Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service comparison

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

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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 SQL Database

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

117

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Oracle Exadata Express Clou...

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 15.9%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service is 0.4%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

Charley Hanania

Data Platform Specialist at QS2 AG - Quality Software Solutions

It is very easy to implement, manage, and offers great insights into what is happening inside the engine

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is integrated into other Azure capabilities and has a great foundation being on SQL Server with a long history of security, performance, and usability from a DBA perspective. Once you've set up a server, adding databases is easy. There's a minor challenge with having data in separate databases that you want to connect like we do on premises. I'm looking forward to using some of these new AI-driven functions that have come out around vectorization. Having the data closer to my transactional databases or data makes it easy to augment and enhance the Database and applications I currently use. It's great that Azure SQL now seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Fabric. It's a first-tier service in the cloud that connects to web applications and other databases. The data transformation orchestration capabilities within Database Factory and similar capabilities make it effortless to move that stuff forward.

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Shrikant Navelkar

Director at Clover Infotech

Enhances performance without fine tuning databases

They need to simplify the monitoring of the Exadata services. They have to make it more simple for the users to operate or manage. And one more thing, I would expect that other databases of Oracle, like MySQL Enterprise Edition, if technologically, Oracle makes some advancement and allows MySQL Enterprise Edition to run on Exadata, I think that will improve their market share exponentially. Today, on Exadata, you run Oracle databases, which is given. Apart from that, Oracle also has Oracle MySQL database, open source. If that open-source database also runs on Exadata, I think that will help a lot of customers. In the next release, Oracle can provide a script-level solution to migrate or consolidate cross-platform databases from Unix platform to Oracle Exadata on Linux platform; if they can provide some migration tools, I think that will help.

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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

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

"It is quick to set up and easy to scale."

"The backup solution in Azure is great, the firewall settings in SQL are very easy to use and work very well. Additionally, the turning process is very good and has improved the SQL services and queries."

"The product is quite stable. The performance is great and it's reliable."

"It is easily scalable, and it is faster than SQL Server. It is also less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."

"The solution effectively handles storing and maintaining information in databases."

"It is easy to scale in Azure in a way that I cannot scale on-prem."

"The hardware is all managed by Microsoft."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

"One of the most valuable parts of the solution is the high availability within the system and the performance enhancement without making any changes or fine-tuning the databases."

"The solution is very stable and offers great performance."

"It is a scalable product."

"I would rate Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service ten out of ten for its overall solution."

"Having the prediction happen in the modular format allows you to start with a lower version of Exadata and then you can keep on upgrading it as per your requirement."

"I like that Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service is easier to use and is a cost-saving solution because you won't need to hire people to run and maintain it."

"I highly recommend Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service as a very good solution if you can afford it."

"The performance of the tool is valuable."

More Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service pros

Cons

"The default 1433 port for communication should be customizable because most hacks or attacks are attempted when creating any application or database on the default port."

"The user interface (UI) could be more flexible."

"Azure SQL can improve by adding more machine learning features like other databases, such as Cassandra or Cosmos DB."

"We need improvement in the latency between availability zones. The managed SQL MI does not allow us to control the zone it runs in, which affects latency."

"The problem is the automated configuration."

"Some more documentation and suggestions for network policies could be helpful."

"I feel that the price is high and it could be reduced."

"They should include more accessible functions for image tooling."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"The support must be faster."

"Oracle's support could be better."

"I feel there is a need for better integration with Google Maps and Google Earth. This is crucial for me in the geographical facilities of the environment."

"The customer's default choice is the on-premise version of this solution. Only when Oracle or the partners like us, can explain to customers the cloud value proposition, and if the compliance authorities allow, they can look into this cloud solution. It will take some time for Oracle to change its perception of customers' de-facto standards. Exadata used to be treated as a black box, which is not the case now. The customer is aware of what is happening inside, how the configurations have been made, and what patching has been applied. Oracle needs to market the cloud version better."

"We use artificial intelligence for deep learning, and it would be a huge benefit to implement this in Oracle Exadata."

"Scaling Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service can be done, but the process is a little tedious, which could be an area for improvement in the solution."

"The product's installation process needs improvement. It could be more accessible."

"The only downside is the difficulty in monitoring, and that's why I would like to implement MySQL database."

More Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SQL Azure's licensing cost is expensive."

"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."

"I recommend considering a pay-as-you-go pricing model initially."

"The pricing is flexible and can be adapted based on our requirements but the pricing options are complex especially if we are using a VM."

"Offers options for paying the license on a yearly or a monthly basis."

"I am not aware of the exact pricing, but our monthly bill for Azure is around 80,000. It is less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."

"Microsoft services are costly, which is the only problem we face. So, pricing is an area of improvement."

"The price could be slightly cheaper."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

"I think Oracle pricing is usually above average market price."

"The price of this solution is very comparative to others on the market. There is no direct comparison between this solution and with something else because I do not see any other similar product."

"The tool is not cheap, but it is not really expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

72%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?

The pricing of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap, affecting user uptake. A gradual reduction in price could improve accessibility and user numbers, making it easier for users to adopt the s...

What needs improvement with SQL Azure?

Pricing could be improved to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database ( /products/microsoft-azure-sql-database-reviews ) more accessible. A reduction in price might encourage more users and bring more pro...

What do you like most about Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service?

The performance of the tool is valuable.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service?

Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service is a very expensive database solution. The cost is high due to on-premise licenses. However, it offers a premium solution without issues or problems.

What needs improvement with Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service?

I am not the perfect person to discuss improvements needed because I am not responsible for the database. I use it as a developer, and everything works fine for me. However, there might be others i...

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Comparisons

Compared 41% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 26% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 17% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 7% of the time

vCloud Air vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

No data available

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

Download Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service product report

Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service report

Overview

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

Oracle Database Exadata Express Cloud Service delivers a managed Oracle Database 12c Release 2 Enterprise Edition with options, running on Oracle Exadata engineered systems – all at a highly affordable entry-level price. It is a full Oracle Database experience, compatible with what you get on-premises or in other Oracle Database Cloud Services, provisioned within minutes, and suitable for small to medium sized data.

Oracle

Sample Customers

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

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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service