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SAP IQ vs SAP SQL Anywhere comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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 IQ
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
26th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (13th)
SAP SQL Anywhere
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
18th
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 May 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of SAP IQ is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP SQL Anywhere is 0.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

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.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"All data is compressed and indexed, allowing for fast execution of transactions."
"Unbeatable speed and compression with a colummn-structured relational database."
"Valuable features for us include the compression, speed, fast response time, and easy object maintenance."
"Columnar storage allows high compression, high load rates and high query performance."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The product is easy to learn."
"The primary benefit of SAP IQ is its ability to limit the expansion of the costly SAP HANA database, which has limited storage capacity. This necessitates a form of data management that involves moving data from SAP HANA to SAP NLS, which is essentially archiving. This allows us to retain access to the data via a link whenever it is required."
"IQ is a very high-performance and high-transaction database."
"The most valuable features of SAP SQL Anywhere are the ease of use and the user interface is intuitive."
"It works well in general."
"We've found the solution very reliable overall. It's very fast."
"The auto-backup replication is a perfect feature. That is the feature I liked the most."
"SAP SQL Anywhere is very helpful."
 

Cons

"There is very little documentation available."
"Multiplex is very problematic. There are consistency problems in the metadata, meaning it is possible to lose metadata consistency. You should make sure you have healthy backups."
"The tool gets stuck sometimes."
"The solution works best when combined with other SAP solutions. If the environment has other systems other options might be better."
"Concurrency and functional error messaging."
"The only negative aspect of IQ is the cost, which can be challenging for companies in Peru."
"The room for improvement would be the marketing of the product, because this product is much better than advertised."
"I think the universe should be part of the Sybase IQ tool set."
"A problem we are experiencing now is when doing a backup in SQL 2012 and 14."
"The interface is not easy in comparison to the SQL Server. It could be more user-friendly."
"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."
"SAP SQL Anywhere needs to incorporate functionalities like SAP S/4HANA."
"It is not as secure as it could be."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The only costs after standard licensing fees are for add-ons and upgrades."
"The cost of implementation is about $3,000."
"Negotiation is very important."
"Negotiate based on the features required."
"It's not that costly. So, the pricing is cheap."
"Evaluate all options; check to see if you need expensive add-ons."
"SQL Anywhere cost us about $400."
"SAP SQL Anywhere is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
46%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What needs improvement with SAP IQ?
The primary negative aspect is the cost, which can be a challenge due to the economic conditions in Peru.
What is your primary use case for SAP IQ?
I worked on implementing new databases, migration data in production, and developer environments with SAP IQ.
What needs improvement with SAP SQL Anywhere?
SAP SQL Anywhere needs to incorporate functionalities like SAP S/4HANA.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Sybase IQ
Sybase SQL Anywhere
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ASR Group, Citrix, State of Indiana, PocketCard Co. Ltd.
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 SAP IQ vs. SAP SQL Anywhere and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.