Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Database as a Service comparison

Microsoft and Oracle are both solutions in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7, while Oracle is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.8. Microsoft holds a 15.9% mindshare in DS, compared to Oracle’s 8.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Read 117 Microsoft Azure SQL Database reviews

6,648 Views
2,858 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Oracle Database as a Service

Read 67 Oracle Database as a Service reviews

1,653 Views
1,375 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Oracle Database as a Service

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Microsoft Azure SQL Database and Oracle Database as a Service are competitors in cloud-based database solutions. Users find Azure SQL more economical but note Oracle's advanced features.

Features: Microsoft Azure SQL Database is praised for integration with Microsoft products, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Oracle Database as a Service is valued for advanced analytics, robust security, and comprehensive feature set.

Room for Improvement: Azure SQL could improve in advanced data analytics, enhanced security features, and user interface. Oracle could streamline the setup process, simplify management, and improve user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure SQL users like straightforward deployment and effective customer support. Oracle users face a steeper learning curve initially but benefit from strong customer service and personalized support.

Pricing and ROI: Azure SQL Database is cost-effective with quicker ROI, suitable for smaller budgets. Oracle Database as a Service is more expensive but offers better long-term ROI due to advanced capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 845,564 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

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

Oracle Database as a Service

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

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 Oracle Database as a Service is 8.8%, up from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

Charley Hanania

Data Platform Specialist at QS2 AG - Quality Software Solutions

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

Duy AnhMai

Product Owner at Heineken

Offers security and good performance

Price-wise, the tool is expensive, and I feel it is an area where improvements are needed. Oracle Database as a Service is not as popular as other tools because we use AWS and GCP. Oracle is okay in terms of performance for banking businesses and some big companies. As I use the tool in Heineken, I know Oracle is an okay security solution. We use and deploy some applications and features from Oracle that are better than what others offer. The data in the tool is actually stored in the production part, so it is always kept a secret. I don't think that AI has been integrated into the tool. The AI used by Oracle is not as strong as that used by AWS. I recommend the tool to others, especially banking, finance, and insurance companies where the security needs to be better. There is maintenance for the tool required, but I don't know which company does it for our organization. I rate the tool a ten out of ten.

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

"SQL Azure is reliable and scales well."

"The stability of the solution is very good."

"Great auto-scaling and security features."

"Azure Portal is most valuable."

"The initial setup was straightforward. We did not migrate from an existing system but implemented it from scratch and did not require Microsoft support. We were building Power Platform apps using SharePoint databases and Excel. And after that, we realized that we had to integrate it with SQL. It wasn't too hard, and our partners have people with experience."

"Shifting our corporate programs to the cloud is more or less the same due to the ease of implementation. We've cut costs by around 70 percent."

"This solution provides more comfort to the end-user compared to a normal SQL server."

"The dashboard is valuable."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

"The initial setup is not too difficult, and on a scale from one to ten with one being the most difficult and ten being the easiest, I'd rate it at eight. The initial deployment can be done in an hour."

"The solution's scalability and flexibility are very good and implementation is easy."

"Not only does it provide a mature, reliable solution for DR. It also helps if application owners need to look into data which is a couple of hours old, using Flashback Database on the standby database."

"The solution is fast and easy."

"The most valuable features of Oracle Database as a Service are configuration and troubleshooting."

"Oracle Database as a Service's most valuable feature is its financial applications."

"Oracle has helped our organization by being a reliable solution that is stable with zero crashes. The differentiation between Oracle's database and other databases is that Oracle needs more attention. It's not a click here, click there solution, it needs more time put in, but once you do that, it's ready to go and you can forget about it."

"You can be up and running the same day."

More Oracle Database as a Service pros

Cons

"There is a need for dynamic scaling support without losing current transactions. That should be part of the standard offering to SKUs."

"Some issues with scalability."

"There isn't any new improvement that I can think of at the moment. We have different deployment choices, such as running SQL on an Azure VM or deploying SQL-managed instances. The managed instance is a significant improvement over running SQL in an Azure VM."

"The document storage is primarily relational, which is not ideally suited for SQL. If there were better integration with SharePoint for document handling in SQL, it would greatly benefit the organization. Moreover, the current on-premise limitations prevent direct file pulling, limiting certain capabilities."

"I would like to see integration with Snowflake."

"We've had many concurrency issues with it, particularly with applications that do a lot of parallel processing. We noticed that sometimes the Azure SQL databases would spike and peak their CPU units, causing some performance issues for us. 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."

"Their availability in the Middle East and Asia regions needs to improve."

"The initial setup was very complex."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"Oracle Database as a Service is very convenient to use. However, we need to know to which schema we want it to connect specifically, and what are the username and password. The solution requires some basic knowledge of SQL RP and SQL Oracle to use it."

"Documentation is difficult to find. Since we're experienced with Oracle technology, we have also found many errors in it. Not everything is 100% accurate."

"Earlier, the interface was continuously changing. Features you used would be moved somewhere else, so it was a little challenging to navigate, but now I think it's stable."

"They should add more integration to the solution."

"The solution’s price could be reduced."

"I would like to see a better dashboard for the storage. It need to be more complete overall."

"The installation process requires improvement as it can be quite complex."

"The solution's pricing could be less expensive."

More Oracle Database as a Service cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"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."

"There is a license required to use the solution and it cost $30 to do the installation."

"In terms of the cost, SQL Azure is a pay-per-use solution, particularly because it's a cloud subscription, so you pay as much as you use it."

"The pricing is flexible and can be adapted based on our requirements but the pricing options are complex especially if we are using a VM."

"I am not aware of the exact pricing, but our monthly bill for Azure is around 80,000. It is less expensive than using SQL Server. It has the pay-as-you-go model, and the charges are based on the usage."

"We have the licensing fee, and we are also paying a third party to maintain it with an SLA. There is no infrastructure cost, but its running costs are higher than expected. There is the cost of the Azure cloud, which is pricier than expected, but it is not specific to SQL Azure. It is specific to the cloud. You expect it to be cheaper, but it is more expensive to run it."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

"In my opinion, it's not cheap, but every business can decide for itself."

"The solution is based on an annual fee."

"The cost for Oracle Database as a Service is higher than that for other similar solutions."

"Oracle Database is less expensive than the previous solution we used."

"What has been done is that an annual subscription model has been launched, which includes the payment of both the AML (Annual Maintenance Fee) and the subscription fee, paid on a yearly basis."

"The price of Oracle Database as a Service is reasonable."

"For on-premises, a perpetual license is a standard $17,500 plus 22% for one year of support."

"I do not know firsthand about the price of Oracle Database as a Service, but it is known that Oracle solutions tend to be priced higher than competitors."

More Oracle Database as a Service pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Database as a Service (DBaaS) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

845,564 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

73%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

25%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

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.

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Oracle Database as a Service?

It has significantly enhanced our application development process by introducing substantial time savings and streamlining routine tasks.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Database as a Service?

Prices are high. Technical support from Oracle tends to be high in quality.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Oracle Database as a Service?

It would be beneficial if Oracle could offer features similar to those provided by open-source platforms like Postgres, such as a multi-core-based platform and a shared node database. While Oracle ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 43% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 27% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 16% of the time

vCloud Air vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 2% of the time

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

Amazon RDS vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 46% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 18% of the time

Google Cloud SQL vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 11% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 4% of the time

Redis vs Oracle Database as a Service

Compared 4% of the time

More Oracle Database as a Service Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

March 2025

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Database as a Service

March 2025

Download Oracle Database as a Service product report

Also Known As

No data available

Oracle DBaaS, Oracle Database Cloud

Overview

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

Oracle Database Cloud Service combines the power of Oracle Database, with the unique capabilities of the Oracle Cloud. The service provides a secure, automated data management platform that leverages on demand Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services via a simple web based user interface and RESTful API. Oracle Database Cloud Service provides elastic database services for development, test, and production environments of custom and packaged online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing, and mixed workload applications. It enables businesses to reap all Oracle Platform as a Service (PaaS) benefits including subscriptionbased, self-service access to reliable, scalable, and elastic cloud environments and accelerates time to value by simplifying the provisioning and administration of Oracle databases.

Oracle

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH

Solution-Soft, DX Marketing, Suredell and Partners, Frontiers, SettleOurEstate.com, Demand Analysis Ltd, endlich IT & Projekt Service OHG

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service

April 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

845,564 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Database as a Service report.

See our list of best Database as a Service (DBaaS) vendors.

We monitor all Database as a Service (DBaaS) 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.