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Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database comparison

Google and Microsoft are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Google is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.8, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7. Google holds a 16.2% mindshare in DS, compared to Microsoft’s 15.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
Google Cloud SQL
Read 22 Google Cloud SQL reviews
  • 2,949 Views
  • 2,698 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Read 117 Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews
  • 5,959 Views
  • 2,686 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Microsoft Azure SQL Database and Google Cloud SQL both compete in the cloud database service category. Microsoft Azure SQL Database has a slight edge due to its seamless integration within the Azure ecosystem and flexible pricing models.

Features: Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers geographical replication, ease of scaling, and memory-optimized tables. Google Cloud SQL supports multiple database types such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, offers automatic scaling, and robust data security features.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Azure SQL Database could refine its security features and improve support for distributed transactions. Google Cloud SQL would benefit from better integration with other tools and enhanced documentation. Users find the complexity of managing extensions and high I/O operations challenging.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is praised for its ease of use and robust support system, although some experience delays with first-line support. Google Cloud SQL is adaptable across various environments and features strong customer service, though access to global support could be improved.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure SQL Database's flexible pricing models, although higher than some competitors, offer significant ROI and integration capabilities. Google Cloud SQL is considered cost-effective with no licensing fees and offers a straightforward cost model aligned with industry standards.

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To learn more, read our detailed Google Cloud SQL vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Google Cloud SQL vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database
April 2025
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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud SQL
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
117
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Google Cloud SQL is 16.2%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 15.9%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Prathap Sankar - PeerSpot reviewer
Gain control and flexibility with customizable tools but has slower performance
I am majorly working in Google Cloud SQL for building my applications Google Cloud SQL provides complete customization options, along with a dashboarding tool and a comprehensive suite of tools that can be used to customize and build any application needed. The deployment model allows for…
Read full review
Charley Hanania - PeerSpot reviewer
It is very easy to implement, manage, and offers great insights into what is happening inside the engine
Microsoft Azure SQL Database is integrated into other Azure capabilities and has a great foundation being on SQL Server with a long history of security, performance, and usability from a DBA perspective. Once you've set up a server, adding databases is easy. There's a minor challenge with having data in separate databases that you want to connect like we do on premises. I'm looking forward to using some of these new AI-driven functions that have come out around vectorization. Having the data closer to my transactional databases or data makes it easy to augment and enhance the Database and applications I currently use. It's great that Azure SQL now seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Fabric. It's a first-tier service in the cloud that connects to web applications and other databases. The data transformation orchestration capabilities within Database Factory and similar capabilities make it effortless to move that stuff forward.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The valuable feature of Google Cloud SQL is its high availability option. The product is stable."
"Ease of management and the ability to oversee the statistics of your SQL."
"Google Cloud SQL enhances our AI-driven projects by providing features like query optimization and scalability for efficiently processing large datasets."
"What I like the most about Google Cloud SQL is that it handles the management, which allows us to concentrate on our applications."
"This is a stable solution and offers good performance."
"The product is scalable."
"It supports different databases, like Postgres and MySQL."
"It directly provides robust data safety. It also offers various other storage options, such as Google Cloud Storage. These services ensure data security and redundancy. Furthermore, it includes different storage classes, allowing flexible data management tailored to specific needs."
More Google Cloud SQL pros
"The stability is excellent because it is easier for us to connect to the cloud rather than connecting to MSSP."
"The on-premise SQL Server licenses can be used since it is on Azure, so it's a significant savings for the customers."
"We're a Microsoft customer, so it fits in with everything else we work with."
"The main advantage of it is that there is no infrastructure cost. We don't have to host it here. So, there is no infrastructure cost."
"The backup solution in Azure is great, the firewall settings in SQL are very easy to use and work very well. Additionally, the turning process is very good and has improved the SQL services and queries."
"It is easily scalable, and it is faster than SQL Server. It is also less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."
"The initial setup is very easy. It's extremely straightforward."
"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database nine out of 10."
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros
 

Cons

"The performance compared to AWS is not as fast, and the technical support could be better as they don't have a dedicated team, but mostly AI handles the support now."
"Google's technical support is good, but they tend to never reopen a case and to send us snippets from the publicly available documentation. It's not as helpful as you would expect, not just for Google Cloud SQL but for all of Google Cloud products."
"For data analysis, the AI area of the product has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"I would appreciate more flexibility with specific extensions applicable to engines like PostgreSQL. This would enhance the capabilities of Google Cloud SQL."
"I am yet to explore a lot of features that are present in this solution. However, it would be good if more documentation is available for this solution. This would help us in preparing for the certification exam and understand it better. Currently, we don't have much documentation. We do the labs for 20 or 25 minutes, but we can't capture and download anything."
"The purging of the data could be better."
"They could improve documentation and dashboard stability for efficient user experience and database management."
"The most vulnerable problem with Google SQL is that while you can customize your access control list, it provides you with a public IP address."
More Google Cloud SQL cons
"I would like to see integration with Snowflake."
"The solution’s visibility could be improved."
"SQL Azure could improve by adding more features."
"Its compatibility with existing applications can be improved. Its compatibility is currently a little bit imbalanced."
"The only problem we have with Azure is regarding the price."
"If there are areas for improvement, one aspect could be the user interface. It could be made more user-friendly and similar to Google BigQuery's interface."
"The problem is the automated configuration."
"The product could be more competitive in terms of features, security, and scalability."
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While the platform’s pricing may be higher, it aligns with industry standards, considering the quality of service and features provided."
"The pricing is very much an important factor as to why we use this solution."
"It is not expensive, especially considering the significant reduction in database management time."
"The solution is affordable."
"From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side."
"You need to pay extra costs for backup and replication."
"It's really cheap. It wouldn't be more than, I believe it's around 50 euro per month for running a cloud SQL."
"Its price can definitely be lower. It is pretty pricey."
"The solution is more cost-effective than Google BigQuery. Compared to Google BigQuery, downloading data can be more expensive."
"It is beneficial in terms of cost because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing."
"The pricing is actually complicated, and that is probably one downside of it. In some respects, although we can plan for the costs on a month-by-month basis, we are finding it hard to project our costings for it. Fundamentally, Microsoft is offering two pricing models, and it is challenging to understand the differences between the two. We're basically on the DTU model at the moment. That may change in the future as the size grows, but it is one of those things that we'll end up monitoring as we progress. At the moment, to get a reasonable response, generally, the price is a little high for us, but it is one of those things for which we know that we can do improvements on our code. So, it is not just the service that's the problem; it is some of the things that we need to do as well."
"The license is based on the number of users."
"It only has a subscription-based license."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap."
"It is expensive. Snowflake and PostgreSQL are cheaper than this. Google is also cheaper than Azure. Its licensing is on a pay-as-you-go basis. It is based on usage and storage."
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
8%
Retailer
8%
Educational Organization
71%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
2%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Cloud SQL?
The implementation part of the product was easy.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud SQL?
The cost is expensive, especially for services like BigQuery, which charge based on query operations. We pay as we use, with no fixed cost.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Google Cloud SQL?
Google Cloud SQL needs to improve its support for high-end I/O operations. On-prem systems with high I/O capabilities perform better, as Google Cloud SQL takes more time to handle the same tasks. T...
See all answers
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.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
The pricing of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap, affecting user uptake. A gradual reduction in price could improve accessibility and user numbers, making it easier for users to adopt the s...
See all answers
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
Pricing could be improved to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database ( /products/microsoft-azure-sql-database-reviews ) more accessible. A reduction in price might encourage more users and bring more pro...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Amazon RDS vs Google Cloud SQL
Compared 35% of the time
MongoDB Atlas vs Google Cloud SQL Logo
MongoDB Atlas vs Google Cloud SQL
Compared 12% of the time
Oracle Database as a Service vs Google Cloud SQL Logo
Oracle Database as a Service vs Google Cloud SQL
Compared 7% of the time
Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Cloud SQL Logo
Google Cloud Spanner vs Google Cloud SQL
Compared 4% of the time
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Google Cloud SQL Logo
Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Google Cloud SQL
Compared 2% of the time
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Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 25% of the time
MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 16% of the time
Oracle Database as a Service vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
Oracle Database as a Service vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 8% of the time
vCloud Air vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
vCloud Air vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 3% of the time
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database Logo
Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Compared 3% of the time
More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Google Cloud SQL
April 2025
Google Cloud SQL reportDownload Google Cloud SQL product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure SQL Database
April 2025
Microsoft Azure SQL Database reportDownload Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report
 

Overview

Google Cloud SQL is a fully-managed database service that makes it easy to set up, maintain, manage, and administer your relational PostgreSQL and MySQL databases in the cloud. Google Cloud SQL offers high performance, scalability, and convenience. Hosted on Google Cloud Platform, Cloud SQL provides a database infrastructure for applications running anywhere.

Google

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
 

Sample Customers

BeDataDriven, CodeFutures, Daffodil, GenieConnect, KiSSFLOW, LiveHive, SulAm_rica, Zync
adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
Buyer's Guide
Google Cloud SQL vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database
April 2025
Free Report: Google Cloud SQL vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud SQL vs. Microsoft Azure SQL Database and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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