IBM Db2 on Cloud vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database comparison

IBM and Microsoft are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.6. IBM holds a 2.0% mindshare in DS, compared to Microsoft’s 12.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

IBM Db2 on Cloud

Read 2 IBM Db2 on Cloud reviews

331 Views
331 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Read 134 Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews

3,418 Views
3,350 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

IBM Db2 on Cloud

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Microsoft Azure SQL Database and IBM Db2 on Cloud are leading cloud database solutions with distinct strengths. Users are more satisfied with the pricing and support of Microsoft Azure SQL Database, while IBM Db2 on Cloud is praised for its robust features, making it a preferred choice for complex database requirements.

Features: Microsoft Azure SQL Database impresses users with its scalability, automated backups, and advanced security features. IBM Db2 on Cloud is highly valued for its seamless integration capabilities, powerful analytics, and high availability. The main difference lies in IBM Db2 on Cloud's superior data analytics and integration.

Room for Improvement: Users of Microsoft Azure SQL Database desire better query performance optimization and more comprehensive documentation. For IBM Db2 on Cloud, users request more intuitive configuration options and enhanced customer support. Both products could improve their user education and support services.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is commended for its straightforward deployment and reliable customer support. IBM Db2 on Cloud offers strong deployment options but occasionally falls short in timely customer service responses. Microsoft Azure SQL Database is preferred for its ease of use.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is praised for its cost-effectiveness and good ROI, especially for small to medium enterprises. IBM Db2 on Cloud, while more expensive, is seen as worth the investment for larger organizations needing advanced features. Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers better initial value, whereas IBM Db2 on Cloud provides long-term benefits for specific use cases.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Db2 on Cloud vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 on Cloud vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database

December 2025

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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

IBM Db2 on Cloud

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

13th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

2nd

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 December 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of IBM Db2 on Cloud is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 12.0%, down from 16.9% 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	12.0%
IBM Db2 on Cloud	2.0%
Other	86.0%

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

FarhanFarhan

Database Engineer at Meezan Bank

Multi-node architecture and it is good from a security point of view

I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. Most of the issues we faced during troubleshooting were due to specific bugs in the environment, and the only solution was to upgrade the database environment or services. But it is not easy to upgrade the database level when third-party applications are involved, as they are not always comfortable with upgrading. There should be some cumulative solution provided by IBM for their customers, just like other vendors. Upgrading to a certain version doesn't always resolve the issue. It might get resolved at the database level, but what about the other applications integrated with that database that are only compatible with older versions?

Read full review

Thomas Sawyer

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.

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

"The reliability is the most valuable feature. It is also user-friendly."

"Multiple business departments rely on reports and predictive analysis to make decisions for future business based on their data warehouse and Db2 network analytics tool. It helps our business department make decisions."

"Microsoft Azure SQL Database supplies reliability and efficiency with its infrastructure, which is very beneficial to our organization."

"The most valuable feature of SQL Azure is centralized authentication because I'm using the domain, user name, and password, for Microsoft 365 account with multifactor authentication and the security has been working well."

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

"My main use case for SQL Azure is for a self-reading application related to portfolio management. In this application, users can have portfolios designed and managed based on recommendations from their brokers. These recommendations are sent to users, and if consumed, they get executed and added to their portfolios, which can be easily maintained through mobile applications. This involves using Kafka for messaging and execution."

"The ease of scaling the server up and down by simply pressing a few buttons in a dropdown menu has made our lives significantly more comfortable, especially as we aim to process more data this year by utilizing the cloud."

"What is really helpful about the Azure SQL is that when we have a problem with our sound queries, we can trade information about what indexes we should create on tables. It's really helpful for me and also for developers."

"Emergency mode is quite useful."

"In terms of ease of use, I found Microsoft Azure SQL Database as easy to use as the on-premises version; my experience was that it really was pretty seamless, I didn't have to learn any new SQL, and we're still able to access it using SSMS, the same similar interface, so it was a seamless transition."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

Cons

"In other environments like Oracle or Teradata, they provide their own solutions for troubleshooting issues. They provide built-in AI services or autonomous databases, which I don't see in the Db2 environment."

"I would give their support a ten if they had more tutorials available."

"It would help if the solution was more secure."

"It's very slow and too expensive. I really don't think it's a good solution for most cases, except when you specifically need to put your data on the cloud."

"One area for improvement is setting up logs, especially for servers like VM SQL. It was also tricky to connect services on VNets to on-premise."

"Integration needs to be improved for this solution."

"The solution could be less expensive. They need to work on their pricing model."

"We haven't had any major issues that have prevented us from doing stuff fundamentally. For its implementation, sometimes, it is complicated to understand what your needs are. It would be good to have a few use cases that provide different cloud variations that match on-premise installations and show how they can be moved to the cloud a bit better."

"There is probably more functionality in our on-prem SQL Server than SQL Azure."

"Its price could be better. It is expensive. I am not sure if Microsoft Master Data Services is included in this. If not, Master Data Services can be integrated with Azure SQL. I have only used Master Data Services on-premises."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"There is no licensing cost for the solution."

"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."

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

"Compared to other providers, the pricing is definitely on the affordable side."

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

"The licensing for this solution is based on subscription."

"We have had some issues with the licensing of the solution."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	58
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	61

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Db2 on Cloud?

In other environments like Oracle or Teradata, they provide their own solutions for troubleshooting issues. They provide built-in AI services or autonomous databases, which I don't see in the Db2 e...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering IBM Db2 on Cloud?

Since I have worked with almost every product, including IBM, Teradata is far better than any other data warehouse product. It's a separate database with its own features, architecture, and working...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Db2 on Cloud?

It's a multi-node logical database clustered in three physical nodes. We use a lot of services already provided in our private cloud environment. It's a multi-node architecture.

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 cloud.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Amazon RDS vs IBM Db2 on Cloud

Compared 46% of the time

Google Cloud SQL vs IBM Db2 on Cloud

Compared 22% of the time

More IBM Db2 on Cloud Competitors

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 22% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 17% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 14% of the time

Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 9% of the time

Redis vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

November 2025

Download IBM Db2 on Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

December 2025

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Overview

A fully-managed cloud SQL database. Powered by a turbo-charged Db2 engine.

IBM

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

Sample Customers

Owens-Illinois, KONE Corp., Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue, Canon Europe, Delhaize America, Wimbledon

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Db2 on Cloud vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database

December 2025

Free Report: IBM Db2 on Cloud vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database

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