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SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise vs SAP HANA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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

SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
20th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP HANA
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
88
Ranking in other categories
Data Virtualization (2nd), Embedded Database (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise is 0.9%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP HANA is 10.5%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Tejas Raj - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers cost-efficiency as it needs a very small amount of RAM to function
SAP is least bothered about Adaptive Server Enterprise nowadays since it wants to focus on promoting its new product, which is S/4HANA. If SAP gives out new releases and a patch upgrade to improve performance and provide additional options, then SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise can compete with other relational database systems in the market. The overall performance of the product is an area where the tool has certain shortcomings and needs to improve. I work in a very stable environment, and I prefer a very stable replication and database management system. Most of our company's customers do not want to opt out of SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, but SAP has announced that it will be ending its support for it in 2027, and though I feel SAP might extend it, I feel SAP will want to promote its new product. Previously, I heard that SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise's end-of-support dates were announced for 2025, but now I think that they have extended it to 2027 or 2030.
Dhiraj Jankar - PeerSpot reviewer
Users appreciate the mix of in-memory architecture and ease of backend management
The most valuable SAP HANA features are that, compared to Oracle, there is less administrative work and less complex work to handle, making it very straightforward. The tool itself takes care of the backend work. The main benefits SAP HANA provides to users include its architecture, which combines both column store and row store capabilities. Some places find the row feature important, whereas others find column store important. It allows some tables to be stored in a column base, others in a row base, and the In-Memory functionalities are mostly the highlight of SAP HANA, especially compared to disk-based memory users. This was the main reason SAP HANA was introduced initially.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"They provide easy integration with other systems."
"The actual interface is good."
"This is a wonderful database that is, in my opinion, underrated. Users are able to get the most out of my experience by taking advantage of its centralized environment."
"It's user-friendly, especially in the logistics field."
"Provides very good integration."
"SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise is a good transactional database."
"It's pretty good at handling a large number of transactions, which is critical for a banking client."
"The most valuable part of the tool stems from the fact that it is a very cost-efficient product compared to the newer technologies because it needs a very small amount of RAM."
"SAP HANA's most valuable features are monitoring, reporting, and price and stock control."
"The product handles high volumes very well and provides good integration."
"As I only worked part-time on SAP HANA, I did not have the opportunity to explore the advanced features of the solution. However, I did work with basic features, such as user administration and access controls for the accounting department. The feature that stood out to me the most was the Single Sign-On and user administration, backup, and server management. My experience with SAP HANA was mainly focused on basic server improvements."
"The performance in terms of processing time is unmatched due to the in-memory processing capability."
"What I like best about SAP HANA is that it's faster than Microsoft SQL Server."
"We use SAP HANA for Master Data Governance."
"The performance is very, very good. It's one of the best aspects of the solution."
"SAP HANA is one of the best databases known for its performance...The new version of the solution is stable."
 

Cons

"The overall performance of the product is an area where the tool has certain shortcomings and needs to improve."
"SAP should refine its debugging method, and the process needs to be a little faster. It should use more Pragmas and fewer pseudocomments. I would like if SAP added more features based on advanced technologies, like artificial intelligence and voice control. The modularization and if-else techniques could also incorporate the latest technology to code and solve complex problems. The SAP Editor should be more elaborative, and it should allow many more types of statements for all uses."
"In my opinion, product support is not that great from SAP because they have already declared the end-of-date for SAP ASE. They will be stopping product support."
"User interface could be more user friendly."
"There could be some improvements in barcode scanning and RFID access."
"The solution should improve view partitioning. The documentation is very confined and available only for users. Distributors also would like access to it."
"Cost-wise, SAP is still expensive compared to other available products."
"I think that the solution needs to be positioned better within the market as it appears as though the Adaptive Server is being left out of the SAP scope."
"SAP HANA is not strong like Oracle when it comes to finance. They are only strong with the logistic business project."
"The solution's development platform should be more flexible and scalable to adapt to other solutions."
"The releases need to be more stable. It's surprising to still encounter significant bugs after ten years of the product being available."
"It's a complex initial setup."
"The initial setup was pretty complex, considering the enormous amount of data they had from an Oracle ERP."
"The solution could improve by having better migration flexibility. For example, it would be helpful if there was a way for customers could check their nonproduction and production deployments."
"The product lacks some flexibility in its settings and configurations."
"The surface side or Attack dashboard needs improvement because there are some gaps after sales services."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise, the product is worth it since one needs very less infrastructure to use it."
"I rate SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise's pricing a six out of ten."
"The licensing cost for ASE is pretty low."
"The pricing is relatively high for both customers and partners."
"It is expensive."
"The solution's license is very expensive so I rate pricing a one out of ten."
"The price of SAP HANA is very expensive and it is paid annually."
"We pay for a maintenance license, and the licensing cost is high. In general, it is a very expensive solution."
"The price of this product is good."
"We pay annually for the license of the solution."
"The cost of SAP HANA is high, and I would rate the price at eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise?
SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise is a good transactional database.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise?
The licensing cost for ASE is pretty low when you compare it with Microsoft SQL Server. If you compare it with SQL Server, it is pretty low.
What needs improvement with SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise?
The main thing is it's not getting upgraded to meet today's needs. It's not upgrading at the level of transaction needs. For example, PostgreSQL or Oracle, these are pretty good databases. They can...
What are the biggest benefits of using SAP HANA?
Based on my work with SAP HANA, the biggest benefit that it can bring to your business is total data management. This product is by SAP - a company that serves almost all needs a client may have co...
Is SAP HANA’s customer and technical support reliable?
We have been using SAP HANA for a fairly short period of time and have only taken advantage of their customer support. So far, we have not had issues that required specialized help from technical s...
Is SAP HANA difficult to set up and start using?
SAP HANA is fairly easy to set up, however, I do not think a complete beginner can do it. You certainly need some preparation - either you need to have experience with similar solutions, or with ot...
 

Also Known As

SAP ASE
SAP High-Performance Analytic Appliance, HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Buenos Aires, ASR Group, Citrix, EarlySense, Usha International Limited, Automotive Resources International (ARI), Takisada-Osaka Co. Ltd., Coelba (Grupo Neoenergia), RZD Russian Railways, National Basketball Association - NBA, TALLY
Unilever, NHS 24, adidas Group, CHIO Aachen, Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise vs. SAP HANA and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.