Knowage vs SQL Server comparison

Why PeerSpot?

The compared Knowage and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Knowage is ranked #22 in RT , and holds a 2.0% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #1 in SQL , with an average rating of 8.2, and holds a 10.3% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Knowage users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Knowage

Read 18 Knowage reviews

3,821 Views
1,911 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

SQL Server

Read 276 SQL Server reviews

24,716 Views
22,244 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Knowage

SQL Server

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Knowage and SQL Server based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Salesforce, Plotly and others in Reporting.

To learn more, read our detailed Reporting Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Reporting

October 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 918,957 peers since 2012

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

Knowage

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (32nd), Reporting (22nd)

SQL Server

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

276

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (1st), Database Management Systems (DBMS) (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

Knowage and SQL Server aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Knowage is designed for Reporting and holds a mindshare of 2.0%, up 1.1% compared to last year.
SQL Server, on the other hand, focuses on Relational Databases Tools, holds 10.3% mindshare, down 15.1% since last year.

Reporting Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Knowage	2.0%
Tableau Enterprise	13.5%
Microsoft Power BI	12.6%
Other	71.9%

Reporting

Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
SQL Server	10.3%
Oracle Database	10.3%
IBM Db2 Database	6.6%
Other	72.8%

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

Albert Masanja

Margin Assurance Analyst at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

A stable open source suite for modern business analytics with a useful replication feature

It would be better if more resources were available to help us learn how to use it. I wanted to use Knowage for a more extended period, but learning materials around the product were not really available and were not really straightforward. I've also seen inconsistencies between versions. For example, under the tools, especially in the cockpit, the way you create reports is now different. You will also find some configurations within a particular state, like a line chart, which differs from version to version. I think consistency is an essential feature in a product, especially for business intelligence products.

Read full review

Shakti Gupta

SQL server database administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Hybrid data platform has strengthened performance, security, and incident response for production

SQL Server is very mature, but I see areas for improvement, especially in performance tuning, troubleshooting, and automation. Although tools such as Query Store and dynamic management views are powerful, some troubleshooting tasks still require senior SQL Server database administrator expertise. It would be valuable to have more intelligent, built-in recommendations for root cause analysis, indexing, blocking, and query optimization. I would also like to see simplified and consistent management across on-premises SQL Server and Azure SQL services, as managing hybrid environments sometimes requires different tools and approaches. Finally, improved patching, updates, monitoring, and cost and license transparency could make SQL Server easier to manage at the enterprise scale. One area I would improve in SQL Server is its documentation and troubleshooting guidance. SQL Server documentation is comprehensive, but for complex production issues, I would like to see more real-world troubleshooting examples, especially for scenarios such as Always On synchronization issues, blocking and deadlocks, performance degradation, and upgrade features.

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

"I am satisfied with the product in general given what the company invested in it, which was just our time."

"It's very easy to get the historical reports you need based on the business requirements and this helps our executives for taking decisions."

"Instead of just relying on emails to disperse our reports, having a central server to do this for us has helped our organization and has pushed us into a better place."

"Our customers really appreciate the self-service BI functionalities."

"Nice features available in SpagoBI compared with other open-source BI are Auditing, Collaborative BI, Query By Example, and User Profiling."

"The embedding feature is great."

"In terms of ROI, much better than any other solution when it offer full fledged features in open source, planned to have direct contact with SpagoBI for better support."

"We can easily do our own customizations."

More Knowage pros

"It is stable, and it works okay."

"The solution is extremely stable; it's got an amazing backup repository system and a fail-safe system for any type of data loss, with backups stored on a day-to-day or even hourly basis and the ability to restore critical, recent, or archive data relatively fast."

"SQL Server is widely used and it's simple. You cannot do without Microsoft if you want to manage IT for a business customer."

"We are using it for accounts payable and accounts receivable automation."

"PaaS is a modern, scalable database, it is very easy, and you don't have to worry about versions and upgrades because Microsoft keeps on adding new features to this solution."

"There is improvement in the performances and stability."

"The product's initial setup phase was simple."

"It helps with moving the design of the database into reality."

More SQL Server pros

Cons

"I encountered a lot of issues when I tried to integrate the map in order to realize Intelligent Location Dashboards."

"We expected the community to be bigger than what it currently is."

"The support is very meager: We had to break our heads to figure out everything"

"There are additional features such as Data Integration, Data Visualization, MobileBI, Cloud BI, Data enrichment and massaging should be implemented in the next release."

"The demands of some jobs would slow Spago and lock the site, preventing any other job from processing."

"I faced difficulties when using the email feature and documentation was scant."

"Many things need to be improved, most of all robustness."

"Tomcat configuration was tricky in earlier versions."

More Knowage cons

"The way to make cursors and manage raw data in rows can be improved."

"I would like to see SQL Server add the ability to write to multiple sites or support replication between multiple sites at the transaction level."

"SQL Server needs to improve in performance and monitoring because there are no specific monitoring solutions to detect and analyze events for issues in the database. You have to use another monitoring solution. If Microsoft could provide an update to this solution or provide a monitoring solution specifically for SQL Server, it would be very valuable."

"I would like to see more integration with other products and it needs to be more secure."

"The time series database could be improved."

"Based on my experience, SQL Server is a common tool and does not offer significantly higher benefits or anything too special."

"The performance for the platform wasn't as good as I would like. I'm not entirely satisfied."

"The performance degrades when the data is huge."

More SQL Server cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Knowage is open-source, and an enterprise edition is also available."

"It allows the implementation of an effective reporting system using internal skills at a limited upfront cost."

"The price of SQL Server is great. In my company, SQL Server is part of the Microsoft Suite, we don't have to pay for any additional license costs, it's quite cost-effective for us."

"With recent releases, the Standard Edition (cheaper) SKU has some of the earlier version Enterprise features. SQL Express has some limitations."

"There is a license required for servers and for the POS we use the free version. The free version allows you to have tables and a total database size of approximately 10 GB, which is enough for our requirements."

"There is an annual license and it is priced reasonably."

"The licenses are really expensive. Their licensing model should be more simplistic."

"The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive."

"Some of the licensing are very expensive, such as the Enterprise license."

"It's cheaper than Oracle."

More SQL Server pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Reporting solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

918,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

20%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

35%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	119
Midsize Enterprise	60
Large Enterprise	122

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Would you say the price of SQL Server is high compared to that of similar products?

SQL Server is fairly priced because it has various editions, depending on the number of users, servers, or core packs you are using. If you compare the product to others in this category, the price...

See all answers

Has using SQL Server helped your organization in any way?

SQL Server has helped my organization through partitioning to distribute the workload, as it splits them up into smaller pieces so the machines can easily deal with it. However, this comes with a h...

See all answers

Which authentication mode is best for SQL Server?

My company connects through SQL Server authentication. We have company Windows accounts, but we do not want to connect the two, out of security concerns and to keep things separated for our own pur...

See all answers

Comparisons

Tableau Enterprise vs Knowage

Compared 7% of the time

Pentaho Business Analytics vs Knowage

Compared 7% of the time

Procurify vs Knowage

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Power BI vs Knowage

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs Knowage

Compared 4% of the time

More Knowage Competitors

IBM Db2 Database vs SQL Server

Compared 27% of the time

Oracle Database vs SQL Server

Compared 7% of the time

SAP HANA vs SQL Server

Compared 5% of the time

MySQL vs SQL Server

Compared 5% of the time

Teradata vs SQL Server

Compared 5% of the time

More SQL Server Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Knowage

October 2026

Download Knowage product report

Buyer's Guide

SQL Server

September 2026

Download SQL Server product report

Also Known As

SpagoBI

Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL

Overview

Knowage is an open-source business intelligence suite offering features like engine concepts and report customization. It's favored for its integration capabilities and self-service BI functionality, allowing users to leverage cross-platform access and conduct comprehensive data analysis.

Knowage stands out in the BI landscape by providing tools that facilitate autonomous data exploration, with an emphasis on flexibility and extensive integration options. With capabilities for embedding reports and dynamic dashboards, it supports various analysis needs through integration with databases and tools like Jasper and BIRT. Despite its technical complexity and interface limitations, Knowage's features such as GIS integration and big data visualization enhance operational efficiency and profitability analysis.

What are the key features of Knowage?

Powerful engines: Facilitate complex data processing with high efficiency.
Report customization: Tailor reports to meet specific business requirements.
Cross-platform access: Enable data accessibility across different devices.
Open-source: Leverage the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of open-source solutions.
Embedding capabilities: Integrate seamlessly with tools like Jasper for enhanced functionality.
Python support: Use Python for advanced data correlation and analyses.
GIS integration: Incorporate geographical data for enriched insights.

What benefits should you consider in reviews?

Increased efficiency: Streamlined report deployment and big data visualization.
Comprehensive analysis: Tools for evaluating activities and profitability.
Data export options: Support for exporting data in preferred formats simplifies reporting tasks.
Operational cost savings: Eliminates the need for third-party BI solutions.

In the healthcare and financial sectors, Knowage is used for deriving insights from health data warehouses and performing financial analyses. Companies use it to create dashboards and reports from MySQL databases, embedding them for wider distribution, and enabling effective resource evaluation and decision-making.

Knowage

SQL Server is a comprehensive database management system known for ease of use, robust performance, and seamless Microsoft integration, making it a preferred choice for data management and analysis needs.

SQL Server offers high availability with Always On availability groups and dynamic memory configuration. It integrates effortlessly with Microsoft products via tools like SSMS and Visual Studio. Supporting advanced features such as replication, clustering, and in-memory OLTP, it provides a versatile platform for managing and analyzing significant data volumes securely and efficiently. While it shines in integration with .NET applications and business intelligence, there are opportunities to improve its scalability and integration with open-source platforms. Its licensing costs can be a barrier, and enhancements to management tools for non-technical users, along with better setup processes, would increase its appeal.

What are SQL Server's most important features?

User-Friendly GUI: Simplifies interaction with a visually intuitive interface.
High Availability: Always On availability groups ensure data redundancy.
Dynamic Memory Configuration: Efficient resource allocation for optimal performance.
Strong Transaction Management: Reliable processing of concurrent transactions.
Advanced Features: Includes replication, clustering, and in-memory OLTP.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Efficiency: Streamlined processes for faster data management and analysis.
Compatibility: Smooth integration with Microsoft products enhances productivity.
Security: Robust features protect against data breaches.
Adaptability: Supports various enterprise needs, from small to large scale.

SQL Server is implemented across industries for database management, data warehousing, and business intelligence. Companies in finance, ERP, and cloud deployments leverage its capabilities for transactional processing, .NET program integration, and reporting. Enterprises particularly benefit from its scalability and cost-efficiency when integrated with Azure for small and medium-sized operations.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

FIAT Group, Italian air navigation service provider, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Telecom Italia, ASL Genovese, San Giovanni Battista University Hospital

Microsoft SQL Server is used by businesses in every industry, including Great Western Bank, Aviva, the Volvo Car Corporation, BMW, Samsung, Principality Building Society, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Salesforce, Plotly and others in Reporting. Updated: October 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

918,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.

We monitor all Reporting reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.