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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs MongoDB Atlas comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Azure SQL Database reduces total cost with pay-per-use, hybrid licensing, enhancing ROI through scalability and security.
Sentiment score
7.9
Organizations benefit from MongoDB Atlas through cost savings, engineering efficiency, enhanced performance, and reduced operational costs despite support concerns.
It is ensuring we receive what we pay for through the blend of price, performance, and features.
If you're managing your own data center, you always have to overprovision your systems and pay for storage space you're not using.
We've reduced costs by about 20 percent after two or three years.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Azure SQL Database provides comprehensive support, but service quality varies by support tier and client size.
Sentiment score
6.9
MongoDB Atlas support is praised for expertise and responsiveness but criticized for cost and occasional first-level support delays.
Microsoft played a significant role, even from a training perspective, and provided resources that directed us toward the right deployment path.
Once I reach the right people, the support is incredibly knowledgeable and thorough.
Microsoft provides excellent service and is always available to support us.
I have used them sometimes, even recently, and found the feedback to be spot on our needs.
The features of MongoDB Atlas fall short, resulting in an average rating due to higher-expectation features still lacking in its offerings.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers flexible scalability, handling large data environments and adapting easily to varying workloads.
Sentiment score
7.6
MongoDB Atlas offers scalable, reliable, and easy-to-use data solutions, accommodating growth with high ratings despite some technical challenges.
Scaling the solution is incredibly simple and involves just clicking a button or dragging a slider.
Azure's scalability features like Elasticity are essential.
Microsoft Azure SQL Database is cloud-based, so it's great for scaling workloads.
MongoDB Atlas offers sharding as a scalability feature, although it does not perform as well as Oracle.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Azure SQL Database is highly reliable and stable, with minimal latency issues, especially in well-designed, cloud-utilized systems.
Sentiment score
7.9
MongoDB Atlas offers stable performance with auto-scaling, despite occasional UI issues, and supports critical applications effectively.
We can't tell the difference between running on-prem or Azure because we no longer have those latency issues.
SQL never crashes or suddenly becomes unavailable.
Therefore, it is preferable to provision an instance local to the connection point to optimize performance and minimize latency.
When it comes to OLTP transactions, its performance declines.
 

Room For Improvement

Azure SQL Database needs better security, pricing, documentation, integration, support, and scalability, with enhanced analytics and management tools.
MongoDB Atlas requires enhanced UI, optimized processes, better integration, security, performance improvements, and user-friendly documentation and support.
It would be helpful if CPU performance were not pinned to the amount of storage you're using, and we could scale different properties of the Azure SQL database independently.
I could not get an accurate quote on what my monthly costs would be based on my needs.
To overcome this, we collaborated with the network team to develop alternative solutions.
Enhancing capabilities for data pipelines and visualization dashboards.
 

Setup Cost

Azure SQL Database pricing is complex, perceived as costly, but offers elasticity and cost-saving via Azure Hybrid Benefit.
MongoDB Atlas is competitively priced with flexible pay-as-you-go options, though technical support can be costly.
Azure Hybrid Benefit reduced costs by facilitating an easy transition of on-premises databases to the cloud.
Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap.
It greatly reduces the total cost of ownership through efficient licensing depending on the client, the cost savings, and hybrid benefits.
For our service, it was around 300 to 600 euros per month, which was acceptable for our customers.
The price of MongoDB Atlas is reasonable, which is why many organizations, including mine, are opting for it.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Azure SQL Database offers scalable, cost-effective database management with seamless integration, global accessibility, security, and efficient automation.
MongoDB Atlas excels in scalability, user-friendliness, security, and cost-effectiveness, supporting diverse workloads with seamless integrations and robust performance.
The simplicity in usability, along with improved organizational productivity where we no longer need to maintain on-premises SQL servers, is invaluable.
The Software as a Service model is more effective and easier to access in terms of security, as Azure provides security at the security layer, reducing the risk of breach.
Some of the best features of Microsoft Azure SQL Database are its scalability, pricing, and ease of setup.
I find MongoDB Atlas highly scalable and easy to use, with very good support.
It is particularly useful for unstructured and semi-structured data because of its performance in these areas.
 

Categories and Ranking

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
MongoDB Atlas
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Managed NoSQL Databases (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 15.9%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MongoDB Atlas is 14.5%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database as a Service (DBaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Laksiri Bala - PeerSpot reviewer
Room for improvement in data handling leads to enhanced cost-effective data management performance
It would be beneficial if MongoDB Atlas could better support OLTP aspects and data frames, as well as enhance its capabilities for data pipelines and visualization dashboards. Furthermore, supporting the medallion architecture could be a valuable addition, and incorporating improved spatial and vector handling for geographical data could make it more competitive. Enhancing vector processing for AI capabilities would also be critical.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
73%
Computer Software Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
2%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SQL Azure?
The price for running the server increased more than expected in recent months, and better alignment of pricing expectations is needed. Notably, costs related to IT staff coming into the office on ...
What needs improvement with SQL Azure?
We're trying to manage our costs better. We've noticed an unexpected increase in the cost of running the server over the past few months. Addressing pricing clarity and alignment would help us. Als...
What do you like most about MongoDB Atlas?
There are many valuable features, but scalability stands out. It can scale across zones. You can define multiple nodes. They have also partnered with AWS, offering great service with multiple featu...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MongoDB Atlas?
The pricing is quite acceptable and scalable. For our service, it was around 300 to 600 euros per month, which was acceptable for our customers. We could scale up for better performance and scale d...
What needs improvement with MongoDB Atlas?
I am not an expert on what improvements could be made to MongoDB. The service is continually evolving with new features while maintaining reasonable pricing, making it attractive for developers.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Atlas
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
Wells Fargo, Forbes, Ulta Beauty, Bosch, Sanoma, Current (a Digital Bank), ASAP Log, SBB, Zebra Technologies, Radial, Kovai, Eni, Accuhit, Cognigy, and Payload.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. MongoDB Atlas and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.