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Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs SingleStore 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:
 

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
SingleStore
Ranking in Database as a Service (DBaaS)
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Vector Databases (13th)
 

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 SingleStore is 1.7%, up from 0.8% 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.
Hitesh Kunchakuri - PeerSpot reviewer
A reasonably priced product that offers good speed and seamless support
Currently, I can't think of any areas that require improvement because SingleStore was recently launched in the market. The product can be developed further to provide more appropriate output to users as it is one of the areas where there are shortcomings. The current SingleStore model provides output based on the RANK function. If a user searches for a liquor bottle, then with all the data the product has, it will search for the liquor bottle in the data, and based on a match, the product has an algorithm to rank the product because of which the paragraph that has the best match will be ranked as a 100, the next one as 99, following which the next product will be ranked as 98 and so on. The output from the solution will fetch you all the 100 products that are available in a store, but sometimes a user might require a product with a 97 or 98 percent match from the DB, meaning the product doesn't always work to provide a 100 percent match, an area I feel that can be optimized in the product. Currently, SingleStore's features are excellent as it can read documents, images, and everything. The product works seamlessly for me.

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 good with transactional systems."
"SQL Server's ability to automate data processing and validation through virtual agents and integration with other Microsoft applications like Power Virtual Agents and Azure SQL has dramatically improved efficiency."
"In terms of stability, because Microsoft is the underlying technology, they are much more stable than say Oracle. Since 2014 they did a great job in offering stability, performance and high visibility on the solution, especially in comparison to the other competitors."
"The most valuable feature from the infra point of view is you don't have to keep any on-prem infrastructure, it is available all the time whenever you want to access it."
"It's the type of product that doesn't need much technical support assistance as it works seamlessly."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database supplies reliability and efficiency with its infrastructure, which is very beneficial to our organization."
"The stability of the solution is very good."
"The solution is quire more stable than other tools."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to create pipelines, streamline and extract data from the pipelines."
"MemSQL supports the MySQL protocol, and many functions are similar, so the learning curve is very short."
"The product can automatically reinstall and reconfigure in case of a shutdown."
"The paramount advantage is the exceptional speed."
"The product's initial setup phase was pretty straightforward, with no complex processes."
"The ability to store data in memory is a standout feature, enhanced by robust failover mechanisms."
"It's a distributed relational database, so it does not have a single server, it has multiple servers. Its architecture itself is fast because it has multiple nodes to distribute the workload and process large amounts of data."
 

Cons

"It can have more dashboards for monitoring, which would naturally help a lot. Other than that, everything is okay."
"I think that the cost management in SQL is not clear because we may use some tax to identify products, but in some cases identifying the transactions in SQL is not easy for some financial cost centers."
"Their support is nice but their responses aren't effective."
"In terms of support, they don't give much support."
"SQL Azure could improve the feature set. They are catching up to Microsoft SQL Server."
"They should include more accessible functions for image tooling."
"The pricing is very high."
"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap."
"The product can be developed further to provide more appropriate output to users as it is one of the areas where there are shortcomings."
"We don't get good discounts in Pakistan."
"It is not the optimal choice for direct data collection through queries, and it's more suited for aggregation tasks."
"Poor key distribution can significantly impact performance, requiring a backward approach in design rather than adding tables incrementally."
"For new customers, it's very tough to start. Their documentation isn't organized, and there's no online training available. SingleStore is working on it, but that's a major drawback."
"Having the ability to migrate servers using a single command would be extremely beneficial."
"There should be more pipelines available because I think that if MemSQL can connect to other services, that would be great."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is quite expensive. I would definitely recommend not using the pay-as-you-go model because this will just mean all your money will go to Microsoft. So, really make sure to control resource usage as much as possible."
"It's reasonably priced and when you compare it with other products in the cloud environment, it's cheaper."
"The price in general of Azure SQL could improve."
"You can use it for smaller instances and pay less. You can also go for the premium product with all the security, scalability, and business continuity features, but you have to pay a premium amount."
"With one being expensive and five being competitive, I would give the product a four out of five as it's relatively competitive. It is also important to note that pricing is based on usage."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"It only has a subscription-based license."
"I would like it to be cheaper, but comparatively, it is reasonably priced."
"They have two main options: cloud installation and bare-metal installation, each with different pricing models."
"Using it for analytical purposes can be cost-effective in the long run, especially in terms of infrastructure."
"The product's licensing is not expensive. It is comparable."
"The price of the product is okay compared to the other available solutions in the market. SingleStore is a reasonably priced product, considering the functions it offers."
"I would advise users to try the free 128GB version."
"SingleStore is a bit expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
73%
Computer Software Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
2%
Financial Services Firm
33%
Computer Software Company
13%
Healthcare Company
5%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

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 SingleStore DB?
The paramount advantage is the exceptional speed.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SingleStore DB?
Using it for analytical purposes can be cost-effective in the long run, especially in terms of infrastructure. While building an on-premise cluster incurs an initial cost for servers with ample RAM...
What needs improvement with SingleStore DB?
There's a noteworthy consideration when it comes to collecting massive amounts of data. It is not the optimal choice for direct data collection through queries, and it's more suited for aggregation...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

adnymics GmbH, LG CNS, Centrebet, netfabb GmbH, MedPlast, Accelera Solutions, Sochi Organizing Committee, realzeit GmbH
6Sense, ADNOC, Adobe, Akamai, CARFAX, Cigna, Cisco, Comcast, DBS Bank, Dell, Dentsu, EY, FirstEnergy, GE, Goldman Sachs, Heap, Hulu, IMAX, Kakao, Kroger, LG, LiveRamp, Lumana, NBC, OpenDialog, Outreach, Palo Alto Networks, PicPay, RBC, Samsung, Siemens, SiriusXM, SK Telecom, SKAI, Sony, State Street Financial, STC, SunRun, TATA, Thorn, and ZoomInfo.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SingleStore and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.