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Google Cloud SQL vs SQL Server comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Relational Databases Tools
17th
Ranking in Database Management Systems (DBMS)
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Database as a Service (DBaaS) (7th)
SQL Server
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
1st
Ranking in Database Management Systems (DBMS)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
275
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Google Cloud SQL is 1.3%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 10.3%, down from 15.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SQL Server10.3%
Google Cloud SQL1.3%
Other88.4%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

RituRaj - PeerSpot reviewer
SDE 2 at Virtusa
Drag and drop workflows have simplified data mapping and currently improve my cloud database work
The IPaaS Connector, which I have found most valuable, is part of Google Cloud SQL. Google Cloud's user interface is really good, which improves efficiency in my database operations. The UI is excellent, making it easier to understand what we are doing. Currently, I am working on IPaaS Connector, so it is really just a clickable interface without writing any code. I simply use drag and drop and connecting lines, and it is working. Google Cloud SQL's global infrastructure improves our database's latency metrics because we are using Gemini in our project. Since both are products of Google, it makes our product faster.
Peter Larsson - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Warehouse Lead at Resurs Bank AB (publ.)
Ledger and seamless integrations have strengthened trusted analytics and unified workloads
SQL Server's high availability and disaster recovery features work for supporting mission-critical applications, but there is much more to wish for. These features are not quite ready yet, although they do function. However, they could be significantly better. High availability and disaster recovery features should be improved in the next releases. I have noticed that everything could be improved or enhanced in the future, particularly temporal tables and window functions. Sometimes, I believe Microsoft releases features to stay ahead of competitors, but they do not make them feature-rich or feature-complete. They release something to be ahead of leaders and then seem to forget to maintain and upgrade them. I want Microsoft to pay more attention and be more mindful about the things they implement. It is fine to do a first release that works, but you cannot simply abandon it in the following years without service packs and improvements. You must continue to build on features rather than forgetting about them.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is not the cool features that I find valuable, it is the stability of Google Cloud Platform."
"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."
"Google Cloud's user interface is really good, which improves efficiency in my database operations."
"The main benefit to our organization is the fact that we no longer need DB admins that take care of the physical servers, backups etc... All this is managed by GCP."
"The setup was straightforward. Just a couple of clicks, and we were done."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"They have good multi-region failure support, and we can just set up there and read replicas directly and we can fall back."
"It runs really well, it's cheap, it's efficient, it's user-friendly."
"The stability of the product is very good; it is reliable, there are no bugs or glitches, it does not crash or freeze, and it does not give us any trouble."
"This is an excellent solution when it comes to databases."
"The solution has a user-friendly environment and supporting functionalities. It also has great memory and processing databases."
"Scalability, cluster ability, ease of use, ease of implementation — these are all great."
"The setup process is straightforward."
"We find the Microsoft SQL Server affordable compared to its real competitors, easy to manage, and it offers a very robust infrastructure for us."
"We are using the net for our environment. We're using the ADF Azure data factory for our analysis services, and it is pretty good."
"It is easy to establish, and the license price is lower than that of Oracle."
 

Cons

"The monitoring part could be better."
"The overall documentation and the connectors need improvement."
"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 only thing that could be better is the pricing."
"In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users."
"We see latency issues, so we were forced to introduce an in-memory store."
"They could improve documentation and dashboard stability for efficient user experience and database management."
"Better integration with other tools could improve this solution."
"The backup capacity needs to be bigger."
"The pricing in general could be better."
"CAL licenses should cost less. Microsoft usually prices high for client access licenses. Server plus user client access license (CAL) licensing requires a separate Server license for each server on which the software is installed, plus a user CAL for each user accessing the server."
"We are on a monthly subscription and the price could improve."
"There are scalability limitations and this is why we are evaluating cloud alternatives."
"They need to improve their support. It should be faster."
"The only item which I can list is application failure during Integration Services debugging, when restarting a process flow. In a number of instances the solutions fails. I have not given this much thought and simply stop and start the debugging service rather than restarting."
"It is very costly, and that's the reason people are moving away from SQL Server."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is affordable."
"From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side."
"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 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."
"While the platform’s pricing may be higher, it aligns with industry standards, considering the quality of service and features provided."
"The enterprise-level license agreement is very complicated."
"The price of SQL Server is great. In my company, SQL Server is part of the Microsoft Suite, we don't have to pay for any additional license costs, it's quite cost-effective for us."
"Its licensing is yearly. There are no additional costs. There is only the subscription license."
"We pay approximately $12,000 USD per month for both the server and the license."
"I rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten."
"SQL Server's pricing has proven satisfactory for our market range."
"You need to pay for the license. It most probably has per-core licensing."
"It is expensive in terms of licensing costs and pricing. If you want to scale SQL Server, it is very expensive. We probably have to pay extra for technical support. We also have to pay for the license of Windows on which the SQL Server resides, which is an extra cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
35%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business119
Midsize Enterprise60
Large Enterprise119
 

Questions from the Community

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?
I would to improve a few glitches in Google Cloud SQL that I have recently noticed. There are a few UI glitches that I have noticed recently, specifically something called data mapping in IPaaS Con...
What is your primary use case for Google Cloud SQL?
I am not working with Oracle; everything I am working on is on Google. I would like to improve a few glitches in Google Cloud SQL that I have recently noticed. There are a few UI glitches that I ha...
Would you say the price of SQL Server is high compared to that of similar products?
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 price...
Has using SQL Server helped your organization in any way?
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 h...
Which authentication mode is best for SQL Server?
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 pur...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BeDataDriven, CodeFutures, Daffodil, GenieConnect, KiSSFLOW, LiveHive, SulAm_rica, Zync
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.
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud SQL vs. SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,351 professionals have used our research since 2012.