Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs SingleStore comparison

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

SingleStore and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB compete in the database management category. Based on the comparison, SingleStore seems to have the upper hand in scalability and data compression features.

Features: SingleStore offers scalability and high concurrency, supports seamless integration with existing development environments through MySQL compatibility, and has features like replication and data compression which are beneficial for analytical applications. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB provides extensive API support, global distribution, and multi-model capabilities, making it versatile for diverse application needs.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's pricing model is complex and costly with limited parameter support in SQL queries, raising potential security concerns. Improvements in documentation, query support, and detailed pricing are needed. SingleStore needs to expand its SQL features and enhance documentation to aid novice users, indicating a need for growth in user accessibility and support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB, primarily used in public cloud environments, benefits from integration with Microsoft's Azure suite, aiding deployment for existing users. Customer support experiences vary; some users praise responsiveness, while others note issues with resolution speed and quality. SingleStore offers flexibility with on-premises and cloud availability but faces deployment challenges, especially for new users needing comprehensive documentation and training.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB uses a request unit-based pricing model, seen as complex and costly for high-demand applications. Despite its scalable, pay-as-you-go nature, users express concerns about cost unpredictability. SingleStore, though considered expensive, provides clear pricing tiers and is cost-effective for analytical workloads over the long term. Both solutions offer attractive ROI with mindful usage and configuration, though initial learning curves and budgeting are necessary to achieve potential savings.

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

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. SingleStore

July 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

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

6th

Ranking in Vector Databases

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

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

SingleStore

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

12th

Ranking in Vector Databases

15th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is 2.8%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SingleStore is 2.2%, up from 0.9% 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

"For example, we have people spread across multiple locations; if they update data in Australia, we can access it in another location within a fraction of a second."

"Azure Cosmos DB's graph queries are its most valuable feature. Although I have not yet explored vector search, it's coming to Cosmos DB, and I plan to look into it. Having data in a flat file format in a document database speeds up processes, which is the primary purpose. Additionally, Cosmos DB's use of the Mongo platform makes it intuitive and cost-effective."

"The efficiency of search capabilities is significant, particularly when it comes to the flexibility of conducting in-depth, almost recursive searches that are both efficient and cost-effective."

"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."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is very easy to use."

"We doubled our productivity with this small application."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB has reduced our total cost of ownership by about half, allowing us to sell our product for about half of what we were selling it before, and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is probably 70% of the reason why that's true."

"Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten with the only significant issue being the partitioning key functionality."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pros

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

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

"The paramount advantage is the exceptional speed."

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

"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."

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

Cons

"There are multiple approaches to implementing multitenant architecture on Azure Cosmos DB, but there is still no single or best-recommended approach when you have a big variance in the size of your tenants. That is something that still needs to be worked on."

"There aren't any specific areas that need improvement, but if there were a way to achieve the right cosine similarity score without extensive testing, that would be very beneficial."

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

"The pricing of the solution is an area with certain shortcomings."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's pricing model is complicated, which people don't understand."

"Continuing to educate customers on how they can take better advantage of Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB without having to completely rewrite their entire application paradigm would be beneficial. They can help them understand that there are multiple options to interact with it. They do not necessarily have to start from scratch. They can refactor their existing application to be able to use it better."

"Its stability can be further improved."

"The main area of improvement is the cost, as the expense is high. Also, when writing processes into Cosmos, sometimes the threshold is met, which can be a problem if developers have not written the code properly, limiting calls to five thousand. These aspects need addressing."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB cons

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

"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."

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

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

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

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is cost-efficient as long as you understand the right setup to optimize usage. Knowing the data needs of the organization and adjusting the Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB usage accordingly helps save costs, but if you don't know, you could end up spending more than necessary."

"You need to understand exactly the details of how the pricing works technically to stay within reasonable pricing."

"There is a licensing fee."

"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."

"Our experience with the pricing and setup cost is that it aligns with what we expect based on the pricing we see. However, I would absolutely like it to be less if possible."

"Azure is a pay as you go subscription."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is moderately priced, where it is neither expensive nor cheap."

"Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB's licensing costs are monthly."

More Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB pricing and cost advice

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

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

"SingleStore is a bit expensive."

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

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Legal Firm

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

32%

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

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?

The pricing for Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB is good, but there is a developer factor to consider. It could be economical or expensive depending on usage. Guidance about query consumption of Request U...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB?

The only area Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB can improve on is its documentation; while it is solid and very useful, enhancements in the indexing documentation would help users save costs and make it mo...

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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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

Neo4j Graph Database vs Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 13% of the time

SQL Server vs SingleStore

Compared 8% of the time

Supabase Vector vs SingleStore

Compared 7% of the time

CockroachDB vs SingleStore

Compared 6% of the time

OpenText Analytics Database (Vertica) vs SingleStore

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB

August 2025

Download Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB product report

Download SingleStore product report

July 2025

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 delivers the performance you need for enterprise AI, providing the most performant data platform for apps and analytics at scale. SingleStore enables organizations to scale from one to one million customers in one unified platform. SingleStore offers transparent pricing as shown here https://www.singlestore.com/pricing/

SingleStore caters to over 400 customers globally, including major banks and tech companies in 50+ countries and 40+ verticals. It offers seamless scaling for both transactional and analytical workloads, simplifying data management with its MySQL compatibility and real-time processing capabilities. SingleStore's distributed architecture ensures speed and reliability, efficiently handling large data volumes.

What are the key features of SingleStore?

MySQL Compatibility: Eases the learning curve for users.
Built-in Pipelines: Connects to S3, Kafka, and more.
High Concurrency: Processes billions of records swiftly.
Replication & Failover: Enhances speed and reliability.
In-memory Storage: Ensures data safety and quick access.

What benefits can users find in SingleStore reviews?

Automatic Reconfiguration: Simplifies management tasks.
Impressive SQL Performance: Supports complex queries efficiently.
Scalability: Handles large datasets with a multi-node setup.

Top banks and fintech companies leverage SingleStore for efficient management of financial data, while media and telecom industries use it for scalable metadata management and improved data processing. Retail and eCommerce sectors benefit from enhanced transactional capabilities, reducing the need for separate databases and optimizing reporting processes. SingleStore's capacity to unite diverse workloads makes it a strategic choice across many sectors.

Sample Customers

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

400+ customers including: 6sense, Adobe, Akamai, Ant Money, Arcules, CARFAX, Cigna, Cisco, Comcast, DELL, DBS Bank, Dentsu, DirectlyApply, EY, Factors.AI, Fathom Analytics, FirstEnergy, GE, Goldman Sachs, Heap, Hulu, IMAX, impact.com, Kroger, LG, LiveRamp, Lumana, Nvidia, OpenDialog, Outreach, Palo Alto Networks, PicPay, RBC, Samsung, SegMetrics, Siemens, SiteImprove, SiriusXM, SK Telecom, SKAI, SONY, STC, SunRun, TATA, Thorn, ZoomInfo.