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MySQL vs SAP IQ comparison

Oracle and SAP are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Oracle is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.2, while SAP is ranked #26 with an average rating of 6.8. Oracle holds a 7.5% mindshare in SQL, compared to SAP’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Oracle users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of SAP users who would recommend it.
MySQL
Read 150 MySQL reviews
  • 8,912 Views
  • 4,189 Comparison Views
91% willing to recommend
SAP IQ
Read 23 SAP IQ reviews
  • 1,073 Views
  • 461 Comparison Views
80% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

SAP IQ and MySQL compete in the data management and business intelligence sector. SAP IQ may have an edge with its high query speed and data compression, ideal for large datasets.

Features: SAP IQ utilizes a columnar architecture to focus on query speed and data compression, offering high performance in data warehousing environments. This makes it well-suited for managing large datasets efficiently. MySQL, with its open-source model, supports various applications through its robust compatibility with programming languages and scalability. While MySQL is broadly applicable, SAP IQ is optimized for rapid data processing and compression.

Room for Improvement: SAP IQ could enhance its market presence and integrate more global support, as its underutilization is noted. Improvements in real-time analytics and enhanced backup options are needed for MySQL. The need for an improved user experience and better scalability options are also highlighted for MySQL.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP IQ primarily deploys on-premises with mixed customer service experiences, including response delays. MySQL supports deployment across various cloud options and boasts a large community support network, although paid support quality can vary.

Pricing and ROI: SAP IQ's pricing, though high, is justified by its feature breadth, making it a worthwhile investment for high-performance needs. MySQL's open-source nature results in lower initial costs, attractive for startups, with possible investments in enterprise editions for advanced features justified by their capabilities.

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To learn more, read our detailed MySQL vs. SAP IQ Report (Updated: September 2025).
Buyer's Guide
MySQL vs. SAP IQ
September 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.3
Users experience varied ROI with MySQL due to its open-source nature, cloud or local use, and operational benefits.
Sentiment score
6.2
SAP IQ boasts high ROI with substantial hardware savings, low maintenance costs, though some users lack authorization to confirm it.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
MySQL support is mostly community-driven and free, but Oracle's support, while effective, can be costly for smaller businesses.
Sentiment score
5.6
Customer service is 24/7 but varies in quality; technical support lacks experts, causing slow escalation and limited advanced assistance.
We have no issues and usually receive timely responses.
For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report
It seems very difficult to get proper advanced assistance on advanced or complicated problems.
The quality of support from SAP is very good; if it's a known problem, they will have a knowledge base, so we will get immediate assistance.
For more quotes and insights, download the SAP IQ report
Muzzamil Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
KK
AN
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
MySQL is scalable for small to medium projects but requires enhancements and tools for effective large-scale deployment.
Sentiment score
7.4
SAP IQ offers scalable solutions with Simplex and Multiplex architectures, accommodating vast data volumes across PCs or servers.
Meeting scalability requirements through cloud computing is an expensive affair.
For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report
We can span the read and write load into multiple nodes, and that scalability is there.
If we wanted to add more servers into this entire setup, that would be fairly easy, so it's rather good when it comes to scalability.
For more quotes and insights, download the SAP IQ report
RS
AN
KK
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
MySQL is widely praised for reliability and performance, but occasional issues with large tables require proper maintenance and configuration.
Sentiment score
6.0
SAP IQ is stable, effectively managing complex transactions despite occasional issues, making it a reliable choice for implementations.
We face certain integration issues, especially when we integrate the database with security solutions like IBM QRadar.
For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report
It's usually something external, such as lack of disk space or problems arising from the integration to other systems.
For more quotes and insights, download the SAP IQ report
 

Room For Improvement

MySQL needs scalability improvements, better replication, enhanced security, integration, and upgraded tools, procedures, user interface, and documentation.
SAP IQ faces challenges with high costs, inadequate training, stability issues, and integration limitations, impacting performance and adoption.
The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation.
Oracle could improve on scalability.
It could be more beneficial if MySQL can enhance its data masking functionality in the same way it has improved data encryption.
For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report
It is easy to deploy SAP IQ; the implementation and installation are easy.
When there is an issue, the error messaging we get is not always sufficient to do a fast and solid fix.
For more quotes and insights, download the SAP IQ report
Prabir Kumar Kundu - PeerSpot reviewer
RS
Muzzamil Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
AN
KK
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers appreciate MySQL's flexible pricing, noting affordable options compared to Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle.
SAP IQ is cost-effective with various licensing models, though price understanding and negotiation are essential for optimal implementation.
Oracle has different components, so if you need security, you have to procure a different license, but here everything is inbuilt and it's not costly.
For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the SAP IQ report
 

Valuable Features

MySQL is popular for being open-source, SQL-compatible, scalable, easy to manage, cross-platform, with strong integration capabilities.
SAP IQ features column-based architecture, high compression, rapid queries, large-scale data handling, and integration with SAP BusinessObjects.
With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment.
It's an inbuilt feature of the database itself, and you don't have to purchase an additional license for the replication.
It allows programming, writing stored procedures, creating views, constraints, and triggers easily.
For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report
We can get historical data quickly, and you can fetch information very quickly because every column is indexed.
The most valuable feature of SAP IQ for us is that it works very effectively with the SAP BusinessObjects which we use it with.
For more quotes and insights, download the SAP IQ report
Muzzamil Hussain - PeerSpot reviewerPrabir Kumar Kundu - PeerSpot reviewer
RS
AN
KK
 

Categories and Ranking

MySQL
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
150
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (1st)
SAP IQ
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
26th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of MySQL is 7.5%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP IQ is 1.1%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
MySQL7.5%
SAP IQ1.1%
Other91.4%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Prabir Kumar Kundu - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers robust security and availability with impressive replication capabilities
Regarding their documentation and interface, there is room for improvement. Documentation is definitely required when running multiple databases on a cluster system. The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation. When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly. It's there, but only technical persons with deep knowledge of the MySQL database can implement it. Most of the community users or ISVs who use MySQL don't have many technical persons or DBA experts, so they face some challenges for the high availability of connecting high available databases from high available applications. That documentation should be simplified.
Read full review
Tejas Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Columnar database, so pulling records is easy but there isn't enough documentation for installation
I've seen very few SAP IQ systems in recent years. So people are moving away from SAP IQ In the last three years, I've rarely encountered customers using it. Fewer systems with SAP IQ usage among our customers. Most of them have moved on to HANA. There are parallel products, and there are also viable alternatives from AWS, so many have migrated to those.
Read full review
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Financial Services Firm
36%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business73
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise61
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
See all answers
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
See all answers
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP IQ?
IQ implementation costs about three thousand dollars. It's less expensive compared to alternatives like Teradata Base in terms of transactional efficiency.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SAP IQ?
When it comes to SAP IQ, the areas that could be improved or enhanced include the error messaging and the locking capabilities, as that's where we often encounter problems. When there is an issue, ...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for SAP IQ?
Our usual use cases for SAP IQ is that we have a Software-as-a-Service architecture where this database is the foundation for our SAP BusinessObjects platform. This is where it's getting its data f...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MySQL Logo
Firebird SQL vs MySQL
Compared 22% of the time
PostgreSQL vs MySQL Logo
PostgreSQL vs MySQL
Compared 14% of the time
SAP HANA vs MySQL Logo
SAP HANA vs MySQL
Compared 7% of the time
MariaDB vs MySQL Logo
MariaDB vs MySQL
Compared 6% of the time
SQL Server vs MySQL Logo
SQL Server vs MySQL
Compared 6% of the time
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SAP HANA vs SAP IQ Logo
SAP HANA vs SAP IQ
Compared 19% of the time
Snowflake vs SAP IQ Logo
Snowflake vs SAP IQ
Compared 16% of the time
SQL Server vs SAP IQ Logo
SQL Server vs SAP IQ
Compared 16% of the time
SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise vs SAP IQ Logo
SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise vs SAP IQ
Compared 9% of the time
OpenText Analytics Database (Vertica) vs SAP IQ Logo
OpenText Analytics Database (Vertica) vs SAP IQ
Compared 9% of the time
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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
MySQL
September 2025
MySQL reportDownload MySQL product report
Buyer's Guide
SAP IQ
September 2025
SAP IQ reportDownload SAP IQ product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
Sybase IQ
 

Overview

MySQL is an open-source database known for its ease of use and high performance. It offers features like replication and clustering, making it ideal for diverse applications. Its cost-effectiveness and LAMP integration are key advantages for businesses.

MySQL supports a variety of languages and platforms, providing reliable, scalable data management. Its graphical interface and LAMP architecture integration enhance its usability, while community support further strengthens its appeal. Challenges include scalability issues with large databases, lack of advanced clustering, and limited high-availability features. Complex queries may affect performance, and integration can pose difficulties. The outdated interface and insufficient documentation are also concerns, along with replication and backup reliability issues.

What are MySQL's key features?
  • Open-source nature: Freely available and customizable.
  • Cross-platform compatibility: Supports multiple operating systems.
  • Scalability: Capable of handling large volumes of data.
  • Replication and clustering: Ensure data redundancy and load balancing.
  • Full-text search: Provides powerful search capabilities.
  • LAMP integration: Seamlessly integrates with Linux, Apache, and PHP.
What benefits should users consider?
  • Cost-effectiveness: Reduces expenses due to its open-source nature.
  • High performance: Efficiently processes large volumes of data.
  • Active community support: Access to a wide range of resources and expertise.
  • Versatile use cases: Suitable for varied applications including web development and IoT.

MySQL is widely implemented in industries such as web development, e-commerce, and finance. It's used for managing dynamic websites, powering e-commerce platforms, and supporting financial applications. Its compatibility with PHP and cost-effectiveness make it suitable for CMS platforms like WordPress. With cloud services integration, MySQL is a backend choice for scalable applications in various sectors.

Oracle

SAP® IQ software delivers speed and power for extreme-scale enterprise data warehousing and analytics. Its column-oriented, grid-based massively parallel processing (MPP) architecture and patented data compression and indexing technologies enable companies to exploit the value of huge amounts of data at the speed of business.

SAP
 

Sample Customers

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
ASR Group, Citrix, State of Indiana, PocketCard Co. Ltd.
Buyer's Guide
MySQL vs. SAP IQ
September 2025
Free Report: MySQL vs. SAP IQ
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