Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Database as a Service comparison

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

6.7

Organizations using Azure SQL Database report cost savings, enhanced efficiency, and reduced data center needs with pay-per-use models.

Sentiment score

4.1

Oracle Database as a Service offers productivity and security benefits, despite high costs, with strong preference in regions like APAC.

It is ensuring we receive what we pay for through the blend of price, performance, and features.

Michael Hamlett

Senior Manager, Information Technology of Data Strategies at a hospitality company with 5,001-10,000 employees

If you're managing your own data center, you always have to overprovision your systems and pay for storage space you're not using.

Maanda Ambani

Senior AI Specialist at Nedbank

We've reduced costs by about 20 percent after two or three years.

reviewer2595777

Azure Cloud Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure SQL Database report

In Bangladesh, digital banking is becoming prominent within a couple of years, so all banking systems will be digital.

For more quotes and insights, download the Oracle Database as a Service report

Associate at Eict ltd.

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.4

Microsoft Azure SQL Database's customer service is effective but varies; larger accounts receive better support than smaller users.

Sentiment score

7.2

Oracle Database support is responsive but needs better communication, efficiency, multilingual resources, and support team segmentation.

Microsoft played a significant role, even from a training perspective, and provided resources that directed us toward the right deployment path.

Maanda Ambani

Senior AI Specialist at Nedbank

Once I reach the right people, the support is incredibly knowledgeable and thorough.

Tom Geairn

CTO at 2W Technologies, INC

Microsoft provides excellent service and is always available to support us.

reviewer2595303

Sr. Principal Database at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure SQL Database report

Oracle provides expert support globally, not just in South Asia -- also in Europe and America.

For more quotes and insights, download the Oracle Database as a Service report

Associate at Eict ltd.

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.2

Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers flexible scalability, easy workload management, seamless tier transitions, and supports user expansion with robust infrastructure.

Sentiment score

6.1

Oracle Database as a Service is highly scalable, supporting numerous users and servers, but scaling costs could improve.

Scaling the solution is incredibly simple and involves just clicking a button or dragging a slider.

Michael Hamlett

Senior Manager, Information Technology of Data Strategies at a hospitality company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Azure's scalability features like Elasticity are essential.

Kiran Chintala

Solutions Architect at ITCON SERVICES, LLC

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is cloud-based, so it's great for scaling workloads.

reviewer2595312

System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure SQL Database report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Oracle Database as a Service report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.2

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is praised for reliability, excellent uptime, and improved performance, with minor latency issues reported.

Sentiment score

6.9

Oracle Database as a Service is praised for its strong stability, reliability, and smooth integration, despite some scalability concerns.

We can't tell the difference between running on-prem or Azure because we no longer have those latency issues.

Maanda Ambani

Senior AI Specialist at Nedbank

SQL never crashes or suddenly becomes unavailable.

Fredrick Weinshenk

Cloud Engineer at Med Tech Solutions

I would assess the reliability of Microsoft Azure SQL Database in terms of maintaining uptime and availability as being excellent with zero complaints.

Matthew Parker

Ai Team Lead at Phoenix Software

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure SQL Database report

The solution is stable, resilient, and doesn't crash under pressure.

For more quotes and insights, download the Oracle Database as a Service report

Associate at Eict ltd.

Room For Improvement

Azure SQL Database needs enhanced security, scalability, clear pricing, better documentation, broader compatibility, and improved user interface and automation.

Oracle Database as a Service needs complexity reduction, enhanced integration, improved usability, security, automation, and flexible licensing to boost adoption.

It would be helpful if CPU performance were not pinned to the amount of storage you're using, and we could scale different properties of the Azure SQL database independently.

reviewer2595777

Azure Cloud Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

As a customer, I believe something which has been established, stable, and rugged for a very long time also needs cost optimization.

Varun Agrawal

Assistant Vice President at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

I could not get an accurate quote on what my monthly costs would be based on my needs.

Michael Hamlett

Senior Manager, Information Technology of Data Strategies at a hospitality company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure SQL Database report

With the advent of generative AI, adding functionality where current administrative activities could be automated would be beneficial.

reviewer2728149

Presales Manager | Global at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees

The issue with licensing is the price and the way they license through partners.

reviewer1291212

Client CTO at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

It would be beneficial if Oracle could offer features similar to those provided by open-source platforms like Postgres, such as a multi-core-based platform and a shared node database.

For more quotes and insights, download the Oracle Database as a Service report

Associate at Eict ltd.

Setup Cost

Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers flexible pricing but is perceived as moderately expensive, requiring careful budget considerations.

Oracle Database as a Service is costly, includes licenses and support, with high technical support quality but added fees.

Azure Hybrid Benefit reduced costs by facilitating an easy transition of on-premises databases to the cloud.

Charley Hanania

Data Platform Specialist at QS2 AG - Quality Software Solutions

Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap.

Fabricio Noriega

Software Architect at Dynaxti

It greatly reduces the total cost of ownership through efficient licensing depending on the client, the cost savings, and hybrid benefits.

Fredrick Weinshenk

Cloud Engineer at Med Tech Solutions

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure SQL Database report

Prices are high.

For more quotes and insights, download the Oracle Database as a Service report

Associate at Eict ltd.

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure SQL Database provides seamless scalability, dynamic resource management, high efficiency, and cost-effective integration with Microsoft applications.

Oracle Database as a Service is praised for its multitenancy, scalability, security, analytics, and seamless integration with Oracle applications.

The simplicity in usability, along with improved organizational productivity where we no longer need to maintain on-premises SQL servers, is invaluable.

reviewer2596431

Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

The Software as a Service model is more effective and easier to access in terms of security, as Azure provides security at the security layer, reducing the risk of breach.

Fatai Akinwande

Specialist Datacenter and Server at IHS Towers

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.

Thomas Sawyer

Executive Director, Platform Architecture at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft Azure SQL Database report

The encryption level, resilience, and secure features from both clients, particularly the resilience aspect of Oracle Database, are highly valuable.

For more quotes and insights, download the Oracle Database as a Service report

Associate at Eict ltd.

The valuable features include availability, agility, and scalability.

reviewer2728149

Presales Manager | Global at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees

The functionalities and capabilities that I prefer the most in Oracle Database as a Service are the database replication function for high availability, which is what we are using.

reviewer1291212

Client CTO at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

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 Database as a Service

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 11.3%, down from 16.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Database as a Service is 7.1%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database	11.3%
Oracle Database as a Service	7.1%
Other	81.6%

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

Thomas Sawyer

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.

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Offers robust security and resilience, but high pricing impacts accessibility

Associate at Eict ltd.

Initially, I walked through Teradata and not Oracle Database. Currently, I am doing a job for an organization that uses Postgres Database and offers a cloud solution. I work in technology advocacy for partners. Cloud solutions are our focus The encryption level, resilience, and secure features…

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See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database as a Service (DBaaS) solutions are best for your needs.

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879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	59
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	61

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	32

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?

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 do you like most about Oracle Database as a Service?

It has significantly enhanced our application development process by introducing substantial time savings and streamlining routine tasks.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database as a Service?

The setup cost is approximately four hours.

What needs improvement with Oracle Database as a Service?

I see some negative sides that could be improved, and that is the licensing. The issue with licensing is the price and the way they license through partners.

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Comparisons

Compared 21% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 17% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 13% of the time

Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 9% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

Amazon RDS vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 26% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 14% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 13% of the time

Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 7% of the time

Google Cloud SQL vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 7% of the time

More Oracle Database as a Service Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Oracle Database as a Service

Download Oracle Database as a Service product report

Also Known As

No data available

Oracle DBaaS, Oracle Database Cloud

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 Cloud Service combines the power of Oracle Database, with the unique capabilities of the Oracle Cloud. The service provides a secure, automated data management platform that leverages on demand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services via a simple web based user interface and RESTful API. Oracle Database Cloud Service provides elastic database services for development, test, and production environments of custom and packaged online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing, and mixed workload applications. It enables businesses to reap all Oracle Platform as a Service (PaaS) benefits including subscriptionbased, self-service access to reliable, scalable, and elastic cloud environments and accelerates time to value by simplifying the provisioning and administration of Oracle databases.

Oracle

Sample Customers

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

Solution-Soft, DX Marketing, Suredell and Partners, Frontiers, SettleOurEstate.com, Demand Analysis Ltd, endlich IT & Projekt Service OHG

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service