Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service comparison

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

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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

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

134

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Oracle Exadata Express Clou...

Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 10.5%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service is 1.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Database as a Service (DBaaS) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure SQL Database	10.5%
Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service	1.5%
Other	88.0%

Database as a Service (DBaaS)

Featured Reviews

Thomas Sawyer

Executive Director, Platform Architecture at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation – SMBC Group

Automatic tuning and multi-region availability have reduced manual workloads and improved performance management

The features of Microsoft Azure SQL Database that I like the most are easy scaling and high availability. I appreciate those features because it's easy to make Microsoft Azure SQL Database readily available in a multi-region infrastructure. Using Microsoft Azure SQL Database is very easy; it's much easier than SQL on-premise because I don't have to worry about deploying infrastructure, and I can rapidly deploy via infrastructure as code. I am using the automatic tuning feature in Microsoft Azure SQL Database. We are using the new feature of data encryption in Microsoft Azure SQL Database with customer-managed keys only. The reliability and stability of Microsoft Azure SQL Database platform are rock-solid; it's as good, if not better, than what our on-premise stability has been from an uptime perspective.

Read full review

Shrikant Navelkar

Director at Clover Infotech

Have achieved excellent performance and seamless integration with effective cost control in cloud solutions

When customers are migrating from Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service and need to remove some of their test and development environment, what happens in normal virtualization is that they can just switch it off, but in ExaCS, they need to terminate the entire thing. Most of the customers are not aware of this, so they keep spending money even if they want to shut down their UAT environment or development environment, so Oracle needs to make it simpler in terms of reducing the bill on ExaCS when customers want to shut down certain environments. Today, you have to terminate the entire VM, and only then your billing will stop. The only functionality I would expect from Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service is that if Oracle is able to support Oracle MySQL Enterprise also on Exadata, that will solve a lot of problems.

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

"Azure SQL connects directly to our Power Platform apps, making it easy to use."

"The Microsoft Azure SQL Database performs effectively, and if money is not a problem, you can scale; it can grow, and with a click of a button, you can add more memory and more CPU."

"It's user-friendly. Compared to other solutions, it's based more on clicks, not on scripts. It's easy to manage."

"SQL is easy to use and easily integrates with many systems. There aren't many code changes needed when you're using SQL databases. Integrating Azure SQL with other Microsoft applications is instant because they're all Microsoft solutions."

"The initial setup was straightforward. It took less than one day for deployment."

"The administration console in Azure, all in one is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature is PolyBase."

"The scalability and simple management of the infrastructure are the most valuable features."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

"I like that Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service is easier to use and is a cost-saving solution because you won't need to hire people to run and maintain it."

"With this cloud service, a development team can get a database immediately, without long negotiation with other services."

"I would rate Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service ten out of ten for its overall solution."

"The solution is very stable and offers great performance."

"One of the most valuable parts of the solution is the high availability within the system and the performance enhancement without making any changes or fine-tuning the databases."

"Exadata is a highly stable and mature solution."

"What is most valuable about this solution is there is no comparative solution by any other vendors."

"In the cloud, Exadata is more scalable. The on-prem version was limited. It wasn't that scalable because it only came in a quarter rack, half rack, and full rack. In the cloud, it scales to what you need."

More Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service pros

Cons

"SQL Azure could improve by adding more features."

"Improvement could be made in the performance tools, offering a better overview of core issues like process activity and latency, as we currently rely on third-party tools and SQL jobs for monitoring and alerts."

"I feel that the price is high and it could be reduced."

"Microsoft could improve its documentation and support."

"I would like to see more compatibility with SSMS and more backward compatibility with regular on-prem SQL."

"The solution could improve by supporting more operating systems."

"The solution can be improved by reducing the cost so more users can be added."

"I wish the customer service and technical support were a bit quicker, though I recognize that not everything can be solved within an hour or a day."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"The solution's pricing could be improved."

"I feel there is a need for better integration with Google Maps and Google Earth. This is crucial for me in the geographical facilities of the environment."

"The solution's pricing could be improved."

"The only downside is the difficulty in monitoring, and that's why I would like to implement MySQL database."

"The customer's default choice is the on-premise version of this solution. Oracle needs to market the cloud version better."

"We use artificial intelligence for deep learning, and it would be a huge benefit to implement this in Oracle Exadata."

"The customer's default choice is the on-premise version of this solution. Only when Oracle or the partners like us, can explain to customers the cloud value proposition, and if the compliance authorities allow, they can look into this cloud solution. It will take some time for Oracle to change its perception of customers' de-facto standards. Exadata used to be treated as a black box, which is not the case now. The customer is aware of what is happening inside, how the configurations have been made, and what patching has been applied. Oracle needs to market the cloud version better."

"The support must be faster."

More Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When looking at the long-term expenses associated with running software on an on-premises server, the costs are almost equivalent but when we include insurance for devices, onsite fees for servers, and other related costs, we may find that this is a cost-effective solution."

"The cost is around $2,000 per month."

"Microsoft services are costly, which is the only problem we face. So, pricing is an area of improvement."

"Compared to other providers, the pricing is definitely on the affordable side."

"The price in general of Azure SQL could improve."

"I'm not sure what the exact price is, but it's a moderate amount. It's not too expensive."

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

"The price could be slightly cheaper."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

"The tool is not cheap, but it is not really expensive."

"I think Oracle pricing is usually above average market price."

"The price of this solution is very comparative to others on the market. There is no direct comparison between this solution and with something else because I do not see any other similar product."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Marketing Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Recruiting/Hr Firm

13%

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	60
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	61

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	8

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?

I would say I am at a basic experience level with the pricing, setup costs and licensing because while I am the administrator for the service, I do not provision the services and worry about the co...

What needs improvement with SQL Azure?

I have no comments at the moment on how Microsoft Azure SQL Database can be improved. I have no comments on additional features that I would like to see released in the next release. I do not have ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service?

Oracle is quite expensive here in Brazil. Pricing is the primary challenge we face with Oracle.

What needs improvement with Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service?

What is your primary use case for Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service?

We have been implementing Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service for our customers for more than 10 to 12 years for our various customers through the on-premise Exadata offerings Oracle has.

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Comparisons

Compared 16% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 14% of the time

Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 11% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 11% of the time

vCloud Air vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

Google Cloud SQL vs Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

Compared 18% of the time

Oracle Exadata Cloud at Customer vs Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

Compared 13% of the time

Oracle Database Appliance vs Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

Compared 11% of the time

Google Cloud Spanner vs Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

Compared 9% of the time

More Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service

Download Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service product report

Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service report

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 Exadata Express Cloud Service delivers a managed Oracle Database 12c Release 2 Enterprise Edition with options, running on Oracle Exadata engineered systems – all at a highly affordable entry-level price. It is a full Oracle Database experience, compatible with what you get on-premises or in other Oracle Database Cloud Services, provisioned within minutes, and suitable for small to medium sized data.

Oracle

Sample Customers

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

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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service