Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs SingleStore comparison

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Read 7 SingleStore reviews

231 Views
178 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2024

Microsoft Azure SQL Database and SingleStore compete in the enterprise database solutions category. Azure SQL Database has an edge in integration and scalability, while SingleStore leads in performance and real-time analytics capabilities.

Features: Azure SQL Database integrates comprehensively with the Microsoft ecosystem, offers high availability, and advanced security features. SingleStore is known for high-performance analytical processing, real-time data capabilities, and handling complex queries efficiently.

Room for Improvement: Azure SQL Database needs better documentation, enhanced technical support, and more cost-effective advanced features. SingleStore should improve integration with third-party tools, offer more flexible pricing models, and better address initial setup difficulties.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure SQL Database is straightforward to deploy within the Azure ecosystem and has responsive customer service. SingleStore has a steeper learning curve, but users benefit from performance improvements post-deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Azure SQL Database involves high initial setup costs but provides long-term ROI with its integration and scalability. SingleStore demands a higher upfront investment but offers significant ROI through high performance and real-time analytics gains.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SingleStore Report (Updated: March 2025).

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SingleStore

March 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 841,004 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

116

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

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Database as a Service (DBaaS) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure SQL Database is 15.9%, down from 18.6% 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

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

Hitesh Kunchakuri

Associate Consultant at University of California at Davis

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.

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

"Overall, Azure SQL has been great. The ease of deployment and scalability are significant reasons we push our larger clients to Azure. We could throw the kitchen sink at the thing if we wanted."

"Its technical support team is good."

"It is very fast in replicating the data from one database to another. We do some extractions from multiple databases to a target database that we use for visualization. It has a good speed."

"Its cost benefit is most valuable because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing. You can easily migrate your on-premise SQL to the cloud with a managed instance. That's what it is designed to do. It is easy to take your on-premise or older SQL instance and move it to the cloud. It makes it easy to get off your on-premise SQL and start utilizing the cost benefit of the cloud."

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

"Customers can benefit from a lot of cost savings if they go for Azure."

"The reason we moved to the cloud was for the convenience of not having any physical hardware to maintain."

"The product is easy to set up."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

"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."

"The product can automatically reinstall and reconfigure in case of a shutdown."

"The product's initial setup phase was pretty straightforward, with no complex processes."

"MemSQL supports the MySQL protocol, and many functions are similar, so the learning curve is very short."

"The ability to store data in memory is a standout feature, enhanced by robust failover mechanisms."

"The paramount advantage is the exceptional speed."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to create pipelines, streamline and extract data from the pipelines."

Cons

"The user interface (UI) could be more flexible."

"What would make SQL Azure better is users having the capability of managing the database solution from the cloud, instead of having to do it from an actual machine because currently, database management via SQL Azure is done on a virtual machine or a PC. The solution should have the data functionality of managing SQL databases inside the cloud."

"Its price could be better. It is expensive. I am not sure if Microsoft Master Data Services is included in this. If not, Master Data Services can be integrated with Azure SQL. I have only used Master Data Services on-premises."

"There could be more collaboration with other tools like Data Factory and Databricks."

"They could improve Azure SQL by adding some of the features available on-prem, such as cross-database queries and the ability to run particular jobs. We need to migrate those to something else, like a function or logic app."

"Service Broker should be added in Azure Cloud. Service Broker is currently available only in the on-premises version."

"The customer support is hard to reach, with Microsoft’s technical support being difficult to get in touch with."

"The solution is somewhat user-friendly, but it's limited by the lack of full backward compatibility."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"There should be more pipelines available because I think that if MemSQL can connect to other services, that would be great."

"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."

"It is not the optimal choice for direct data collection through queries, and it's more suited for aggregation tasks."

"Having the ability to migrate servers using a single command would be extremely beneficial."

"We don't get good discounts in Pakistan."

"The product can be developed further to provide more appropriate output to users as it is one of the areas where there are shortcomings."

"Poor key distribution can significantly impact performance, requiring a backward approach in design rather than adding tables incrementally."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is beneficial in terms of cost because you are charged per data unit instead of licensing."

"I find that they are relatively expensive, especially when compared to AWS, where the prices are notably lower."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"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."

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

"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 only has a subscription-based license."

"SQL Azure's licensing cost is expensive."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

"SingleStore is a bit expensive."

"They have two main options: cloud installation and bare-metal installation, each with different pricing models."

"The product's licensing is not expensive. It is comparable."

"Using it for analytical purposes can be cost-effective in the long run, especially in terms of infrastructure."

"I would advise users to try the free 128GB version."

"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."

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

841,004 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

73%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

33%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

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...

Google Cloud SQL vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Comparisons

Compared 45% of the time

Amazon RDS vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 27% of the time

MongoDB Atlas vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 15% of the time

Oracle Database as a Service vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Db2 on Cloud vs Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database Competitors

ClickHouse vs SingleStore

Compared 14% of the time

Chroma vs SingleStore

Compared 8% of the time

SQL Server vs SingleStore

Compared 7% of the time

Teradata vs SingleStore

Compared 7% of the time

MongoDB vs SingleStore

Compared 6% of the time

More SingleStore Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

February 2025

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Download SingleStore product report

February 2025

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

SingleStore enables organizations to scale from one to one million customers, handling SQL, JSON, full text and vector workloads — all in one unified platform.

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.