MySQL vs SQL Server comparison

Oracle and Microsoft are both solutions in the Relational Databases Tools category. Oracle is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. Oracle holds a 8.5% mindshare in SQL, compared to Microsoft’s 18.6% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Oracle users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

MySQL

Read 148 MySQL reviews

7,193 Views
5,585 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

SQL Server

Read 268 SQL Server reviews

18,969 Views
14,206 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

MySQL

SQL Server

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

SQL Server and MySQL are leading competitors in the database management systems category. SQL Server appears to have the upper hand when advanced features such as performance tuning and comprehensive support are crucial for an organization, while MySQL is advantageous for its cost-effectiveness and suitability for web applications.

Features: SQL Server is renowned for dynamic resource allocation, Graphical Query Analyzer, and OLAP services that enhance performance and scalability. It provides an intuitive user interface and extensive compatibility with various tools. MySQL, being open-source, offers affordability and supports a comprehensive range of platforms, making it optimal for medium-sized web applications. It leverages a simple architecture promoting ease of use and flexibility.

Room for Improvement: SQL Server faces challenges with non-Windows system compatibility and high costs associated with additional features. Despite its robust features, there is still room for improvement in overall expense management. MySQL could enhance advanced functionalities such as active directory integration and stored procedures, which would make it more appealing for enterprise-level use while maintaining simplicity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SQL Server and MySQL both adapt to various deployment models, including on-premises and hybrid cloud. MySQL stands out for its open-source nature, offering wide accessibility for developers. SQL Server, though providing extensive resources, is sometimes criticized for slower response times from Microsoft support. MySQL primarily relies on community support, which, while helpful, can lack the dedicated service found in SQL Server's enterprise-level support.

Pricing and ROI: SQL Server is perceived as more costly, especially with added features, yet it delivers significant ROI for businesses leveraging its full capabilities. MySQL offers a more budget-friendly alternative, sometimes available at no cost, making it suitable for cost-sensitive projects. It provides excellent ROI for small to medium applications, especially where complex functionalities are not immediately necessary.

To learn more, read our detailed MySQL vs. SQL Server Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

MySQL vs. SQL Server

March 2025

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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

MySQL

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

148

Ranking in other categories

Open Source Databases (1st)

SQL Server

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

268

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of MySQL is 8.5%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server is 18.6%, down from 23.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

Muzzamil Hussain

Assistant Vice President at National Bank of Pakistan

Native encryption ensures secure data management with a simple deployment

The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities. By default, we can provide encryption, and this feature in MySQL is why we prefer it over other databases. The native encryption in MySQL encourages us to use this database model more frequently compared to Oracle and other databases. With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment. It perfectly supports our ROI, and we have no issues with its functionality.

Read full review

Azizul Haque

AVP, IT Division at NCC BANK LIMITED

It has eliminated all kinds of inconsistencies, and it is reliable, secure, and fast

I don't know whether SQL Server can support large organizations where the database size is more than 100 GB. It might be because of SQL Server, or it might be because of the programming of the software vendor, but a lot of people think that it is a problem with SQL Server. It can't handle a large amount of data or large data size. In terms of its usage, about 90% of our applications are running on the SQL Server database. We have around 1,600 users for our software, and all the applications are connected to the SQL Server database.

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

"I am totally satisfied with MySQL."

"MySQL is easy to integrate. It works with just about every language."

"The product is flexible and easy to use."

"The most valuable features are that it's free and the documentation is good."

"What I've been most pleased with is the cost point, performance, and ease of use."

"MySQL is a light database. It's not very complex. It's easy to develop, easy to maintain, and easy to back up and restore."

"SKIP LOCKED is a valuable feature."

"We use MySQL for enterprise data storage as well as part of the back-end of websites and web applications."

More MySQL pros

"SQL Server is very scalable because we use it across a couple of different types of applications, such as micro-infrastructure setup and server farm."

"The product has been on the market for over 25 or 30 years. It's an extremely mature solution."

"Managing database is very good."

"I have found SQL Server easy to use."

"The solution is very easy to use. It's intuitive and easy to navigate. Overall, it's a straightforward product."

"It is a stable product, and it runs seamlessly. It is not complex."

"A big advantage is the ability to store any type of data in SQL Server."

"SQL Server is a very mature solution."

More SQL Server pros

Cons

"In MySQL, we need to define every table beforehand."

"The tool needs to improve table visualization."

"On the database side, it should be really lightweight, and the data structure should be like MongoDB."

"As an open-source product, there isn't really any technical support available if you get into trouble or have issues."

"The licensing of the solution is on the expensive side."

"It does not stand out regarding scalability. When the company size increases, the user base having actual experience with (very) large MySQL solutions is reduced."

"The performance issues in the product can be considered as an area where improvements are required."

"MySQL could introduce more indexing strategies."

More MySQL cons

"They do not offer the SQL Server Management tool via the installation. It is a separate tool I use when I'm trying to configure the mirroring with SQL Server Mirroring. This is not supported and I'm getting some errors on the database mirroring."

"The performance could improve."

"It would be great if we were able to run it on multiple operating systems and not only stick with Windows."

"The tool is expensive."

"Its security can be improved. When you look at the Windows environment, it isn't the most secure environment. It is exposed to so many attacks. They continuously need to improve the security of the platform on which it sits."

"The solution is lacking a compound index for comparing values."

"I would like to see better integration between their link server and other platforms, such as IBM."

"The configuration process can be a little complex."

More SQL Server cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license needed for this solution."

"We are using the free version of MySQL. We prefer paying for a yearly license."

"We are using the free community edition of MySQL."

"It is an open source platform."

"I am not paying, but I am not sure about the exact licensing requirements."

"Microsoft licensing for SQL Server is probably ten times more expensive. I used to work for the government, and I remember when we were looking into upgrading to the enterprise version of SQL Server 2019, the licensing was going to cost 350,000. To get the equivalent in the cloud, it was going to be about four grand to get the same processing power and everything else. With MySQL, it was going to be about 300 for the same licensing. Cost-wise, for sure, there is a huge difference. Would you prefer to pay 300 a month or 3,000 to have the same amount of data resources? You might lose a few options that you need, but it isn't worth the price difference."

"The solution is open source so is free."

"MySQL Enterprise Support is not cheap, though might still be cheaper than Oracle or SQL Server. They may not have local support depending on where you’re based, but there are many smaller agencies out there that will readily provide support. You’ll need to spend some time looking around."

More MySQL pricing and cost advice

"I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten. It is not extremely cheap but also it's not the most expensive product."

"On a scale of one to ten, when one is cheap and ten is an expensive solution, I rate the product price as seven. The product is expensive."

"There is a license required for the use of SQL Server and we are on an annual subscription."

"For smaller companies, they find this solution expensive."

"With recent releases, the Standard Edition (cheaper) SKU has some of the earlier version Enterprise features. SQL Express has some limitations."

"The price of the solution could be cheaper."

"For medium-sized customers who don't need some enterprise features, the tool would be available for 200 USD per month. For the enterprise segment, the tool's cost can go up to 6,000 USD."

"As compared to Oracle Database, SQL Server is less expensive. For mid-sized organizations, SQL Server is completely all right, but people say it can't support large organizations with more than 2,000 users."

More SQL Server pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

53%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?

MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...

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Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?

I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...

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What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?

One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...

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Would you say the price of SQL Server is high compared to that of similar products?

SQL Server is fairly priced because it has various editions, depending on the number of users, servers, or core packs you are using. If you compare the product to others in this category, the price...

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Has using SQL Server helped your organization in any way?

SQL Server has helped my organization through partitioning to distribute the workload, as it splits them up into smaller pieces so the machines can easily deal with it. However, this comes with a h...

See all answers

Which authentication mode is best for SQL Server?

My company connects through SQL Server authentication. We have company Windows accounts, but we do not want to connect the two, out of security concerns and to keep things separated for our own pur...

See all answers

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MySQL

Compared 28% of the time

PostgreSQL vs MySQL

Compared 16% of the time

SAP HANA vs MySQL

Compared 8% of the time

MariaDB vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle Database vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

SAP HANA vs SQL Server

Compared 15% of the time

MariaDB vs SQL Server

Compared 14% of the time

IBM Db2 Database vs SQL Server

Compared 11% of the time

LocalDB vs SQL Server

Compared 9% of the time

Tableau vs SQL Server

Compared 3% of the time

More SQL Server Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MySQL

March 2025

Download MySQL product report

Buyer's Guide

SQL Server

March 2025

Download SQL Server product report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL

Overview

MySQL is a cost-efficient and scalable relational database management system widely used in web, mobile applications, and academic projects.

MySQL is utilized for backend operations, data analysis, reporting, financial transactions, and ERP databases. It supports deployment on local servers, Cloud, and Kubernetes. Its free, open-source nature along with strong community support make it popular among companies. MySQL's compatibility with multiple platforms and programming languages enhances its appeal. While it remains stable and easy to use, areas such as replication, clustering, and backup require improvement to better serve enterprise applications. Enhanced security, error messages, and monitoring tools are also desired for a better user experience.

What are the most important features of MySQL?

Free and Open-Source: No licensing costs, perfect for budget-conscious projects.
Compatibility: Works with multiple platforms and programming languages.
High Performance: Efficient performance across large datasets.
Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing business needs.
Clustering and Replication: Ensures data availability and redundancy.
Easy Installation: Quick setup process on various operating systems.
Community Support: Extensive resources and community assistance.
Cross-Platform: Operates seamlessly on different operating systems.
Data Management Interface: Simplifies data handling and manipulation.

What are the benefits of using MySQL?

Cost Efficiency: Reduce expenses with a free, open-source database.
Scalability: Adapt to increasing data demands effortlessly.
Performance: Handle large datasets with ease and speed.
Community Support: Access a vast pool of knowledge and resources.
Flexibility: Integrate with various platforms and languages for diverse use cases.
Data Reliability: Clustering and replication for high data availability.

In multiple industries, MySQL supports internal applications, billing systems, academic teaching purposes, and ERP databases. Companies leverage MySQL for Cloud and local deployments, ensuring effective data manipulation and backend operations in diverse projects. Its role in financial transactions and reporting further emphasizes its versatility.

Oracle

SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBMS) by Microsoft. The product's main purposes are to store data and retrieve it as requested by other software applications - on the same computer or on another computer across a shared network. The solution is built on top of Structured Query Language (SQL), which is a standardized programming language used for relational database management.

The product is tied to Transact-SQL (T-SQL), which is an implementation of SQL from Microsoft that adds several proprietary programming extensions to the standard language. SQL Server is built similarly to other RDBMS products, as its structure is a row-based table that connects related data elements in different tables to one another. One of its most important components is the SQL Server Database Engine, as it controls data processing, storage, and security. Beneath the Database Engine is the SQL Server Operating System, which is used for memory and I/O management, locking data to avoid unneeded upgrades, and job scheduling.

The solution has four editions with different sets of services and tools. They include:

SQL Server Developer
SQL Server Expression
SQL Server Standard
SQL Server Enterprise

The first two are available for free and are typically utilized by smaller companies, as they work with fewer functions and storage. The second two editions are generally used by bigger organizations and enterprises and offer more features.

The solution has several functions through which users can facilitate different data-related processes. These include:

Aggregate functions: These functions are used to calculate one or more values and return a single value.
Window functions: Window functions calculate an aggregate value based on a group of rows and return multiple rows for each involved group.
Date functions: These functions allow clients to handle data and time data efficiently.
String functions: Through the string functions, SQL Server processes an input string and returns a string or numeric value.
System functions: The system functions of the product return objects, values, and settings.

SQL Server Services

SQL Server has a wide range of add-on services that provide additional benefits beyond database management. These services include:

Machine learning: SQL Server machine learning services allow users to do machine learning and data analytics within the product.
Service broker: This feature is a part of the database engine and offers messaging and message queuing for applications on the platform.
Replication: This feature consists of transaction replication, merge replication, and snapshot replication.
Analysis: SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) adds online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining capabilities to SQL Server databases.
Reporting: This feature supports the development of custom reporting applications.
Notifications: This feature generates data-driven notifications which are sent to subscribers of Notification Services.
Integration: This SQL Server feature provides capabilities for data integration, data import, and data warehousing.
Full-text search: Through this feature, users can utilize specialized indexing and query for unstructured text stored in the solution.
Visual studio: This feature supports data programming with SQL Server.
Azure Data Studio: This is a cross-platform query editor that can be downloaded and used alongside SQL Server.

SQL Server Benefits

The solution has many benefits for users. These include the following:

The platform ensures a consistent experience across other platforms while being fast and agile.
Through the built-in intelligence features, users can understand their data better.
The solution has enterprise-level security, which ensures the smooth and safe performance of users' data.
SQL Server offers the ability to retrieve large amounts of data quickly and efficiently.
The product installation process is fairly easy, and it offers a user-friendly interface.
SQL Server offers improved data storage and retrieval functions through frequent upgrades.
The solution reduces the risk of database server attacks, since it is not an open-source database.

Reviews from Real Users

A president at a consultancy evaluates SQL Server as a veteran solution with critical log shipping feature.

Harkamal S., a user at a manufacturing company, rates SQL Server with a high mark because it is a stable, scalable, and easy-to-deploy solution that pretty much covers everything.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.

Microsoft SQL Server is used by businesses in every industry, including Great Western Bank, Aviva, the Volvo Car Corporation, BMW, Samsung, Principality Building Society, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario.

Buyer's Guide

MySQL vs. SQL Server

March 2025

Free Report: MySQL vs. SQL Server

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