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Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

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
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (19th), Database Management Systems (DBMS) (9th)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
134
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud SQL is 7.8%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 10.7%, down from 16.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database10.7%
Google Cloud SQL7.8%
Other81.5%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

VD
Database Engineer at Springer Nature
Migration to cloud eases management but needs better support for high I/O operations
Google Cloud SQL needs to improve its support for high-end I/O operations. On-prem systems with high I/O capabilities perform better, as Google Cloud SQL takes more time to handle the same tasks. There is also difficulty in changing the time zone after the database is set up. Moreover, some features available in MSSQL on-prem are missing on Google Cloud SQL, affecting migration potential.
Thomas Sawyer - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive Director, Platform Architecture at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group
Automatic tuning and multi-region availability have reduced manual workloads and improved performance management
The features of Microsoft Azure SQL Database that I like the most are easy scaling and high availability. I appreciate those features because it's easy to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database readily available in a multi-region infrastructure. Using Microsoft Azure SQL Database is very easy; it's much easier than SQL on-premise because I don't have to worry about deploying infrastructure, and I can rapidly deploy via infrastructure as code. I am using the automatic tuning feature in Microsoft Azure SQL Database. We are using the new feature of data encryption in Microsoft Azure SQL Database with customer-managed keys only. The reliability and stability of Microsoft Azure SQL Database platform are rock-solid; it's as good, if not better, than what our on-premise stability has been from an uptime perspective.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It supports different databases, like Postgres and MySQL."
"Ease of management and the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL."
"The deployment model allows for significant control and flexibility."
"I found its storage and security to be the most valuable. It was a good experience. It is also very stable and scalable, and its support is perfect."
"What I like the most about Google Cloud SQL is that it handles the management, which allows us to concentrate on our applications."
"The implementation part of the product was easy."
"The valuable feature of Google Cloud SQL is its high availability option. The product is stable."
"The product is scalable."
"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database has helped us tremendously with regards to cost and scaling, and it is just really easy to use and really easy with permissions as well through Entra ID."
"The Microsoft Azure SQL Database performs effectively, and if money is not a problem, you can scale; it can grow, and with a click of a button, you can add more memory and more CPU."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database supplies reliability and efficiency with its infrastructure, which is very beneficial to our organization."
"The stability is good and the performance is fantastic. Even when we try to do an inquiry into issues we can do it easily."
"The solution is quite straightforward to set up."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database has significantly reduced our total cost of ownership by eliminating the need for a dedicated environment to host SQL."
"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database nine out of 10."
 

Cons

"They could improve documentation and dashboard stability for efficient user experience and database management."
"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."
"Sometimes the sharing with third parties or configuring that in Google Cloud SQL is not the most intuitive."
"In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users."
"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."
"I am yet to explore a lot of features that are present in this solution. However, it would be good if more documentation is available for this solution. This would help us in preparing for the certification exam and understand it better. Currently, we don't have much documentation. We do the labs for 20 or 25 minutes, but we can't capture and download anything."
"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."
"For data analysis, the AI area of the product has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"Its automation can be improved. SQL Server Agent was a very big part of the on-prem tools. While moving from on-prem to the cloud, redoing some of such tools was very cumbersome in Azure. There was a whole new set of technologies and methodologies. It should have easier automation-type features to be able to implement such tools. It should have almost a SQL agent type of substance built into that."
"The problem is the automated configuration."
"The benefits I have realized from using Microsoft Azure SQL Database are currently limited since we've only done it in test and dev environments right now, and we haven't moved to production, so we haven't realized the full gain just yet."
"There are some limitations for cross-database queries and features. The migration of data from older systems should be easier. For deployment, there are too many options, which sometimes makes it difficult to figure out the best option. There is not enough information to help you to find the best option for deployment. There should be more documentation about this."
"Some more documentation and suggestions for network policies could be helpful."
"The initial setup is complex."
"I think that the cost management in SQL is not clear because we may use some tax to identify products, but in some cases identifying the transactions in SQL is not easy for some financial cost centers."
"The solution has to scale up its expertise for hosting Oracle."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side."
"While the platform’s pricing may be higher, it aligns with industry standards, considering the quality of service and features provided."
"It's really cheap. It wouldn't be more than, I believe it's around 50 euro per month for running a cloud SQL."
"You need to pay extra costs for backup and replication."
"The solution is affordable."
"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."
"You can use it for smaller instances and pay less. You can also go for the premium product with all the security, scalability, and business continuity features, but you have to pay a premium amount."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The cost is around $2,000 per month."
"The license is based on the number of users."
"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."
"I believe the licensing is more on a global scale."
"It's reasonably priced and when you compare it with other products in the cloud environment, it's cheaper."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Educational Organization
9%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business59
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise61
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Cloud SQL?
The implementation part of the product was easy.
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.
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...
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 cloud.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
I would say I am at a basic experience level with the pricing, setup costs and licensing because while I am the administrator for the service, I do not provision the services and worry about the co...
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
I have no comments at the moment on how Microsoft Azure SQL Database can be improved. I have no comments on additional features that I would like to see released in the next release. I do not have ...
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud SQL vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,360 professionals have used our research since 2012.