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Oracle Database vs SAP SQL Anywhere comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Oracle Database
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
294
Ranking in other categories
Database Management Systems (DBMS) (2nd)
SAP SQL Anywhere
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
34th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Oracle Database is 10.4%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SQL Anywhere is 1.4%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Database10.4%
SAP SQL Anywhere1.4%
Other88.2%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Philemon Olusegun - PeerSpot reviewer
Qhse Manager at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees
Reliable backups and high-capacity data management have transformed large-scale census projects
When it comes to how Oracle Database can be improved, for me it is all about training and development in terms of gamification, creating awareness, and spreading the word to aspiring database administrators and database developers. As I have used it in the past and in recent times, many people are trying to get into IT, so the opportunity exists. Oracle has the market opportunity to take this time to spread its offerings and ensure that many aspiring professionals are aware of its services and products. From my perspective, there is not much to add regarding the needed improvements for the interface and the documentation. I give it a nine because I think Oracle sometimes can make things complicated. You have many services, many products, and many tools for different use cases. So it is difficult for someone who is only used to a particular product, such as Oracle Database, to understand all the other products and services that it provides. Probably streamlining it and making it available with categorized use cases for specific job roles would help. If you are a database developer, these are the tools that you need to be familiar with in Oracle's suite of products, and if you are a database administrator, these are the tools. Categorizing them based on the job role or function of people who are accessing these products and providing training capabilities on how to use them and how these products interchange and talk to each other would be very important because that is one of the things I struggled with when I started my journey as an Oracle Database administrator. Having that visibility of all the software products and providing free training and documentation on how you can improve and which products are best suited for integration to your product from Oracle would go a long way to help organizations and professionals. Regarding Oracle Database's AI capabilities, I am very keen on its governance and security. I think more work needs to be done on the security and ensuring that the database for a large number of people is watertight. AI is here to stay; however, governance and more stress testing of the AI capabilities needs to be done to ensure there is no breach of data. I would rate it currently at 6 over 10 and there is room for improvement. As long as there are government policies and Oracle policies that can mitigate any breaches of data and serious security issues, releasing people's records over the internet, there is always room for improvement in that regard.
Crewmem67 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Consultant at College Notre Dame de Nazareth
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is very fast. The response times are very fast."
"After starting with the database and realizing that the information there is always correct, teams start to be more productive, since they don’t have to spend that time crosschecking."
"It is a stable product, and in terms of recovery, if there is a failure or some kind of fault, we can recover the data and we do not lose it."
"Oracle Database has various remarkable features like Advanced Security and Advanced Compression."
"The Oracle Database is a monster, with many faces and many parts."
"The features that I have found most valuable are things like cluster setup and RAC One. We are using the main CQN and third party plugin support right now. We are relying on different languages support that we are getting from the Oracle side. It is one of the major areas in which Oracle excels compared to other databases."
"This is an extremely reliable solution with very high system resilience."
"It's a very stable solution."
"It works well in general."
"The auto-backup replication is a perfect feature. That is the feature I liked the most."
"We've found the solution very reliable overall. It's very fast."
"The most valuable features of SAP SQL Anywhere are the ease of use and the user interface is intuitive."
"It's a great product to use if you are already have an integration with SAP's ERP/CRM systems."
"SAP SQL Anywhere is very helpful."
"SQL Anywhere is easy and it did not cost as much as SQL Microsoft."
 

Cons

"It could be slightly more intuitive, but other than that, we really like it as a solution."
"The main thing we find could use improvement is the licensing costs. It is quite expensive relative to other database vendors. Cost always comes up as an issue for us as we consider upgrade paths. It's not as easy as we would like it to be."
"Oracle Database could improve security to make the solution better in the future."
"Sometimes, the patches supplied by Oracle to update the software do not work."
"The product could be cheaper."
"The licensing could be cheaper and clearer."
"Technical support and how they treat their customers need to be improved."
"I provide disaster recovery services; they should look at how to recover production systems during disaster recovery. I don’t see a feature to easily recover all of the databases, especially RAC systems."
"Performance issues when syncing the MBO packages to the server."
"It is not as secure as it could be."
"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."
"The interface is not easy in comparison to the SQL Server. It could be more user-friendly."
"It is not as secure as it could be; there needs to be more encryption and we can find passwords very easily."
"SAP SQL Anywhere needs to incorporate functionalities like SAP S/4HANA."
"A problem we are experiencing now is when doing a backup in SQL 2012 and 14 there's a problem with the license."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I understand that Oracle is very expensive compared to other databases."
"We need to pay an annual subscription for the solution, which is moderately priced."
"I am using the trial version."
"The pricing should be cheaper."
"Because it is a bundled product, we have no choice but to purchase the Oracle Database."
"My company has opted for perpetual licensing. We only need to make payments toward the licensing of the product."
"It was purchased by our client. It might have been a one-time payment. It doesn't seem to be very expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"SAP SQL Anywhere is affordable."
"SQL Anywhere cost us about $400."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
9%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business87
Midsize Enterprise66
Large Enterprise180
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How do you run Oracle Database at your organization and why?
My company has been using Oracle Exadata Database Service for some years now, and we are happy with it. I will allow myself to answer your questions about why and what benefits it provides us with ...
Do you know of any disadvantages of Oracle Database?
Undoubtedly, Oracle Database is a top product in its category. But it does have its disadvantages, and for me and my organization, that has been the limitations of the product. When it comes to Ora...
What is the best use for Oracle Database?
Oracle Database is flexible and can be used for many things. My company's main use case for this product is for storing data. We benefit from its high level of security as well as from the fact tha...
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Also Known As

Oracle 12c, RDBMS
Sybase SQL Anywhere
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Agncia Nacional de guas, Anbima, Aria Systems, Asiana Airlines, Astelit LLC, Australian Finance Group, Banco Occidental de Descuento, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, BT, Caja de Seguros S.A., Casas GEO S.A.B. de C.V., Comic Relief UK, Corsair Components Inc., CSAM Health AS, CSOB Group, Datacraft Solutions, DenizBank A.S., Department of Treasury and Finance WA, Office of State Revenue, Deutsche B_rse AG, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Deutsche Messe AG, Digicel Haiti, DPR COSEA, Essar Group, Essatto Software Pty Ltd, Farmšcia e Drogaria Nissei Ltda., Fomento Econ‹mico Mexicano S.A.B. de C.V. (FEMSA), FundaÊo Petrobras de Seguridade Social, Future Group, GFKL Financial Services AG, Grupo Posadas S.A.B. de C.V., Grupo Sinosserra, Guerra S.A. Implementos Rodovišrios, Hanatour International Service, Hays plc, Henan Mobile Co. Ltd, Hochschule Hof, Hong Kong and China Technology (Wuhan) Co. Ltd (Towngas Technology), Industries Corpa_al C.A., Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatstica, Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial, Kcell, LinkShare Corporation, MercadoLibre Inc., MetLife Inc., Nextgen Distribution, €BB-IKT GmbH, Octagon Research Solutions, Pacific Lutheran University, Paragon Data GmbH, Ping ltd., PJSC Trustbank, Prodaub _ Processamento de Dados de Uberl_ndia, Purdue University, Redknee Inc., Robi Axiata Limited, Shanghai Infoservice Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai Sihua Technologies Co. Ltd, Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de M_xico, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Suddenlink Communications, Suprajit Engineering Limited, Tallink Grupp, Terminales Ro de la Plata S.A., Therap Services LLC, Think Passenger Inc., Trafigura, Transmed S.A.L Lebanon, ValeShop, VelQuest Corporation, Vodafone Group plc, West Virginia Network, WIND Hellas Telecommunications S.A
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Database vs. SAP SQL Anywhere and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
906,829 professionals have used our research since 2012.