Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs SingleStore comparison

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB and SingleStore are both major players in the scalable database service category. Azure Cosmos DB often has the upper hand in terms of global distribution and operational ease, whereas SingleStore is preferred for performance and SQL compatibility.

Features: Azure Cosmos DB excels in scalability, offering extensive API support and seamless integration within the Azure ecosystem. Its autoscale function and high-speed data processing facilitate various application demands. SingleStore offers MySQL compatibility, high concurrency, and an ability for horizontal scalability, making it appealing for high-performance tasks. Its setup simplicity and distributed architecture add to its advantages.

Room for Improvement: Azure Cosmos DB's pricing model, complex query capabilities, and lack of integration with some tools like Databricks need improvement. Users desire enhanced documentation and broader API cross-compatibility, along with more AI features. SingleStore users seek better SQL features, particularly in joins and aggregations, and improved documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure Cosmos DB is primarily deployed in the cloud, integrating well with the Azure ecosystem, although support quality varies. SingleStore offers both cloud and on-premise deployment, backed by responsive support. Both have comprehensive documentation, but Cosmos DB has more reliable community support.

Pricing and ROI: Azure Cosmos DB offers a premium pricing model with pay-as-you-go options, providing flexibility but raising cost concerns. SingleStore provides competitive pricing options appealing to those seeking cost-efficiency in deployments. Both databases offer ROI through reduced operational costs and scalability, with initial costs usually higher for Azure Cosmos DB.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. SingleStore Report (Updated: April 2025).

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. SingleStore

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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

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

6th

Ranking in Vector Databases

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

NoSQL Databases (3rd), Managed NoSQL Databases (1st)

SingleStore

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

7th

Ranking in Vector Databases

13th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 1.6%. The mindshare of SingleStore is 1.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

MichaelJohn

Director | Data & AI at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Very efficient for application-facing scenarios

There are several areas for improvement. Firstly, having a local development emulator or simulator for Azure Cosmos DB would be beneficial. It would be very handy to have a Docker container that developers can use locally. Although, I know there is a free tier and so on and so forth, having a local environment would be nice. For example, SQL Server is very portable. You can even install it on your machine. That is the number one thing that is missing in Azure Cosmos DB. The second improvement area is the IDE of choice. That means how you interact with Azure Cosmos DB. For example, with SQL Server, you have SQL Server Management Studio. I know there is a little bit of support for Azure Cosmos DB in Azure Data Studio, but it is not heavily advertised or it does not feel like first-class citizen support. Developer experience or developer tooling is missing in terms of interacting with the database. Better developer tools or an IDE for interacting with Azure Cosmos DB would enhance the developer experience. Lastly, there is some mixed messaging about what Azure Cosmos DB is, given its multiple APIs. There are so many Azure Cosmos DB APIs available. There is NoSQL. There are MongoDB, Gremlin, and others. There is still some mixed messaging for others who are new to Azure Cosmos DB about what Azure Cosmos DB is. Is this like MongoDB, but then there is also MongoDB in Azure Cosmos DB? I know it well, and I know that the default one is just NoSQL, but others I have interacted with over the last ten years or so get confused.

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Yasin Sarı

Senior Data Analyst at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

High-speed data processing, seamless scalability, and excellent high availability making it an optimal choice for those prioritizing performance and efficiency in a database solution

There's a noteworthy consideration when it comes to collecting massive amounts of data. It is not the optimal choice for direct data collection through queries, and it's more suited for aggregation tasks. Attempting to use it for direct extraction, for instance, might lead to memory-related challenges. While MySQL version five might lack extensive SQL capabilities, SingleStore also has its constraints, requiring simpler SQL writing. This becomes evident when seeking advanced functionalities like window functions or JSON functions, where SingleStore doesn't offer an extensive toolkit, necessitating a more straightforward approach to SQL.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB were the general infrastructure, ease to use, and interface."

"Big data, along with data analysis, is one of the valuable features."

"It is non-SQL and helps to manage and manipulate data from the coding, rather than direct data and complex queries."

"The best feature is the velocity to make a query."

"For modern applications, I would recommend Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB."

"Latency and availability are incredible."

"I like the way you can create and delete records. You pass a JSON, and then it creates a record."

"rate Azure support nine out of 10. They respond quickly and will help you manage costs. However, they mainly give you an overview of the issue, so they'll never have an in-depth idea of what you're doing. They aren't the owners of our product, so they don't know much about it, but they can ask you generally: What are you doing? Are you doing too many updates? How can we reduce the cost?"

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pros

"The paramount advantage is the exceptional speed."

"MemSQL supports the MySQL protocol, and many functions are similar, so the learning curve is very short."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to create pipelines, streamline and extract data from the pipelines."

"The product can automatically reinstall and reconfigure in case of a shutdown."

"The ability to store data in memory is a standout feature, enhanced by robust failover mechanisms."

"It's a distributed relational database, so it does not have a single server, it has multiple servers. Its architecture itself is fast because it has multiple nodes to distribute the workload and process large amounts of data."

Cons

"Areas of improvement for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB include indexing. While it makes data retrieval easier, it also increases costs."

"I hope they improve the service. Before last year, improvements on Cosmos DB were very slow."

"I would like to see Cosmos DB introduce a feature that would convert machine language to human-readable queries."

"It doesn't support all databases."

"The solution cannot join two databases like Oracle or SQL Server."

"In Microsoft manufacturing, managers really need to know about the product."

"The cost can sometimes be high, especially during cross-partition queries with large data amounts."

"In the long run, there should be an addition of more features, especially because this space is evolving quickly. It all boils down to how many more features you are adding, how many integrations you are supporting, and how many more APIs you have that are standard APIs."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB cons

"There should be more pipelines available because I think that if MemSQL can connect to other services, that would be great."

"For new customers, it's very tough to start. Their documentation isn't organized, and there's no online training available. SingleStore is working on it, but that's a major drawback."

"It is not the optimal choice for direct data collection through queries, and it's more suited for aggregation tasks."

"Having the ability to migrate servers using a single command would be extremely beneficial."

"We don't get good discounts in Pakistan."

"Poor key distribution can significantly impact performance, requiring a backward approach in design rather than adding tables incrementally."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB could be a bit lower."

"Its pricing is higher compared to solutions like Aerospike. However, it is justified because of the out-of-the-box features that are provided. The availability and resiliency that we have make it worth the price."

"Its price is very good for the basic stuff. When you go to a more complicated use case, especially when you need replication and availability zones, it gets a little costly."

"Right now, I have opted for the student subscription plan, for which Microsoft charges me around 100 USD. The pricing of the solution depends on the solution's usage."

"Its price is in the middle, neither too low nor too high."

"Everything could always be cheaper. I like that Cosmos DB allows us to auto-scale instead of pre-provisioning a certain capacity. It automatically scales to the demand, so we only pay for what we consume."

"Most customers like the flexibility of the pricing model, and it has not been an issue. They can start small, and the cost grows with adoption, allowing efficient management of the budget. Its pricing model has not been a concern at all for any of our customers. They understand it. It is simple enough to understand. Oftentimes, it is hard to forecast the RUs, but, in general, it has been fine."

"When we've budgeted for our resources, it's one of the more expensive ones, but it's still not very expensive per month."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pricing and cost advice

"SingleStore is a bit expensive."

"They have two main options: cloud installation and bare-metal installation, each with different pricing models."

"Using it for analytical purposes can be cost-effective in the long run, especially in terms of infrastructure."

"The product's licensing is not expensive. It is comparable."

"I would advise users to try the free 128GB version."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Legal Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Financial Services Firm

32%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

The initial setup is simple and straightforward. You can set up a Cosmos DB in a day, even configuring things like availability zones around the world.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

Its cost is transparent. Pricing depends on the transaction and data size, but overall, it is cheaper compared to hosting it on your corporate network due to other factors like power consumption. C...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

I had a challenging experience implementing the emulator with a Mac. I had to install the emulator in a Docker container because it is not natively compatible. A significant amount of time was spen...

What do you like most about SingleStore DB?

The paramount advantage is the exceptional speed.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SingleStore DB?

Using it for analytical purposes can be cost-effective in the long run, especially in terms of infrastructure. While building an on-premise cluster incurs an initial cost for servers with ample RAM...

What needs improvement with SingleStore DB?

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Product Reports

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

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Also Known As

Microsoft Azure DocumentDB, MS Azure Cosmos DB

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service providing scalability, user-friendliness, and seamless integration, suitable for managing large volumes of structured and unstructured data across diverse applications.

Azure Cosmos DB is renowned for its scalability, stability, and ease of integration, offering robust support for multiple data models and APIs. Its capacity for handling unstructured data efficiently and providing real-time analytics makes it ideal for applications requiring high performance and global distribution. With features like automatic failover and integration with Microsoft products, users benefit from cost optimization and secure data handling. Enhancement opportunities include simplifying queries, improving documentation, and expanding backup and analytics functionalities.

What are the most important features of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

Scalability and Autoscaling: Efficiently handles growing data and user demands.
Multi-Model Support: Adapts to different data models seamlessly.
Global Distribution: Provides low-latency access across multiple regions.
Automatic Failover: Ensures high availability and reliability.
Integration with Microsoft Products: Offers seamless connectivity with Azure services.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB reviews?

Performance and Speed: Exceptionally fast processing for real-time data analytics.
Cost Optimization: Tools for managing expenses effectively.
Secure Data Handling: Implements strong data security measures.
Flexible Data Ingestion: Supports diverse data ingestion methods.

Azure Cosmos DB is frequently used in sectors like web, mobile, IoT, and analytics. It supports applications as a key-value store, processes real-time data, and enables global scalability with low-latency access. Its big data management capabilities and integration with Azure services enhance its utility across industries.

Microsoft

SingleStore enables organizations to scale from one to one million customers, handling SQL, JSON, full text and vector workloads — all in one unified platform.

Sample Customers

TomTom, KPMG Australia, Bosch, ASOS, Mercedes Benz, NBA, Zero Friction, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Kinectify

6Sense, ADNOC, Adobe, Akamai, CARFAX, Cigna, Cisco, Comcast, DBS Bank, Dell, Dentsu, EY, FirstEnergy, GE, Goldman Sachs, Heap, Hulu, IMAX, Kakao, Kroger, LG, LiveRamp, Lumana, NBC, OpenDialog, Outreach, Palo Alto Networks, PicPay, RBC, Samsung, Siemens, SiriusXM, SK Telecom, SKAI, Sony, State Street Financial, STC, SunRun, TATA, Thorn, and ZoomInfo.

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. SingleStore