Azure SQL Database vs CrateDB
Azure SQL Database
azure.microsoft.comCrateDB
cratedb.comSide by side
| Figure | Azure SQL Database | CrateDB |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 17 |
| Spec score · Database Software | 9.0 (#7) | 9.0 (#10) |
| Spec score · Spatial Databases | 9.0 (#4) | 9.3 (#1) |
| Compliance | Microsoft states that Azure has more than 100 compliance certifications, including over 50 for specific regions and countries. | CrateDB Cloud holds ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certifications, according to the security page. |
| Documentation depth | Microsoft Learn provides conceptual guidance, quickstarts, tutorials, API references, resource-limit tables, code samples and troubleshooting material. | Official documentation includes connection guides, ingestion methods, integrations, administration, SQL syntax, functions and API reference material. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | 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. | Documented integrations include Tableau Cloud, Power BI, Kafka, StreamSets, DBeaver, Prometheus, Grafana, Airflow, Superset, Metabase, Excel and n8n. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.5 out of 5 from 242 reviews | 4.4 out of 5 from 85 reviews |
| Rating on Gartner Peer Insights | 4.5 out of 5 from 340 ratings | 4.8 out of 5 from 3 reviews |
| Security | Its security and governance features include a multilayered approach that includes Microsoft Defender for SQL. | CrateDB describes authentication, authorization, encryption, audit logging and compliance certifications across managed and self-managed deployments. |
| Self-hosting | Azure SQL Database is delivered as Microsoft’s cloud PaaS service; Microsoft separately documents SQL Server containers and virtual machines for self-managed deployments. | CrateDB can run on premises, at the edge, in public or private clouds, or as managed CrateDB Cloud. |
| What it does | Azure SQL Database is Microsoft’s managed cloud relational database service for transactional and analytical workloads. | CrateDB is a distributed SQL database for real-time analytics, search and AI workloads on high-volume operational data. |
Plans
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
CrateDB
- Shared FreeFree
- SharedPrice not published
- DedicatedPrice not published
- CrateDB Cloud Free PlanFree
- Open SourceFree
- CrateDB Cloud Shared$0.07 a month
- CrateDB Cloud Dedicated$0.25 a month
- Shared S2$53 a month
- Shared S4$103 a month
- Shared S6$153 a month
In their own words
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.