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MySQL vs SAP SQL Anywhere vs SQL Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of MySQL is 7.6%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SQL Anywhere is 1.1%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 15.8%, down from 22.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SQL Server15.8%
MySQL7.6%
SAP SQL Anywhere1.1%
Other75.5%
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.
Crewmem67 - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable and able to expand but needs to be more secure
It is not as good as a SQL Server. I prefer to work with the SQL Server for Microsoft or Oracle. These are better as there are some comments on SQL Anywhere that makes me feel that I'm blocked. We'd like to have them update to a new version. They should update more often. I find I can't move to a new version without running tests as there are chances of bugs that can get into my system. The initial setup is not simple or straightforward, and it took a while to deploy. It is not as secure as it could be. This is an aspect they need to improve. There needs to be more encryption.
Gus Mtz - PeerSpot reviewer
Availability and financial reporting thrive with robust integration tools
The best features of SQL Server are availability and stability. We never have concerns about the database. The ability of SQL Server to integrate with other Microsoft services, such as Azure for supporting business intelligence or data analytics, is primarily through Power BI for analytics tools. We use Power BI, but not in the cloud. We have interfaces with other databases. We extensively use the ETL tools of SQL Server for integrating with other databases or text files. The ETL tools are excellent for making jobs that run daily or hourly. For disaster recovery features supporting mission-critical applications in our organization, we have implemented the high availability feature of SQL Server. The always-on feature provides high availability in SQL Server. We use this tool daily for our risk management application.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The speed is very good."
"Table partitioning is most valuable. It is easy to use."
"I like MySQL because of its community."
"For sure, the solution is very stable."
"One of the most valuable features is MySQL's ability to run our email system. We use a system called Colab."
"The deployment process is pretty fast."
"It has a lot of features. The RDBMS, consistency, and multi-user features are valuable."
"I use MySQL for employee service in an OLTP database."
"We've found the solution very reliable overall. It's very fast."
"SAP SQL Anywhere is very helpful."
"The auto-backup replication is a perfect feature. That is the feature I liked the most."
"The most valuable features of SAP SQL Anywhere are the ease of use and the user interface is intuitive."
"It works well in general."
"It's a good learning environment, it's easy enough to learn and understand. Anybody that picks up the language early on will be able to develop in it."
"The performance is great."
"SQL Server is very good, it can be used as a transactional database and used to support the data warehouse. Additionally, the ANSI-compliant satisfies our database properties."
"The most valuable feature is replication because we had several replicas of the SQL Server database in different geographical locations."
"Most valuable features include: high availability, clustering, save backup and recovery."
"SQL is stable."
"The solution has a reliable database."
"The solution can be deployed in a few minutes."
 

Cons

"Sometimes, not because the version is not the latest version, there are some issues with it. Sometimes there's an issue with the server which creates issues with it."
"Since we upgraded from 8.0.12 to 8.0.22, it has had some slowness-related issues. Some of the queries that were fast previously are quite slow now. I did some research, and I found many people complaining about it."
"Improvements to MySQL depend on the specific use case. For example, in my scenario, I frequently need to maintain and store data, which can then be utilized to generate reports. On the other hand, others may suggest incorporating a feature that allows for easier visualization of the data, such as what is available in Power BI or other similar tools."
"It should provide better customer experiences."
"The solution could be more secure."
"The solution could improve by having better performance and security."
"Oracle should start putting in some of the enterprise features in the standard feature. There are some key features that should be part of the standard."
"Its scalability can be better. It is probably not as scalable as Oracle. I had some issues with connectors. I used it from a C++ program, and it required some work to make it run, but finally, it worked."
"SAP SQL Anywhere needs to incorporate functionalities like SAP S/4HANA."
"The interface is not easy in comparison to the SQL Server. It could be more user-friendly."
"A problem we are experiencing now is when doing a backup in SQL 2012 and 14."
"We have had some stability issues with SAP SQL Anywhere, but I am not sure if it is an application or network issue. We sometimes have a large amount of data being queried and it cannot handle it."
"It is not as secure as it could be."
"Debugging from the debugger tool functionality should be enhanced."
"The stored procedure integration with our development could be better. Things are always changing very fast at Microsoft, and it takes a lot of resources to get on top of it. We're struggling with version control. In terms of new features, we don't have any feature requests. We are not focusing on the database."
"Database support could be improved."
"The scalability and the high availability feature can be expanded or improved. Currently, there is a limitation on scalability. A feature similar to the Oracle Diagnostic feature can be included to provide a better user experience."
"SQL Server could improve by being more user-friendly, it is still geared towards specialists. Additionally, the monitoring system is difficult to use, not everyone can use it well. The configuration should be able to be done through the GUI."
"Scalability is an area that needs improvement, and the deployment is difficult, which why I'm looking for an appliance to deploy it in a much more scalable way."
"The only item which I can list is application failure during Integration Services debugging, when restarting a process flow. In a number of instances the solutions fails. I have not given this much thought and simply stop and start the debugging service rather than restarting."
"Microsoft could improve SQL Server by integrating the tools better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't pay for a license."
"It's an open-source database management system that can be used free of charge."
"I rate the solution's pricing as four out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. For our basic needs, it's quite affordable. However, the cost increases when we need to scale up or require high availability. Our developer team of about 600 people uses MySQL without much issue. The pricing becomes more of a concern on the business side, as we have more end users and need constant database availability and scaling. In those cases, the solution gets a bit more expensive, even though it provides good value for the business."
"MySQL is a cheap solution."
"The solution is open source so is free."
"I use a free version at present."
"We are using the free community version of the solution."
"The tool is open source."
"SAP SQL Anywhere is affordable."
"SQL Anywhere cost us about $400."
"Their options for concurrency and locking are good, as well as their prices."
"We did a one-time payment. Its price, in general, can be reduced."
"Its price is fine. You have to buy the license and support."
"The licenses are really expensive. Their licensing model should be more simplistic."
"Currently, almost all of my machines are in Azure and I think it is the best way of licensing now (VM+software)."
"For smaller companies, they find this solution expensive."
"It is something we have been using for a lot of years. If we're paying, it should be reasonable."
"There is a license required for this solution. One of the problems is for smaller businesses to purchases a license because it is expensive for a lot of them to afford."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business73
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise61
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business121
Midsize Enterprise58
Large Enterprise112
 

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 y...
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 version...
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 ...
What needs improvement with SAP SQL Anywhere?
SAP SQL Anywhere needs to incorporate functionalities like SAP S/4HANA.
Would you say the price of SQL Server is high compared to that of similar products?
SQL Server is fairly priced because it has various editions, depending on the number of users, servers, or core packs...
Has using SQL Server helped your organization in any way?
SQL Server has helped my organization through partitioning to distribute the workload, as it splits them up into smal...
Which authentication mode is best for SQL Server?
My company connects through SQL Server authentication. We have company Windows accounts, but we do not want to connec...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Sybase SQL Anywhere
Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
AOK Bundesverband, Surgutneftegas Open Joint Stock Company, Molson Coors Brewing Company, City of Buenos Aires, ASR Group, Citrix, EarlySense, Usha International Limited, Automotive Resources International, Wªrth Group, Takisada-Osaka Co. Ltd., Coelba, RZD Russian Railways, National Basketball Association, TALLY WEiJL
Microsoft SQL Server is used by businesses in every industry, including Great Western Bank, Aviva, the Volvo Car Corporation, BMW, Samsung, Principality Building Society, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and others in Relational Databases Tools. Updated: August 2025.
867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.