Amazon Aurora vs Azure SQL Database
Amazon Aurora
aws.amazon.com
Azure SQL Database
azure.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | Amazon Aurora | Azure SQL Database |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 5 |
| Spec score · Spatial Databases | 8.2 (#13) | 9.0 (#4) |
| Spec score · Relational Databases | 8.1 (#13) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Spec score · Databases And Backend | 8.1 (#14) | 8.9 (#4) |
| Spec score · Database Software | 8.1 (#41) | 9.0 (#7) |
| Spec score · Transaction Data Store Software | 8.1 (#17) | 8.8 (#6) |
| Compliance | AWS lists Aurora in compliance programs that include SOC, PCI, FedRAMP, and HIPAA. | Microsoft states that Azure has more than 100 compliance certifications, including over 50 for specific regions and countries. |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | Aurora MySQL can invoke AWS Lambda functions and load data from or save data to Amazon S3. | 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. |
| Intended workloads | AWS identifies enterprise applications, multi-tenant SaaS, and globally distributed applications as Aurora use cases. | Microsoft describes Azure SQL Database as designed for modern application development, mission-critical workloads, and AI-ready architectures. |
| Security | Aurora supports encryption at rest using AWS KMS keys and uses SSL (AES-256) to secure data in transit. | Its security and governance features include a multilayered approach that includes Microsoft Defender for SQL. |
Plans
Amazon Aurora
- Free planFree
- Paid planPrice not published
- Aurora PostgreSQL Serverless Free planFree
- Aurora PostgreSQL and Aurora MySQL On-DemandPrice not published
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
Amazon Aurora
Amazon Aurora has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
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.