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SQL Server vs Vertica comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

SQL Server
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
268
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (1st)
Vertica
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Data Warehouse (5th), Cloud Data Warehouse (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

SQL Server and Vertica aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. SQL Server is designed for Relational Databases Tools and holds a mindshare of 18.6%, down 23.1% compared to last year.
Vertica, on the other hand, focuses on Data Warehouse, holds 8.6% mindshare, down 8.7% since last year.
Relational Databases Tools
Data Warehouse
 

Featured Reviews

Azizul Haque - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
T Venkatesh - PeerSpot reviewer
Processes query faster through multiple systems simultaneously, but it could support different data types
We use the solution for various tasks, including preparing data marts and generating offers. It helps extract data based on rules from the policy team and provides insights to enhance business operations. We also analyze transactions to target customers and improve business performance The…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's most valuable part revolves around data management, which can be seen in its audit features and performance."
"The ease of administration, in general, is the solution's most valuable aspect."
"The installation was straightforward. We did not have a large installation and it took a couple of weeks to complete."
"It can go easily on a virtual machine and be accommodated by a virtual machine easily. That is a plus, as not all databases can handle that."
"It is fairly easy to work with. I like the high-availability options, like mirroring for example, and the high-availability groups."
"Excel integration is one of its most valuable features."
"It is easy to use and very stable."
"If you need to, you can scale the solution very easily."
"Its analytics has enabled Pythian's clients to get the business insights as quick as they wanted. Its lower maintenance has also improved the ROI."
"The hardware usage and speed has been the most valuable feature of this solution. It is very fast and has saved us a lot of money."
"The performance is very good and the aggregate records are fast."
"The most valuable feature is Vertica's performance and the ease of using the database."
"Eighty percent of the ETL operations have improved since implementing this solution."
"We are also opening new areas of business and potential new revenue streams using Vertica's analytic functions, most notably geospatial, where we are able to run billions of comparisons of lat/long point locations against polygon and point/radius locations in seconds. ​"
"It's the fastest database I have ever tested. That's the most important feature of Vertica."
"Allows us to take volumes and process them at a very high speed."
 

Cons

"Something that could be improved is the cost because it's very high. That's the only thing I'm concerned about but the technology is good."
"It could be more stable."
"The solution's stability can be improved."
"I am fine with the pricing, but pricing is an area that can always be improved."
"It would be great if we were able to run it on multiple operating systems and not only stick with Windows."
"The solution is expensive. The licensing costs are high."
"The web interface and the command line interface could be better so we could manage and build some things around an API. If we could build our own solution, our own interface, and then manage the solution through that open API, that would be better."
"I would like to see more integration with other platforms."
"It would be great if this were a managed service in AWS."
"It should provide a GUI interface for data management and tuning."
"It's hard to make it slow for a small data volume. For large volumes, it's hard to make it work. It's also hard to make it faster, and to make it scale."
"They could improve the integration and some of the features in the cloud version."
"It needs integration with multiple clouds."
"One feature, which has really benefited us, is the scalability offered by Vertica as it has enabled Pythian's clients to manage data with agility."
"Some of our small to medium-sized customers would like to see containerization and flexibility from the deployment standpoint."
"In a future release, we would like to have artificial intelligence capabilities like neural networks. Customers are demanding this type of analytics."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be cheaper."
"We purchased our license and the pricing is fine for us."
"We have an enterprise license, which we consider to be fine."
"There is a license required for servers and for the POS we use the free version. The free version allows you to have tables and a total database size of approximately 10 GB, which is enough for our requirements."
"We pay per second of usage, but there are different offerings of the license."
"Cost is a major derivative for any organization. It has a reasonable cost value, and its cloud support is also better than others. Comparatively, Oracle can do the same things or is even better in certain areas, but it is expensive. The cost along with the support are the plus factors for SQL Server."
"You need to pay for the license. It most probably has per-core licensing."
"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."
"I am aware that we have licensed it, but I have no knowledge of its cost."
"Work with a vendor, if possible, and take advantage of more aggressive discounts at mid-fiscal year (April) and fiscal year-end (October).​"
"The solution is free and we pay for the storage."
"Vertica has a perpetual license, but they are currently trying to convert all those licenses to subscription-based licenses on a yearly basis."
"The pricing for this solution is very reasonable compared to other vendors."
"From a cost perspective, the software is less than most of its competitors."
"It's an expensive product"
"It is fast to purchase through the AWS Marketplace."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
53%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Real Estate/Law Firm
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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...
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...
What do you like most about Vertica?
Vertica is easy to use and provides really high performance, stability, and scalability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Vertica?
The solution is relatively cost-effective. Pricing and licensing are reasonable compared to other solutions.
What needs improvement with Vertica?
The product could improve by adding support for a wider variety of data types and enhancing features to better compete with other databases.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Microsoft SQL Server, MSSQL, MS SQL
Micro Focus Vertica, HPE Vertica, HPE Vertica on Demand
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
Cerner, Game Show Network Game, Guess by Marciano, Supercell, Etsy, Nascar, Empirix, adMarketplace, and Cardlytics.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and others in Relational Databases Tools. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.