Citus Data vs SQL Server comparison

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1,846 views|1,494 comparisons
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33,485 views|25,100 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Citus Data and SQL Server based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Relational Databases Tools solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Citus Data vs. SQL Server Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It's very straightforward to implement the solution. It took us two days to set up everything.""Its distributed processing capabilities are a standout feature. It requires minimal changes to get up and running if you already have a system on PostgreSQL. Citus can run in its natural state.""You can use Citus Data to write complex scripts. I like its version upgrades and disaster recovery as well."

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"The most valuable feature is easy installation. It was very easy to install.""Stability is one of the most valuable features.""I would say that it is a stable product.""It is easy to use and easy to perform a backup.""One of the most valuable features of SQL Server is that it's easy to use.""The most valuable features of SQL Server are the speed, great support, and it is from a known vendor.""The ease of administration, in general, is the solution's most valuable aspect.""I like that it's a cloud solution, is simple to set up, and is simple to use."

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Cons
"Citus Data needs to improve its stability. Do not consider this product if you have the budget. It is still developing and has a lot of issues.""There are many areas of improvement , especially in terms of DDL query routing. Even though it's masterless, DDL queries need to be sent to the coordinator node. Also, setting up a multi-node environment could be more straightforward.""More features in monitoring and the reporting could make it better."

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"SQL Server could integrate better with other platforms.""Microsoft support is an issue unto itself.""They have too many licensing options. They may want to simplify its licensing and bring it down to two, three, or four categories from ten to fifteen categories. Having so many different licensing options makes it difficult to decide which one to choose from. They can club things together. This is an area where they can make things easier for customers.""They can build more performance-tuning tools in it. They can also make the stuff a little more user-friendly and provide the ability to schedule jobs. They can perhaps also streamline it a little bit so that it is not so resource-intensive, which would be helpful. SQL Server has a tendency to consume all the memory you allow it to. If you are not careful, you can basically break your server. I would like to see it having a smaller footprint in terms of system resource consumption. They might want to consider re-evaluating their pricing. It is expensive.""The treatment of database storage could be improved.""Debugging from the debugger tool functionality should be enhanced.""Something that could be improved is the cost because it's very high. That's the only thing I'm concerned about but the technology is good.""The licensing is pretty expensive."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Citus Data is an open-source product."
  • More Citus Data Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The free version is cumbersome to use and maintain. But $5000 for a licence is more expense than the benefit I would get from a licensed version. A licence might be worth the price to simplify management and speed up searches."
  • "​We are a Microsoft shop, so we use Active Directory. That integrates well with this product, but we did look at Oracle. We also looked at IBM. This was the best price point for us for what we were getting.​"
  • "​It has the easiest licensing."
  • "This is a downside of enterprise Microsoft products."
  • "Currently, almost all of my machines are in Azure and I think it is the best way of licensing now (VM+software)."
  • "The price has been going higher and higher. The market is quite price sensitive."
  • "My advice is quite straightforward. If you know the number of users who really and truly need access to the Server then it is a no-brainer. If you do not know, then get the basic package and minimum licenses and start from there. Needless to say, users can develop/use data structures outside and then deploy onto the Server."
  • "The setup cost is high, but it will return every penny."
  • More SQL Server Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:You can use Citus Data to write complex scripts. I like its version upgrades and disaster recovery as well.
    Top Answer:Citus Data needs to improve its stability. Do not consider this product if you have the budget. It is still developing and has a lot of issues.
    Top Answer: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 prices… more »
    Top Answer: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 high… more »
    Top Answer: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… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    1,846
    Comparisons
    1,494
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    399
    Rating
    7.5
    Views
    33,485
    Comparisons
    25,100
    Reviews
    26
    Average Words per Review
    361
    Rating
    8.6
    Comparisons
    CockroachDB logo
    Compared 35% of the time.
    YugabyteDB logo
    Compared 33% of the time.
    Amazon Aurora logo
    Compared 11% of the time.
    MySQL logo
    Compared 5% of the time.
    SingleStore logo
    Compared 3% of the time.
    MariaDB logo
    Compared 19% of the time.
    SAP HANA logo
    Compared 14% of the time.
    Oracle Database logo
    Compared 13% of the time.
    IBM Db2 Database logo
    Compared 9% of the time.
    LocalDB logo
    Compared 9% of the time.
    Also Known As
    Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
    Learn More
    Overview

    Citus is a distributed database that extends PostgreSQL, allowing you to continue using all the powerful Postgres features while still scaling.

    Whether you're running into a ceiling on a single node, or need more performance for real-time analytical queries Citus can help.

    SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) by Microsoft. The product's main purposes are to store data and retrieve it as requested by other software applications - on the same computer or on another computer across a shared network. The solution is built on top of Structured Query Language (SQL), which is a standardized programming language used for relational database management.

    The product is tied to Transact-SQL (T-SQL), which is an implementation of SQL from Microsoft that adds several proprietary programming extensions to the standard language. SQL Server is built similarly to other RDBMS products, as its structure is a row-based table that connects related data elements in different tables to one another. One of its most important components is the SQL Server Database Engine, as it controls data processing, storage, and security. Beneath the Database Engine is the SQL Server Operating System, which is used for memory and I/O management, locking data to avoid unneeded upgrades, and job scheduling.

    The solution has four editions with different sets of services and tools. They include:

    • SQL Server Developer
    • SQL Server Expression
    • SQL Server Standard 
    • SQL Server Enterprise

    The first two are available for free and are typically utilized by smaller companies, as they work with fewer functions and storage. The second two editions are generally used by bigger organizations and enterprises and offer more features.

    The solution has several functions through which users can facilitate different data-related processes. These include:

    • Aggregate functions: These functions are used to calculate one or more values and return a single value.

    • Window functions: Window functions calculate an aggregate value based on a group of rows and return multiple rows for each involved group.

    • Date functions: These functions allow clients to handle data and time data efficiently.

    • String functions: Through the string functions, SQL Server processes an input string and returns a string or numeric value.

    • System functions: The system functions of the product return objects, values, and settings.

    SQL Server Services

    SQL Server has a wide range of add-on services that provide additional benefits beyond database management. These services include:

    • Machine learning: SQL Server machine learning services allow users to do machine learning and data analytics within the product.
       
    • Service broker: This feature is a part of the database engine and offers messaging and message queuing for applications on the platform.

    • Replication: This feature consists of transaction replication, merge replication, and snapshot replication. 

    • Analysis: SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) adds online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining capabilities to SQL Server databases.

    • Reporting: This feature supports the development of custom reporting applications.

    • Notifications: This feature generates data-driven notifications which are sent to subscribers of Notification Services.

    • Integration: This SQL Server feature provides capabilities for data integration, data import, and data warehousing.

    • Full-text search: Through this feature, users can utilize specialized indexing and query for unstructured text stored in the solution.

    • Visual studio: This feature supports data programming with SQL Server.

    • Azure Data Studio: This is a cross-platform query editor that can be downloaded and used alongside SQL Server.

    SQL Server Benefits

    The solution has many benefits for users. These include the following:

    • The platform ensures a consistent experience across other platforms while being fast and agile.

    • Through the built-in intelligence features, users can understand their data better.

    • The solution has enterprise-level security, which ensures the smooth and safe performance of users' data.

    • SQL Server offers the ability to retrieve large amounts of data quickly and efficiently.

    • The product installation process is fairly easy, and it offers a user-friendly interface.

    • SQL Server offers improved data storage and retrieval functions through frequent upgrades.

    • The solution reduces the risk of database server attacks, since it is not an open-source database.

    Reviews from Real Users

    A president at a consultancy evaluates SQL Server as a veteran solution with critical log shipping feature

    Harkamal S., a user at a manufacturing company, rates SQL Server with a high mark because it is a stable, scalable, and easy-to-deploy solution that pretty much covers everything.

    Sample Customers
    Cloud Flare, Agari, Mix Rank, Heap
    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.
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Comms Service Provider14%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Comms Service Provider5%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization42%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Computer Software Company8%
    Manufacturing Company5%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise60%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business41%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business13%
    Midsize Enterprise48%
    Large Enterprise39%
    Buyer's Guide
    Citus Data vs. SQL Server
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Citus Data vs. SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Citus Data is ranked 18th in Relational Databases Tools with 3 reviews while SQL Server is ranked 1st in Relational Databases Tools with 245 reviews. Citus Data is rated 8.0, while SQL Server is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Citus Data writes "Efficiently handles high-traffic scenarios and compatible with PostgreSQL extensions, offering flexibility in database management". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SQL Server writes "A stable, scalable, and easy-to-deploy solution that pretty much covers everything". Citus Data is most compared with CockroachDB, YugabyteDB, Amazon Aurora, MySQL and SingleStore, whereas SQL Server is most compared with MariaDB, SAP HANA, Oracle Database, IBM Db2 Database and LocalDB. See our Citus Data vs. SQL Server report.

    See our list of best Relational Databases Tools vendors.

    We monitor all Relational Databases Tools reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.