Azure SQL Managed Instance vs. Azure SQL Database

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Azure SQL Managed Instance is a scalable cloud database service that combines SQL Server database engine compatibility with a fully managed and evergreen platform as a service.N/A
Azure SQL Database
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's relational database as a service (DBaaS).
$0.50
Per Hour
Pricing
Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure SQL Database
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
2 vCORE
$0.5044
Per Hour
6 vCORE
$1.5131
Per Hour
10 vCORE
$2.52
Per Hour
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure SQL Database
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure SQL Database
Considered Both Products
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Chose Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure to our enviironment where we have everything integrated stacks up far better than MySQL where we would have to reinvent and use everything to fit a MySQL environment including the data and the commands within that data. Furthermore, doesn't work really well on SQL …
Azure SQL Database
Chose Azure SQL Database
We have selected it because we are using Azure Cloud and it is the best option for us to go ahead with Azure SQL Database.
Chose Azure SQL Database
The simplicity and great features and good support of Microsoft as well as the more reasonable flexible price than other competitors is one of the important reasons for choosing it.
Chose Azure SQL Database
Oracle database is "the" serious database. There really is no competition in that field. SQL Database would be a serious competitor through the ease of implementation and the "no maintenance," but since it's too expensive for "normal" use (medium to small applications), it just …
Chose Azure SQL Database
We looked at Google Cloud SQL and Amazon RDS services, but we did not want to switch to a different structure from the system we currently use.
Chose Azure SQL Database
It is very easy to setup SQL database on Azure. one can always refer to their documentation for best practices. It is highly available and scalable. It is cheaper than its alternatives and provide better performance than others. As we are using many other services of Azure for …
Chose Azure SQL Database
Amazon RDS for SQL Server is the best example to compare with Azure SQL Database since both provide a Microsoft SQL Engine to host your databases.

Amazon RDS for SQL is much more compatible with your on-premises databases than Azure SQL, the reason is that Amazon RDS for SQL …
Chose Azure SQL Database
The Azure SQL Database, compared to our on premise SQL server installation, is much easier to use in terms of seeing database diagnostics. There is a whole visualization platform that comes with the tool that will allow your database administrator to see what jobs are tying up …
Chose Azure SQL Database
Amazon's RDS offering is actually very good and is used in other parts of the company, we just have a lot of Azure experience so wanted to leverage that.
Chose Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL has a slight advantage over its rivals because it's developed by Microsoft, so it is well suited to professionals.
Chose Azure SQL Database
Being able to manage our databases in the cloud, scale quickly, and only require access to VMs made choosing Azure a no-brainer over a traditional SQL Server installation/integration. We don't have the budget or resources to integrate and maintain servers on our own, so using …
Chose Azure SQL Database
I would say MySQL in either Aurora or MariaDB form come close however, Azure SQL Database has a more streamlined approach to delivering a consistent programmability model, supported drivers and feature set.
Azure SQL Database T-SQL is advantageous and more complete than SQL …
Chose Azure SQL Database
Azure owned by Microsoft who owned SQL Server, so provided a variety of tools for easy migration/transition and from on-premises to the cloud; and management. I recommend using Azure for any on-prem SQL server databases.
Chose Azure SQL Database
Very similar product. Our company preferred to remain in the Microsoft Software Suite.
Chose Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL is a clear upgrade to SQL Server 2012 and pretty much has the advantage with all the extra features that it has. Security, queries, exporting tables, T-SQL has all improved. Transitioning 18+ years of an in-house database to the cloud was a struggle, but for the …
Chose Azure SQL Database
We moved away from Oracle and NoSQL because we had been so reliant on them for the last 25 years, the pricing was too much and we were looking for a way to cut the cord. Snowflake is just too up in the air, feels like it is soon to be just another line item to add to your Azure …
Chose Azure SQL Database
Amazon Relational Database Service is the other obvious competitor. We were already in Azure, so it's not a serious contender for our business due to that bias already, but I do personally find the marketing and documentation of RDS more intimidating to sort through.
Chose Azure SQL Database
Comparing with Amazon Aurora: Azure SQL DB is 100% compatible with SQL Server and Aurora is compatible with MySQL and PostGreSQL. Because of if, SQL DB suits large enterprises with hundreds of databases better.
Comparing with Oracle: the main issue is that Oracle will try to …
Chose Azure SQL Database
It reduces the business cost as it provides large storage capacity with massive speed. Data security is primary benefit which this product gives me.
Chose Azure SQL Database
It stacks up in different ways, for the most part, I think Microsoft is doing a really good job versus the competition. They basically started database type products from the beginning. I've always been excited about updates and can see their progress over time. Get's me really …
Chose Azure SQL Database
AWS's solution would be an alternative. I felt since we're a Window shop and already had a small investment into Azure, it was a no brainer.
Chose Azure SQL Database
It's more easy to shift and get all the services up in no time, provide best up time and monitoring easily so you can get the best services which take care of themselves. It's a better fitting for a large company size.
Chose Azure SQL Database
If you are a company that is already invested in Microsoft technologies, then the Azure suite is a better fit than the Amazon suite.
Chose Azure SQL Database
As we were early adopters with Azure and landed on the Azure PaaS (Platform as a Service), it made sense to use databases that were on the same platform as the application to save on costs. Also, we were impressed with the simplicity of Azure SQL. From a management perspective …
Features
Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure SQL Database
Platform-as-a-Service
Comparison of Platform-as-a-Service features of Product A and Product B
Azure SQL Managed Instance
8.4
Ratings
5% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
Ease of building user interfaces10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Scalability8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform management overhead8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow engine capability8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Platform access control9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Services-enabled integration7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Development environment creation8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Development environment replication8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue monitoring and notification9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue recovery9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Upgrades and platform fixes8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Database-as-a-Service
Comparison of Database-as-a-Service features of Product A and Product B
Azure SQL Managed Instance
-
Ratings
Azure SQL Database
9.2
Ratings
6% above category average
Automatic software patching00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Database scalability00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Automated backups00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Database security provisions00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Monitoring and metrics00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Automatic host deployment00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure SQL Database
Small Businesses
AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda
Score 8.7 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.3 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat OpenShift
Score 9.3 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure SQL Database
Likelihood to Recommend
6.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure SQL Database
Likelihood to Recommend
Runs the supply chain workload well. Able to provide proper alerts when the cpu is not enough to run the workload. Is able to run the update stats automatically as the data changes. Scales very well for most oltp apps. Has good dashboards to show what is going on the database.
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Your upcoming app can be built faster on a fully managed SQL database and can be moved into Azure with a few to no application code changes. Flexible and responsive server less computing and Hyperscale storage can cope with your changing requirements and one of the main benefits is the reduction in costs, which is noticeable.
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Pros
  • executes the queries efficiently
  • has tools/dashboards to show where the query problems lie
  • alerting for problems
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  • Scalability is #1: if it used to be an almost no-win endeavour to try to modernize your server or migrate to other hardware, with Azure SQL Database it becomes a press of a button.
  • All the tools simply work after you are on Azure SQL Database.
  • The applications do not need changes in order to start using Azure SQL Database.
  • Hybrid Cloud scenarios will work.
  • Clustering and failover - already there.
  • You can start monitoring the use and extract performance insights in a new way in Azure.
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Cons
  • hard to use without Microsoft knowledge
  • Intimidating CLI
  • Commands are not intuitive
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  • A little slow on processing complex or large Views. We use a lot of Views to feed our BI system, and the processing time could see some improvement, IMHO.
  • Additional monitoring components would be nice too, automating some built in performance measurement tools would be a nice feature.
  • Price can always be improved as well. It’s not bad, but room for improvement.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
This is best solution as a DBA one could expect from a service provider and as a cloud service, it removes all your hassles.
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Usability
it runs the workload very well without causing any issues to the business. there are many applications running on Azure SQL Managed Instances in my organization. Most users are happy with its performance. Is able to provide good dashboard for the visibility of the workload. Can add cpu without a downtime to deal with high workload.
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It just works!
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Support Rating
No answers on this topic
We give the support a high rating simply because every time we've had issues or questions, representatives were in contact with us quickly. Without fail, our issues/questions were handled in a timely matter. That kind of response is integral when client data integrity and availability is in question. There is also a wealth of documentation for resolving issues on your own.
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Alternatives Considered
Azure to our enviironment where we have everything integrated stacks up far better than MySQL where we would have to reinvent and use everything to fit a MySQL environment including the data and the commands within that data. Furthermore, doesn't work really well on SQL Management Studio which makes it completely useless for what we are trying to do.
Read full review
Oracle Database is "the" serious database. There really is no competition in that field. SQL Database would be a serious competitor through the ease of implementation and the "no maintenance," but since it's too expensive for "normal" use (medium to small applications), it just priced itself out of the market, so to speak. Nevertheless, we do have 2 or 3 large applications that are highly integrated in azure, and for those it's just too easy to use SQL Database instead of the on premise Oracle Database with VPN gateways etcetera.
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Return on Investment
  • Decision Driven decisions have been quicker
  • Negatively cumbersome at start when training
  • Positive use of PaaS services instead of devoting VMs
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  • We don't need a dedicated SQL dba because so many of the database maintenance operations are managed. A huge positive not only in budget but time constraints.
  • The ability to scale quickly is the biggest positive as our data needs change constantly.
  • Easy to migrate from legacy tools and systems, saving us on the need for redevelopment.
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ScreenShots