ClickHouse Cloud vs Microsoft SQL Server
ClickHouse Cloud
clickhouse.comMicrosoft SQL Server
microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | ClickHouse Cloud | Microsoft SQL Server |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $25.30/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 20 |
| Spec score · Spatial Databases | 9.2 (#2) | 8.1 (#16) |
| Spec score · Database Software | 9.0 (#8) | 8.5 (#24) |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Integrations | Listed ecosystem integrations include Grafana, Kafka, AWS S3, Metabase, Deepnote, dbt, Vector, MySQL, Superset, Airbyte and Tableau. | SQL Server 2025 integrates with LangChain, Semantic Kernel, Entity Framework Core, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft Fabric. |
| Security | The Cloud page lists access controls, encryption in transit and at rest, activity logging, and SOC 2 Type II compliance. | Microsoft's SQL Server security guidance covers platform and network security, permissions, encryption, and secure connections. |
Plans
ClickHouse Cloud
- Basic$25.30 a month
- Enterprise$25.30 a month
- Scale$25.30 a month
Microsoft SQL Server
- Standard per corePriced on request
- Standard per corePrice not published
- Standard serverPriced on request
- Standard serverPrice not published
- Standard CALPriced on request
- Standard CALPrice not published
- Enterprise pay-as-you-go$274 a month
- Developer – Standard & EnterpriseFree
- ExpressFree
- Standard pay-as-you-go$73 a month
In their own words
ClickHouse Cloud
ClickHouse Cloud has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a database platform for storing, processing, and securing data, offered with both deployment models and a free plan. Its Database Engine includes replication, full-text search, relational, XML, and JSON data management, as well as Python and R machine-learning services. Integration Services provides graphical tools and programmable objects for moving and transforming data, while PolyBase can query Azure Storage, S3, and ODBC sources. SQL Server 2025 adds vector search, vector embedding generation, text chunking, and DiskANN vector indexing, and integrates with LangChain, Semantic Kernel, Entity Framework Core, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft Fabric. Microsoft provides downloads for Windows and Linux and a SQL Server container image for Docker. Express is a free entry-level edition for learning and desktop or small server applications; its single Database Engine instance is limited to the lesser of one socket or four cores. Developer editions provide Enterprise or Standard functionality for development and testing, not production. SQL Server 2025 does not support SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.