Aiven for PostgreSQL vs Azure SQL Database
Aiven for PostgreSQL
aiven.io
Azure SQL Database
azure.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | Aiven for PostgreSQL | Azure SQL Database |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $5/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 10 | 5 |
| Spec score · Relational Databases | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Spec score · Databases And Backend | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Compliance | Aiven lists ISO 27001-series, ISAE 3000 SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA and PCI DSS coverage. | Microsoft states that Azure has more than 100 compliance certifications, including over 50 for specific regions and countries. |
| Documentation depth | The PostgreSQL documentation covers connections, querying, service and database management, scaling, maintenance, high availability, backups, monitoring, integrations and extensions. | Microsoft Learn provides conceptual guidance, quickstarts, tutorials, API references, resource-limit tables, code samples and troubleshooting material. |
| Integrations | PostgreSQL can integrate with Aiven for Grafana for visualization and can send metrics to external endpoints such as Datadog. | Azure SQL Database can connect to Azure services such as Azure Functions and replicate SQL data into Microsoft Fabric for near-real-time querying and analysis. |
| Maker legal name | Crunchbase identifies the company legal name as Aiven Oy. | The product is made by Microsoft Corporation. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.4 out of 5 from 78 reviews. | 4.5 out of 5 from 242 reviews |
| Rating on Gartner Peer Insights | 4.6 out of 5 from 38 reviews for Aiven for PostgreSQL. | 4.5 out of 5 from 340 ratings |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 8.9 out of 10 from 3 reviews for Aiven. | 8.3 out of 10 from 291 reviews and ratings |
| Security | Aiven states that service virtual machines are dedicated to a single customer and that data is encrypted in transit and at rest. | Its security and governance features include a multilayered approach that includes Microsoft Defender for SQL. |
| Security controls | Aiven states that services use dedicated VMs, encryption in transit and at rest, IP allowlists, SAML SSO, VPC peering, BYOC and AWS/Azure PrivateLink. | Network firewalls block access until IP addresses or virtual-network traffic are explicitly allowed. |
| What it does | Aiven for PostgreSQL is a fully managed hosted relational database service. | Azure SQL Database is Microsoft’s managed cloud relational database service for transactional and analytical workloads. |
Plans
Aiven for PostgreSQL
- FreeFree
- FreeFree
- Developer$5 a month
- Developer$5 a month
- Hobbyist$12 a month
- Startup$75 a month
- Startup$75 a month
- Business$180 a month
- Business$180 a month
- Premium$270 a month
Azure SQL Database
- Free offerFree
- Azure SQL Database free offerFree
- Azure SQL Database free tierFree
- Azure SQL Database pay-as-you-goPrice not published
- Pay as you goPrice not published
In their own words
Aiven for PostgreSQL
Aiven for PostgreSQL is a managed, hosted relational database service built on open-source PostgreSQL. It automates setup, maintenance, patching, and scaling, and includes automatic failover and point-in-time recovery. The cloud service can run across providers including AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure. Aiven lists more than 50 PostgreSQL extensions, including PostGIS, pgvector, TimescaleDB, and pg_cron, and describes uses in vector search and AI applications. It can integrate with Aiven for Grafana and send metrics to external endpoints such as Datadog. The free tier has a single node, 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, and 1 GB storage; it has no integrations or connection pooling and a max_connections limit of 20. That tier is excluded from the advertised 99.99% uptime SLA and receives no support services. The Free plan is free; Developer is $5 a month, Startup starts at $75 a month, and Business starts at $180 a month. Paid services include Basic support.
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Database is a cloud-native relational database service built on the SQL Server engine and delivered as a fully managed PaaS. Microsoft manages provisioning, patching, backups, monitoring, and high availability. The service supports standard T-SQL and can be accessed through the Azure portal, SQL Server Management Studio, Visual Studio Code's MSSQL extension, and compatible application frameworks. It supports native JSON and REST and GraphQL APIs through Data API builder. Hyperscale independently scales compute and storage and supports scale-out with up to 30 named replicas. For AI application development, it offers native vector search and connections to Azure OpenAI and Azure AI Search. It can connect to Azure Functions and replicate SQL data into Microsoft Fabric for near-real-time querying and analysis. Security and governance include a multilayered approach with Microsoft Defender for SQL; recovery features include disaster recovery and snapshot-based backups. The free offer allows up to 10 General Purpose databases per subscription, each with 100,000 vCore seconds, 32 GB of data, and 32 GB of backup storage monthly. Once limits are reached, a database can auto-pause or remain online with excess use billed at standard rates.