We performed a comparison between MariaDB and SQL Server based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: MariaDB is the winner when it comes to ease of use, initial setup and price. SQL Server comes out on top when it comes to performance, scalability, and support.
"MariaDB is stable and the initial setup is straightforward."
"MariaDB is a user-friendly solution. Performance wise, it's better than SQL. With SQL, I would need to write a number of queries. In contrast, MariaDB is light."
"The product has been stable and reliable."
"A valuable feature is that we can use it for quite a few things, all the things you'd expect from a server—along the lines of Linux's Lightweight Directory."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is a cloud-based tool, so it is pretty fast."
"It's a very easy product to set up."
"I am editing."
"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the power it provides. It is a powerful solution."
"This solution has proven stability and operational power."
"One of the most valuable features of SQL Server is that it's easy to use."
"They have improved the UI and ease of accessing the database and server which is good. You can load it up and start using it from the very minute it is implemented."
"It can go easily on a virtual machine and be accommodated by a virtual machine easily. That is a plus, as not all databases can handle that."
"There is no lack of features."
"I like the availability group functionality. We are setting up more clusters using availability groups. The enterprise licensing or Software Assurance makes it a little bit cheaper as well. It is nice to have that read-only copy for reporting and everything else."
"The most valuable feature of the solution, compared to other RDBMS solutions, such as Oracle MySQL or IBM DB2, it is more user-friendly and has backward compatibility. For example, if you have an application that requires an old version of SQL Server and you have the latest version of the license, you are able to install and use it in backward compatibility mode. They keep supporting the existing legacy application."
"Excel integration is one of its most valuable features."
"MariaDB can improve by adding more features. There are a lot of features, which are available in Oracle, and which are not available in MariaDB. We hope they will introduce the features soon."
"I would like to see a better user interface which would make the tool less complex."
"The stability could always continue to be improved upon."
"I am editing."
"Document caching is an area of concern in the product, where improvements are required to help MariaDB improve on the previous queries as they are retained, and you can roll back to them."
"Data continuity could be improved."
"There is not much support available."
"It does not have tools for debugging procedures and functions."
"We would like to have a common storage option in the SQL Server. This option is available in Oracle Database. It would be great if Microsoft could create something like a columnstore that has not only indexing but also tables for common storage."
"The only item which I can list is application failure during Integration Services debugging, when restarting a process flow. In a number of instances the solutions fails. I have not given this much thought and simply stop and start the debugging service rather than restarting."
"The solution could be better when it comes to security."
"SQL Server could improve by enhancing the integration abilities, adding more inbuilt data security features, and simplifying the maintenance."
"The pricing could be better."
"I would like to see the performance improved. Migrating should be easier and the scalability needs improvement."
"Sometimes we experience issues with its stability."
"The solution's stability can be improved."
MariaDB is ranked 5th in Relational Databases Tools with 52 reviews while SQL Server is ranked 1st in Relational Databases Tools with 260 reviews. MariaDB is rated 8.2, while SQL Server is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of MariaDB writes "Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SQL Server writes "Easy to use and provides good speed and data recovery". MariaDB is most compared with Oracle Database, Firebird SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL and Percona Server, whereas SQL Server is most compared with SAP HANA, Oracle Database, LocalDB, IBM Db2 Database and Teradata. See our MariaDB vs. SQL Server report.
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We monitor all Relational Databases Tools reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
