Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs SingleStore comparison

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

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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

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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

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

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

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.

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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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"My main use case for SQL Azure is for a self-reading application related to portfolio management. In this application, users can have portfolios designed and managed based on recommendations from their brokers. These recommendations are sent to users, and if consumed, they get executed and added to their portfolios, which can be easily maintained through mobile applications. This involves using Kafka for messaging and execution."

"This solution offers high availability, and business continuity is in place."

"Provisioning the instance, connecting to it, and deploying full-stack applications end-to-end on Azure is much easier than AWS."

"Because the solution is cloud-based it's highly manageable, it makes maintenance of logs, space, storage and backups much easier compared to a traditional SQL server installation."

"Database services and Active Directory related functions for this solution are good. Stable, scalable, and easy to install. Its technical support is good."

"I rate Microsoft Azure SQL Database 10 out of 10."

"It is quick to set up and easy to scale."

"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pros

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

"The paramount advantage is the exceptional speed."

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

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

"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."

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

Cons

"Microsoft Azure SQL Database would benefit from enhanced documentation, along with ongoing improvements to scalability and cost-effectiveness."

"I was using a user list for connecting a program in OTF for getting information. The connection in SQL Azure can improve by being easier because at the moment I have to use private certificates for user authentication. I had to do additional configuration to have the connections."

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

"It's very difficult to investigate if something wrong is going on behind the scenes. If we are facing a problem that our application is doing a CPU spike and when we look at the dump of the details, the processes that our application is generating are not consuming more than 40-50% of CPU. But we don’t know where it is going, who's generating it, and who's consuming the CPU. Even Microsoft says they don’t know."

"One area for improvement could be expanding the search queries using vectors or AI inside the database. After seeing its potential in a workshop, I realized the usefulness of more advanced search queries with AI."

"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."

"Price definitely will be the negative point. It is quite expensive."

"The preset configuration switches we can select on SQL Azure should be made more liberal to work on."

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database cons

"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."

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

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

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

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

"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

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

"We pay less than $1000 monthly in licensing fees. There are no additional costs."

"Its price can definitely be lower. It is pretty pricey."

"I believe the licensing is more on a global scale."

"Microsoft Azure SQL Database is not cheap."

"If we use a smaller or free-sized Microsoft Azure SQL Database, it is extremely cost-effective and much cheaper than on-premise enterprise licenses, which are expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

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

More Microsoft Azure SQL Database pricing and cost advice

"SingleStore is a bit expensive."

"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."

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

"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."

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

73%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

33%

Computer Software Company

13%

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing 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...

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Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Microsoft Azure SQL Database

Download Microsoft Azure SQL Database product report

Download SingleStore product 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

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.

Microsoft Azure SQL Database vs. SingleStore