Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Database as a Service comparison

Google and Microsoft are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Google is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.9, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6. Google holds a 10.7% mindshare in DS, compared to Microsoft’s 13.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Google Cloud SQL

Read 22 Google Cloud SQL reviews

2,081 Views
2,081 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Read 118 Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews

3,076 Views
3,045 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Oracle Database as a Service

Read 68 Oracle Database as a Service reviews

1,516 Views
1,455 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Google Cloud SQL

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Oracle Database as a Service

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Google Cloud SQL, Microsoft Azure SQL Database, and Oracle Database as a Service based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, MongoDB and others in Database as a Service (DBaaS).

To learn more, read our detailed Database as a Service (DBaaS) Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

September 2025

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Helped 868,759 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:

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud SQL is 10.7%, down from 17.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 13.0%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database as a Service is 7.8%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database	13.0%
Oracle Database as a Service	7.8%
Google Cloud SQL	10.7%
Other	68.5%

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

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…

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Charley Hanania

Data Platform Specialist at QS2 AG - Quality Software Solutions

It is very easy to implement, manage, and offers great insights into what is happening inside the engine

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is integrated into other Azure capabilities and has a great foundation being on SQL Server with a long history of security, performance, and usability from a DBA perspective. Once you've set up a server, adding databases is easy. There's a minor challenge with having data in separate databases that you want to connect like we do on premises. I'm looking forward to using some of these new AI-driven functions that have come out around vectorization. Having the data closer to my transactional databases or data makes it easy to augment and enhance the Database and applications I currently use. It's great that Azure SQL now seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Fabric. It's a first-tier service in the cloud that connects to web applications and other databases. The data transformation orchestration capabilities within Database Factory and similar capabilities make it effortless to move that stuff forward.

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Duy AnhMai

Product Owner at Heineken

Offers security and good performance

Price-wise, the tool is expensive, and I feel it is an area where improvements are needed. Oracle Database as a Service is not as popular as other tools because we use AWS and GCP. Oracle is okay in terms of performance for banking businesses and some big companies. As I use the tool in Heineken, I know Oracle is an okay security solution. We use and deploy some applications and features from Oracle that are better than what others offer. The data in the tool is actually stored in the production part, so it is always kept a secret. I don't think that AI has been integrated into the tool. The AI used by Oracle is not as strong as that used by AWS. I recommend the tool to others, especially banking, finance, and insurance companies where the security needs to be better. There is maintenance for the tool required, but I don't know which company does it for our organization. I rate the tool a 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 enhances our AI-driven projects by providing features like query optimization and scalability for efficiently processing large datasets."

"From a database management perspective, it provides services without the need for me to worry about backups, scaling, or other operational issues."

"It directly provides robust data safety. It also offers various other storage options, such as Google Cloud Storage. These services ensure data security and redundancy. Furthermore, it includes different storage classes, allowing flexible data management tailored to specific needs."

"My suggestion to anyone thinking about this solution is to jump into it head-first!"

"This is a stable solution and offers good performance."

"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 and it's the same as if asked to do a lot of infrastructure changes."

"The deployment model allows for significant control and flexibility."

"Ease of management and the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL."

More Google Cloud SQL pros

"I prefer using Microsoft SQL Server because I like the experience and the way Microsoft handles the query tuning and security."

"This solution provides more comfort to the end-user compared to a normal SQL server."

"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database nine out of 10."

"The automated scalability feature of SQL Azure has proven to be highly beneficial, particularly when deployed in the cloud."

"Azure SQL Database is very quick and easy to use."

"The Power Virtual Agents help us go through documents and load data into SQL."

"Coding does not require much effort."

"The most valuable feature of SQL Azure is the user-friendly VMs."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

"The most valuable features of Oracle Database as a Service are the ease of use. We can use a simple syntax to get data and we can easily go to procedures to see data other than using a query."

"Oracle is the best database in the world."

"Oracle Database as a Service is a scalable and robust solution."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"The most valuable features of Oracle Database as a Service are configuration and troubleshooting."

"The most valuable Oracle Database as a Service is security."

"The most valuable features of Oracle Database as a Service are the power, security, and performance."

"I like the tool’s database services. I like the system’s performance, replication, active data, etc. which are all good."

More Oracle Database as a Service pros

Cons

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

"I would appreciate more flexibility with specific extensions applicable to engines like PostgreSQL. This would enhance the capabilities of Google Cloud SQL."

"For data analysis, the AI area of the product has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

"I would like to see better availability of the product in different regions. It should also improve the security with encryption."

"The performance compared to AWS is not as fast, and the technical support could be better as they don't have a dedicated team, but mostly AI handles the support now."

"The customer support should be improved."

"The overall documentation and the connectors need improvement."

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

More Google Cloud SQL cons

"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap."

"Azure SQL can improve by adding more machine learning features like other databases, such as Cassandra or Cosmos DB."

"Lack of flexibility for developers in terms of performance assistance."

"There could be more collaboration with other tools like Data Factory and Databricks."

"The customer support is hard to reach, with Microsoft’s technical support being difficult to get in touch with."

"I want the pricing to be improved."

"The preset configuration switches we can select on SQL Azure should be made more liberal to work on."

"One of the nice features in Microsoft SQL Server is the SQL Server CLR, which we sometimes need to use to protect our procedures using C# or CLR. This is not available in the SQL Azure database."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"They should add more integration to the solution."

"The tool needs to improve its pricing and stability."

"The product is very expensive."

"Earlier, the interface was continuously changing. Features you used would be moved somewhere else, so it was a little challenging to navigate, but now I think it's stable."

"The installation process requires improvement as it can be quite complex."

"It would be better if we could have a little bit of automation or a chance for autoscaling with Oracle Database as a Service."

"Some of the technical features could be improved. They have a problem with some of the object types. I think this is one of the issues which is needed to be improved."

"The price of Oracle Database as a Service could be better."

More Oracle Database as a Service cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 solution is affordable."

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

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

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

"When looking at the long-term expenses associated with running software on an on-premises server, the costs are almost equivalent but when we include insurance for devices, onsite fees for servers, and other related costs, we may find that this is a cost-effective solution."

"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."

"Its price can definitely be lower. It is pretty pricey."

"It is beneficial in terms of cost because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing."

"I would like it to be cheaper, but comparatively, it is reasonably priced."

"It is quite expensive. I would definitely recommend not using the pay-as-you-go model because this will just mean all your money will go to Microsoft. So, really make sure to control resource usage as much as possible."

"If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive."

"We have the licensing fee, and we are also paying a third party to maintain it with an SLA. There is no infrastructure cost, but its running costs are higher than expected. There is the cost of the Azure cloud, which is pricier than expected, but it is not specific to SQL Azure. It is specific to the cloud. You expect it to be cheaper, but it is more expensive to run it."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

"The price depends on the solution you choose: standard, enterprise, or high performance. For example, enterprise can start between 0.4 an hour up to 1,800. Additional fees also depends on what package you choose. Your feels will be different if you choose the standard, enterprise, high performance, or extreme package. You will pay in relation to what option you ask for. The price is very good if you compare it to other databases."

"The pricing may seem expensive, but the value corresponds to the quality of the product."

"The licensing is a nightmare. Tons of options which need to be licensed individually, and no real offering for VMware or other Hypervisors."

"If your organization is not making that much money, then I don't think you should use the enterprise or any other expensive versions of the solution. I recommend the tool for bigger companies."

"The solution is on the expensive side, but I recommend it because it's a good database."

"The solution is quite expensive but worth the money."

"The price of Oracle Database as a Service is expensive."

"Pricing for Oracle Database as a Service is expensive."

More Oracle Database as a Service pricing and cost advice

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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database as a Service (DBaaS) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

11%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	9

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	55
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	50

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	31

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?

The cost is expensive, especially for services like BigQuery, which charge based on query operations. We pay as we us...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Cloud SQL?

Google Cloud SQL needs to improve its support for high-end I/O operations. On-prem systems with high I/O capabilities...

See all answers

What do you like most about SQL Azure?

The automated scalability feature of SQL Azure has proven to be highly beneficial, particularly when deployed in the ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?

The pricing of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap, affecting user uptake. A gradual reduction in price could i...

See all answers

What needs improvement with SQL Azure?

I have used the Microsoft Azure SQL Database for two years now, and I don't find it satisfactory. It's slow and expen...

See all answers

What do you like most about Oracle Database as a Service?

It has significantly enhanced our application development process by introducing substantial time savings and streaml...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database as a Service?

The setup cost is approximately four hours.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Oracle Database as a Service?

With the advent of generative AI, adding functionality where current administrative activities could be automated wou...

See all answers

Comparisons

Amazon RDS vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 36% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 17% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 5% of the time

IBM Db2 on Cloud vs Google Cloud SQL

Compared 3% of the time

More Google Cloud SQL Competitors

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 19% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 17% of the time

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 7% of the time

Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 7% of the time

vCloud Air vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

Amazon RDS vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 42% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 12% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 10% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 8% of the time

More Oracle Database as a Service Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Cloud SQL

September 2025

Download Google Cloud SQL product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

September 2025

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Database as a Service

September 2025

Download Oracle Database as a Service product report

Also Known As

No data available

Oracle DBaaS, Oracle Database Cloud

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

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a relational database-as-a-service that delivers predictable performance, scalability, business continuity, data protection, and near-zero administration to cloud developers and solution architects. This is the deep technical library for Azure SQL Database.

Microsoft

Oracle Database Cloud Service combines the power of Oracle Database, with the unique capabilities of the Oracle Cloud. The service provides a secure, automated data management platform that leverages on demand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services via a simple web based user interface and RESTful API. Oracle Database Cloud Service provides elastic database services for development, test, and production environments of custom and packaged online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing, and mixed workload applications. It enables businesses to reap all Oracle Platform as a Service (PaaS) benefits including subscriptionbased, self-service access to reliable, scalable, and elastic cloud environments and accelerates time to value by simplifying the provisioning and administration of Oracle databases.

Oracle

Sample Customers

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

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH

Solution-Soft, DX Marketing, Suredell and Partners, Frontiers, SettleOurEstate.com, Demand Analysis Ltd, endlich IT & Projekt Service OHG

Buyer's Guide

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

September 2025

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