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MariaDB vs SQL Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 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

MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (4th)
SQL Server
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
268
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 6.9%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 18.6%, down from 23.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

KumarManish - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products
We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Azizul Haque - PeerSpot reviewer
It has eliminated all kinds of inconsistencies, and it is reliable, secure, and fast
I don't know whether SQL Server can support large organizations where the database size is more than 100 GB. It might be because of SQL Server, or it might be because of the programming of the software vendor, but a lot of people think that it is a problem with SQL Server. It can't handle a large amount of data or large data size. In terms of its usage, about 90% of our applications are running on the SQL Server database. We have around 1,600 users for our software, and all the applications are connected to the SQL Server database.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"MariaDB can solve things better than MySQL. Maria DB has better performance than MySQL."
"I haven't faced any technical issues with the product, and it works fine."
"It is very simple to install, and the commands are exactly the same as MySQL."
"One of the great features of MariaDB is its scalability. It's easy to handle even with large databases."
"Installation is straightforward."
"MariaDB is a user-friendly solution. Performance wise, it's better than SQL. With SQL, I would need to write a number of queries. In contrast, MariaDB is light."
"For non-production purposes. I'm just using it for my personal project, so it works quite well. I haven't faced any errors yet."
"It delivers fast processing times, particularly for frequent select queries and insert/update operations."
"The management studio is probably the thing we use the most for running quick queries and creating quick reports. Quite often, somebody comes and says, "Hey, can you find XYZ?" It is so much easier just to jump in there and run a quick query."
"SQL Server Profiler makes finding and debugging easy."
"I've been using SQL Server for 20 years, and there is nothing that it can't do. It is awesome."
"The SQL Server is low maintenance, it does not require advanced technical skills to maintain or use it as you might in other similar database solutions. You need some knowledge on how to access the solution and how to query it but it is fairly straightforward."
"SQL Server stands out due to its robust parallel processing capabilities."
"The solution's most valuable part revolves around data management, which can be seen in its audit features and performance."
"The scalability is very good."
"The pricing of the solution is okay. It's less expensive than Oracle, for example."
 

Cons

"The difficult part related to the product stems not from the tool itself but is related to learning how to implement the product in the right way without creating any wrong configuration that could cause security issues or performance issues."
"There could be a command-line prompt for repairing the database and fixing indexes, similar to what was available in the old MyISAM storage engine."
"The configuration could be improved. It should be easier."
"It doesn't have the same level of maturity metrics as Postgres."
"The solution is not scalable."
"A well-known issue for a lot of different users is associated with write-intensive applications."
"The interface should be more user-friendly. It should be able to connect directly to the database and Interact with it without having to use commands. It needs better integration."
"Maria DB has to improve from a management perspective."
"We want to move to Azure, and the solution could be made better to make the process easier for the migration from on-premise to the cloud."
"Currently, I do not face any difficulties with SQL Server as all options and documentations are available."
"The solution is expensive. The licensing costs are high."
"Security is an area that can be improved."
"They could improve by adding the SQL format."
"The solution needs to be more secure. It's lacking, compared to, for example, Oracle."
"I would like to see more integration with other platforms."
"The solution is lacking a compound index for comparing values."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution represents a very good compromise between the cost and what it offers."
"My company uses the free version of the solution."
"MariaDB is available for free."
"It is an open-source solution."
"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."
"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."
"The tool is open-source."
"The solution is free, but if you want the enterprise version you will need to pay for some licenses but the cost is less than other solutions, such as Oracle."
"I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten. It is not extremely cheap but also it's not the most expensive product."
"The licensing involves a one time fee."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"We purchased our license and the pricing is fine for us."
"We are on an annual enterprise license for the solution and the cost of the license could be reduced."
"The price of the solution is fine."
"This is a downside of enterprise Microsoft products."
"For our purpose, we are not required to have a license for what we are using it for."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Educational Organization
53%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often prefer the Community Edition because it's free.
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper.
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...
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...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
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 MariaDB vs. SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.