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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

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 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
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Cus...
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.9
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 9.2%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is 3.3%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database9.2%
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer3.3%
Other87.5%
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
WB
Oracle DBS at Bpifrance
Positive experience with virtual cloud network creation and database migration highlights patching challenges
The best feature of Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is that it can be managed without needing only DBAs. We have many features, including the observability feature that helps check performance and generates numerous reports about performance. We have also implemented APIs, enabling us to create and perform many operations. This means we need DBAs who can work with APIs. We are autonomous in the patching process and don't need Oracle for patching. If you configure the process of patching, it will be executed automatically. We are using dynamic scaling which is implemented on an external virtual machine, helping us to downscale or upscale the CPU. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer has supported our organization's compliance and data sovereignty without problems. I have observed some limitations. For example, regarding encryption, though it is mandatory for Exadata Cloud at Customer, we cannot encrypt the database with external keys. Currently, with Exadata Cloud at Customer, using external keys is not possible.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The biggest return on investment from my perspective when using Microsoft Azure SQL Database comes from how easy it is to set up and how much of a foundation it already has in terms of being a trusted platform."
"My impression is that this solution is quite stable."
"I prefer using Microsoft SQL Server because I like the experience and the way Microsoft handles the query tuning and security."
"The dashboard is valuable."
"Every new version has new features and it pretty much covers everything in terms of memory, database, the caching, the redundancy, and high availability."
"The interface is awesome."
"The database is extremely scalable, allowing seamless scaling up or down with a simple change in parameters."
"SQL Azure is good with transactional systems."
"I like that Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is a stable, well-positioned product in the market today, and it's very scalable."
"I am particularly fond of the intelligent capabilities that enhance the backend, utilizing technology to analyze SQL queries."
"The most valuable feature is that it is based on Exadata infrastructure, which is Oracle 's leading engineered system that is trusted, fault-tolerant, and has unique performance features."
"The operation model is the most valuable feature."
"Exporting and importing is easy because of its cleanliness, making the process easier. However, setting up the Data Guard was more difficult. Despite this, the client experienced lower downtime."
"The best feature of Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is that it can be managed without needing only DBAs, with observability features to check performance, generate reports, and implement APIs for creating and performing many operations."
"We have migrated mission-critical databases to Exadata and gained significant performance in our OLTP and Batch jobs."
"Performance has significantly improved."
 

Cons

"It should have better profiling capabilities."
"It's not a feature, but the solution only offers a certain amount of memory and that's limiting. The scalability should be extended to more than two terabytes."
"Our data warehouse in total is about two terabytes, and the tables we're referring to are around 60 million rows, which are approximately 60 to 70 gigabytes."
"The user interface (UI) could be more flexible."
"The Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not the latest version of Microsoft SQL Server; it's a really old engine that does not have the newest features, is very slow, and too expensive, so 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."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database would benefit from enhanced documentation, along with ongoing improvements to scalability and cost-effectiveness."
"There is a need for dynamic scaling support without losing current transactions. That should be part of the standard offering to SKUs."
"The way it has been designed, in the on-premises deployments, the underlying Windows OS is highly scalable but has a very large resource requirement. A lot of power-related and memory-related things are there, which I have not seen in the RHEL and Oracle. I have not tried SQL on RHEL EXEC. On Windows, infrastructure-wise, a very large workload is running on the SQL. This issue is related to Windows, not SQL."
"Scalability is not straightforward."
"For the data migration, we used ZDM. It was not integrated with the databases, and the documentation lacks clarity."
"Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is stable, but the only problem occurs during OS patching. If you encounter issues, the VMC (virtual machine cluster) becomes unusable."
"As a customer, you can't see the boot messages of your virtualized guest machines."
"The solution is expensive."
"A room for improvement in Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer is that they need to train more partners to gain more knowledge because currently, they are keeping a lot to themselves. For example, they are still keeping a lot of information on their campus, so information sharing is limited."
"Today their support no longer lives up to my expectation."
"We had some problems in the developer's environment. We had some problems with the initial installation environment."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price can definitely be lower. It is pretty pricey."
"The license is based on the number of users."
"I recommend considering a pay-as-you-go pricing model initially."
"With one being expensive and five being competitive, I would give the product a four out of five as it's relatively competitive. It is also important to note that pricing is based on usage."
"It only has a subscription-based license."
"It requires a license. As compared to its competitors, such as Oracle, it is affordable and reasonable."
"If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive."
"From a licensing benefit standpoint, we have clients who are coming with their own SQL licensing with Software Assurance, and they are able to use those licenses for their Azure SQL and reduce costs."
"The machine and the cloud model itself already have licensing advantages."
"The price is too much."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
9%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise61
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What is your primary use case for SQL Azure?
My main use cases for Microsoft Azure SQL Database are third-party applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer?
The pricing is reasonable due to a universal agreement, which often positions Oracle solutions better against others. I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten.
What needs improvement with Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer?
In future updates for Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer, I would like to see another feature for the different costs for the non-CDB models, because if you are not using the non-CDB models, you have...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer?
The use cases for Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer are based on our actual solution. We have the Exadata, but it has reached its end of life. The X5 has attained the end of life, so we discussed mi...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
IBVI, illycaffe, Scottish Water, trueblue, AirAsia, droptank
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.