Google Cloud SQL vs LocalDB comparison

Google and Microsoft are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Additionally, 100% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Google Cloud SQL

Read 23 Google Cloud SQL reviews

100% willing to recommend

LocalDB

Read 6 LocalDB reviews

1,133 Views
1,133 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Google Cloud SQL

LocalDB

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Google Cloud SQL and LocalDB based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and others in Relational Databases Tools.

To learn more, read our detailed Relational Databases Tools Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Relational Databases Tools

November 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 879,310 peers since 2012

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

Google Cloud SQL

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database as a Service (DBaaS) (6th), Database Management Systems (DBMS) (9th)

LocalDB

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (15th)

Featured Reviews

Prathap Sankar

Analytics Delivery Manager at Tredence Inc.

Gain control and flexibility with customizable tools but has slower performance

I am majorly working in Google Cloud SQL for building my applications Google Cloud SQL provides complete customization options, along with a dashboarding tool and a comprehensive suite of tools that can be used to customize and build any application needed. The deployment model allows for…

Read full review

Srini-Dhanaraj

Founder & CEO at imfine.club

The database always has structured data, like rows, columns, and bases

LocalDB is an excellent solution for learners, beginners, and projects of negligible size; it is very good. Any startup can use a local database to start. Once they grow beyond its limits, they can migrate to a MS SQL server that's also available on-premises. I rate it ten out of ten.

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

"Google Cloud SQL is easy to start with and allows me to scale as needed, which is advantageous from a developer perspective."

"The most valuable features are that it's easy to use, simple, and user-friendly."

"The most valuable feature for us is the Postgres on Google Cloud SQL since it supports most of the features we need."

"The valuable feature of Google Cloud SQL is its high availability option. The product is stable."

"The product is scalable."

"It's SQL. SQL is so easy if you know something about databases. It's easy to learn."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"It is not the cool features that I find valuable, it is the stability of Google Cloud Platform."

More Google Cloud SQL pros

"The most valuable feature of LocalDBis the connection between the application and DB."

"LocalDB is an excellent solution for learners, beginners, and projects of negligible size; it is very good."

"The initial setup was simple."

"The initial setup is very straightforward. The guidelines are very easy to follow. Maintenance is very easy and requires very little manpower."

"The solution is fast."

Cons

"The product's user interface could be more user-friendly to improve the overall user experience."

"The most vulnerable problem with Google SQL is that while you can customize your access control list, it provides you with a public IP address."

"It is hard to do logging with the solution."

"The most challenging part is dealing with legacy data from your old systems and migrating it into the new setup, but once you've completed the data migration, it becomes quite convenient to use."

"Google Cloud SQL still needs better connectivity to outside, existing data sources."

"The only thing that could be better is the pricing."

"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."

"The monitoring part could be better."

More Google Cloud SQL cons

"The internal connection features of LocalDB could improve."

"It is only for a small amount of data. Local DB is made for the purpose of small-volume optics."

"The ALM features can be improved, but the database by itself is reliable."

"The initial setup is complex and requires a skilled person."

"The solution needs to create a management tool. Right now, the solution has tools for creating a local installation, but it's too simplistic. We need something that's a bit more complex so that we can extend the tools with our scripts."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side."

"You need to pay extra costs for backup and replication."

"The pricing is very much an important factor as to why we use this solution."

"While the platform’s pricing may be higher, it aligns with industry standards, considering the quality of service and features provided."

"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."

"It is not expensive, especially considering the significant reduction in database management time."

"The fees are fair."

"The licensing cost is too high for LocalDB."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Relational Databases Tools solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Educational Organization

University

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	9

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Cloud SQL?

The implementation part of the product was easy.

See all answers

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, so it is pretty good overall for maintaining our database security.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Cloud SQL?

Sometimes the sharing with third parties or configuring that in Google Cloud SQL is not the most intuitive. From a user perspective, if Google Cloud SQL integrated AI directly into the query so tha...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for LocalDB?

It's free of cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with LocalDB?

Technically speaking, you don't need to get any updates because it's not online. It's on-premise. So once it is installed, then you get a desktop-grade version. But the purpose of LocalDB is not th...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for LocalDB?

There were multiple systems, some planned, like the mainframe, the gold database, a website, and a manual Excel spreadsheet. These were the various data sources, and we wanted to bring everything i...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 32% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 29% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 16% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 6% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 5% of the time

More Google Cloud SQL Competitors

SQL Server vs LocalDB

Compared 61% of the time

MySQL vs LocalDB

Compared 19% of the time

Oracle Database vs LocalDB

Compared 10% of the time

MariaDB vs LocalDB

Compared 10% of the time

More LocalDB Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Cloud SQL

December 2025

Download Google Cloud SQL product report

Buyer's Guide

Relational Databases Tools

November 2025

Download LocalDB product report

Overview

Google Cloud SQL is a fully-managed database service that makes it easy to set up, maintain, manage, and administer your relational PostgreSQL and MySQL databases in the cloud. Google Cloud SQL offers high performance, scalability, and convenience. Hosted on Google Cloud Platform, Cloud SQL provides a database infrastructure for applications running anywhere.

Google

LocalDB is a lightweight version of the SQL Server Express Database Engine that is targeted for program development. LocalDB starts on demand and runs in user mode, so there is no complex configuration.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

BeDataDriven, CodeFutures, Daffodil, GenieConnect, KiSSFLOW, LiveHive, SulAm_rica, Zync

AstraZeneca, Kienzle Automotive GmbH, Kodak Alaris, Unilever, Floatel International and Kongsberg Maritime, MyHero

Buyer's Guide

Relational Databases Tools

November 2025

Download Free Report

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and others in Relational Databases Tools. Updated: November 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.

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.