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 #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while Microsoft is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.2. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 24.7% mindshare in DS, compared to Microsoft’s 1.6% 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 54 Amazon RDS reviews

5,264 Views
4,374 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Read 89 Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews

224 Views
82 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Amazon RDS

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Amazon RDS and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB provide cloud database solutions with unique advantages. Azure Cosmos DB stands out for its global distribution and flexibility, making it a suitable choice for modern applications with diverse requirements.

Features: Amazon RDS supports multiple database engines including Aurora and MySQL, offering features like deployment agility and automated maintenance. It ensures high availability with a multi-availability zone feature. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB excels in global distribution, multi-model NoSQL capabilities, and supports APIs such as SQL and MongoDB. It offers robust data models like key-value, graph, and document, enhancing its flexibility for various applications.

Room for Improvement: Amazon RDS is limited by a lack of shell access, making feature accessibility challenging for non-enterprise users. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB faces high costs and pricing complexity, which could deter users. It also needs improvements in query functionalities and cross-container data handling for enhanced enterprise usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Amazon RDS is primarily deployed in public cloud environments, and its customer service quality can vary based on service level. Azure Cosmos DB offers similar flexibility but might face inconsistent support. Both have comprehensive documentation, though timely support can sometimes be an issue.

Pricing and ROI: Amazon RDS offers competitive pay-as-you-go pricing with effective scaling, often ensuring a quick ROI. Azure Cosmos DB's costs are linked to resource consumption, but its high usage costs can impact ROI, despite offering value with extensive features.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon RDS vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

April 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:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon RDS

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

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

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

NoSQL Databases (3rd), Managed NoSQL Databases (1st), Vector Databases (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Amazon RDS is 24.7%, down from 27.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 1.6%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

Samuel Ebite

AICE Graduate at alx_africa

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

Director | Data & AI at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Amazon RDS is lightweight and flexible."

"Relational databases excel in extensive normalization, eliminating data redundancy and efficiently structuring tables which leads to a clear and efficient relationship between tables using primary keys."

"The tool is very easy to use and configure."

"The scalability is the best, and I have no issues with the ability to scale."

"For me, RDS is a great solution. I like that Amazon RDS is a very simple solution to implement and to start using."

"Amazon RDS handles database backup mechanisms and patch management."

"The solution is scalable and can be configured with AWS Secrets Manager."

"It handles large-scale data migrations perfectly. Amazon RDS's performance is quite good. Charges are incurred after you utilize the service"

More Amazon RDS pros

"The product has a lot of useful features that are there and ready to use, it's also very easy to use."

"The best feature is the velocity to make a query."

"The latency and availability of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB are fantastic."

"Cosmos DB is effective at handling large queries."

"I would rate Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB a ten out of ten."

"Azure Cosmos DB offers numerous data connectors that provide a platform for seamless integration with various platforms and visualization tools such as Power BI. It allows connection via multiple data connectors to integrate data in any desired format."

"It is non-SQL and helps to manage and manipulate data from the coding, rather than direct data and complex queries."

"It is a scalable product."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pros

Cons

"With my limited experience, I have noticed that documentation management could be improved. It could be better."

"When you are using it for the first time, it is a little bit hard to configure. The first-time configuration is not very easy. It should be easier to configure. Its installation should also be simpler. Currently, its installation is very complex. With SQL Server, we have access to the SQL Server analysis services and reporting services, but such services are not available with Amazon RDS."

"Currently, speaking of Microsoft SQL on RDS, you don't have a full option to be able to use it directly on RDS. So, it needs improvement."

"As a customer of Amazon RDS, you don't have super-user privileges, and that is the only drawback where improvements are required."

"They could provide better integration for the solution with Microsoft products."

"Amazon RDS should have a more user-friendly graphical user interface and include better database management options."

"In the next release, it would be great to see RDS provide connection pooling out of the box."

"For improvements, Amazon RDS could work on more features for multi-availability zone deployment to enhance higher availability, and on simplifying migration for those transitioning from on-premises to cloud environments."

More Amazon RDS cons

"The solution’s pricing could be improved."

"Azure Cosmos DB for NoSQL has a less developed interface and fewer SQL commands than MongoDB, and its community support is also smaller."

"I do not have any specific suggestions for improvements at the moment. However, having more AI capabilities in the future would be beneficial."

"The support tickets are not cheap."

"There are no particular factors that need improvement. There is a little bit of a learning curve with scaling workloads, but it works smoothly."

"We encountered an issue with Cosmos DB's recently introduced hierarchical partition feature."

"One area for improvement is the ease of writing SQL queries and stored procedures in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB."

"The query searching functionality has some complexities and could be more user-friendly."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."

"The solution's pricing needs improvement."

"Amazon RDS is less expensive than other solutions."

"It is less expensive than SQL Server. We pay based on the usage on a monthly basis."

"The product is expensive."

"if you don't know how to optimize and use your tool properly, the cost might hurt you."

"Amazon RDS could improve by reducing the price."

"The substantial initial credit and cost-effectiveness make Amazon an attractive option."

More Amazon RDS pricing and cost advice

"Its cost is transparent. Pricing depends on the transaction and data size, but overall, it is cheaper compared to hosting it on your corporate network due to other factors like power consumption."

"Its pricing is not bad. It is good."

"It is cost-effective. They offer two pricing models. One is the serverless model and the other one is the vCore model that allows provisioning the resources as necessary. For our pilot projects, we can utilize the serverless model, monitor the usage, and adjust resources as needed."

"The cost is the biggest limitation of this solution."

"Everything could always be cheaper. I like that Cosmos DB allows us to auto-scale instead of pre-provisioning a certain capacity. It automatically scales to the demand, so we only pay for what we consume."

"Pricing, at times, is not super clear because they use the request unit (RU) model. To manage not just Azure Cosmos DB but what you are receiving for the dollars paid is not easy. It is very abstract. They could do a better job of connecting Azure Cosmos DB with the value or some variation of that."

"Cosmos DB's pricing structure has significantly improved in recent months, both in terms of its pricing model and how charges are calculated."

"The customer had a high budget, but it turned out to be a little bit cheaper than what they expected. I am not sure how much they have spent so far, but they are satisfied with the pricing."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

University

Manufacturing Company

Legal Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

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?

One key improvement would be adding support for multi-storage paradigms, including columnar support, as seen in TiDB. The serverless support with Aurora could also be enhanced. Additionally, having...

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?

Its cost is transparent. Pricing depends on the transaction and data size, but overall, it is cheaper compared to hosting it on your corporate network due to other factors like power consumption. C...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

I had a challenging experience implementing the emulator with a Mac. I had to install the emulator in a Docker container because it is not natively compatible. A significant amount of time was spen...

See all answers

Comparisons

MongoDB Atlas vs Amazon RDS

Compared 27% of the time

Google Cloud SQL vs Amazon RDS

Compared 21% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Amazon RDS

Compared 18% of the time

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Amazon RDS

Compared 16% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Amazon RDS

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon RDS Competitors

Chroma vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 15% of the time

Pinecone vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon Neptune vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon DynamoDB vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 6% of the time

Neo4j Graph Database vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon RDS

April 2025

Download Amazon RDS product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

April 2025

Download 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

April 2025

Free Report: Amazon RDS vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

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