With features like automatic failover and integration with Microsoft products, users benefit from cost optimization and secure data handling. Enhancement opportunities include simplifying queries, improving documentation, and expanding backup and analytics functionalities.

What are the most important features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?
  • Scalability and Autoscaling: Efficiently handles growing data and user demands.
  • Multi-Model Support: Adapts to different data models seamlessly.
  • Global Distribution: Provides low-latency access across multiple regions.
  • Automatic Failover: Ensures high availability and reliability.
  • Integration with Microsoft Products: Offers seamless connectivity with Azure services.
What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews?
  • Performance and Speed: Exceptionally fast processing for real-time data analytics.
  • Cost Optimization: Tools for managing expenses effectively.
  • Secure Data Handling: Implements strong data security measures.
  • Flexible Data Ingestion: Supports diverse data ingestion methods.

Azure Cosmos DB is frequently used in sectors like web, mobile, IoT, and analytics. It supports applications as a key-value store, processes real-time data, and enables global scalability with low-latency access. Its big data management capabilities and integration with Azure services enhance its utility across industries.

Microsoft
 

Sample Customers

Edmodo
TomTom, KPMG Australia, Bosch, ASOS, Mercedes Benz, NBA, Zero Friction, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Kinectify
Buyer's Guide
Amazon RDS vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
July 2025
Free Report: Amazon RDS vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB
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