Azure SQL Database vs HSQLDB
Azure SQL Database
azure.microsoft.com
HSQLDB
hsqldb.orgSide by side
| Figure | Azure SQL Database | HSQLDB |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 11 |
| Spec score · Relational Databases | 8.9 (#3) | 9.1 (#2) |
| Spec score · Database Software | 9.0 (#7) | 8.9 (#13) |
| Documentation depth | Microsoft Learn provides conceptual guidance, quickstarts, tutorials, API references, resource-limit tables, code samples and troubleshooting material. | The project publishes HTML, PDF and text guides, JavaDoc for public classes, utilities documentation, examples, tests and SQL scripts. |
| 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. | The project documents JDBC and ODBC connectivity and integration with OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.5 out of 5 from 242 reviews | 4.0 out of 5 from 22 reviews. |
| Security controls | Network firewalls block access until IP addresses or virtual-network traffic are explicitly allowed. | Security features include passwords, users, roles, GRANT/REVOKE privileges and fine-grained row-level access control. |
| What it does | Azure SQL Database is Microsoft’s managed cloud relational database service for transactional and analytical workloads. | HSQLDB (HyperSQL) is a Java relational database engine supporting transactional in-memory and disk tables in embedded or server deployments. |
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
HSQLDB
- Developer subscription$100 a year
- Basic Corporate subscriptionPrice not published
- Premier Corporate subscription$2,500 a year
- HSQLDBFree
- HSQLDB softwareFree
- Developer SupportWare$100 a year
- SupportWare Developer subscription$100 a year
- Basic Corporate SupportWare$500 a year
- SupportWare Basic Corporate subscription$500 a year
- Premier Corporate SupportWare$2,500 a year
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.
HSQLDB
HSQLDB is a Java-based relational database engine for embedded or server use, with both in-memory and disk-based tables. It supports SQL:2023 core features and many optional features, plus lock-based and MVCC transaction models; the engine is fully multithreaded. Listed capabilities include JSON constructor functions, CSV loading and unloading, temporal system-versioned tables, row-level access control, and log-based replica synchronization. It includes a command-line SQL tool and simple GUI query tools. The latest official release listed is version 2.7.4, compatible with JDK 8 and above, and packages include Java 11 module jars as well as Java 8 jars for HSQLDB and SQL Tool. HSQLDB is self-hosted, with high availability, read replicas, and JSON data support listed. Its default combined limit for CACHED tables is 8TB, extendable to 256TB with a connection property; each TEXT table is limited to 256GB, and memory tables depend on available memory. The software is free to use in commercial products when license terms are met; its licenses are based on the new BSD License. The HSQLDB plan is free. A Developer subscription is $100 a year; Premier Corporate is $2,500 a year at the base level. Support options include community channels and paid commercial support.