Azure SQL Database vs DigitalOcean Managed Databases
Azure SQL Database
azure.microsoft.com
DigitalOcean Managed Databases
digitalocean.comSide by side
| Figure | Azure SQL Database | DigitalOcean Managed Databases |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $15/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 9 |
| Spec score · Relational Databases | 8.9 (#3) | 7.8 (#21) |
| Spec score · Database Software | 9.0 (#7) | 7.8 (#54) |
| Spec score · Databases And Backend | 8.9 (#4) | 7.7 (#23) |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Security | Its security and governance features include a multilayered approach that includes Microsoft Defender for SQL. | Managed database connections use TLS/SSL, backups are encrypted at rest, and customers can restrict connection sources with an application firewall. |
| What it does | Azure SQL Database is Microsoft’s managed cloud relational database service for transactional and analytical workloads. | Managed Databases provides fully managed database clusters as an alternative to manually installing, configuring, maintaining, and securing databases. |
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
DigitalOcean Managed Databases
- PostgreSQL Standard 1 GiB$15.15 a month
- MySQL Standard 1 GiB$15.15 a month
- MongoDB 1 GiB$15.23 a month
- Managed Valkey$15 a month
- Managed MySQL Standard$15.15 a month
- Managed PostgreSQL Standard$15.15 a month
- Managed MongoDB$15.23 a month
- Managed OpenSearch$19.60 a month
- Managed Kafka$148.80 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.
DigitalOcean Managed Databases
DigitalOcean Managed Databases has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.