Microsoft SQL Server Reviews & Insights

Score8.7 out of 10

1,630 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Microsoft SQL Server are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Ease of Use and Integration: Users have consistently found the software easy to use, praising its simple design and common interface. They also appreciate its seamless integration capabilities with various frameworks and tools like Visual Studio, Dot Net, MSBI, PowerBI, Crystal Reports, etc.

Reliability and Performance: Reviewers have highlighted the software's reliability in handling high volume transactions and data staging operations. They also value its fast performance, intuitive SQL coding experience, efficient data table management, and quick information filtering capabilities.

Data Management Capabilities: Users have praised the software for its functionalities as a relational database server and its support for OEM applications. They particularly appreciate its features for data storage, manipulation, scalability options, quick data analysis abilities, troubleshooting tools availability, and maintenance procedures.

Reviews

102 Reviews

Microsoft SQL pricey but worth it

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

April 30, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it to hold the databases that with use for our Apps. It gives us a efficient way to store all the data we have in order to make our apps works. Any business needs a database to store it's data and with Microsoft SQL things are easier to manage.

Pros

Data structure
Good documentation
Huge posibilities
Efficient querying

Cons

Easy issues management , like deadlocks and slow performance
Resource use , it's very memory hungry
Pricing

Likelihood to Recommend

With Microsoft SQL you will have a easier and faster deployment and work. It's true that you have other open sources options , like mysql for example but the learning curve and support it's harder. It's pricey but it's worth it. If you are a small organization you could try to use SQL Express but the database size is limited , in that scenario you might want to go with a open source option.

Verified User

Technician (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

7 years of experience

Most reliable database product

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

April 28, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Microsoft SQL Server is being used for the various applications in our organization, which are OLTP, Data warehouse, and Java-based applications. The various tools that come up with Microsoft SQL Server like SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Server Profiler etc make the maintenance and performance analysis very easy. We also have integrated it with Power BI for the analysis purposes.

Pros

Highly reliable and scalable
Ease in operation and maintenance with the help of various tools
Good technical support

Cons

Being open-source databases available in the market, the licensing cost seems to be on the higher side.
Server resource utilization is more. It can be tuned further.
Can have better compatibility with third-party applications.

Likelihood to Recommend

In our organisation, scalability is of frequent use. With Microsoft SQL Server, we are able to scale up and down the servers based on the demand. We are also using it in our Data warehouse applications and the performance has been far better as compared to other databases. Since we are using other Microsoft products as well, Microsoft SQL Server provides a good ecosystem with those products.

Verified User

Professional in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

Microsoft SQL Server: Perfect Data Manager for an Organization

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

March 7, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Microsoft SQL Server is used in our organization by IT personnel to Store data, fetch data specific to requirements. For instance, in Sales Module SQL server is used to fetch data specific to a sales transaction and it helps to troubleshoot the errors reported by users. Similarly, it is used by IT technical team and other IT functional team to query the data stored in data server.

Pros

Data Storage,Data retrieval in conjunction with front-end software
Scalability to handle small-large database
SQL server available with different architectures under one umbrella

Cons

Nested queries are complex and need expertise - BI should be used to provide ease
Time and Space complexities - Can be improved
OLTP can be further enhanced
Cloud version can be improved

Likelihood to Recommend

1) We had a set-up where the ERP application and the servers were in-house and Microsoft SQL Server is perfect to query the data and troubleshoot the error reported by user. 2) The Microsoft SQL Server is taught to students from high school and this is like a baseline for students from IT. So it makes it easy to use at organization level since individual had already gained lot of experience in querying in previous projects at college level or otherwise. 3) In case of Cloud architecture, there is stiff competition and every software enterprise need to re-version itself for betterment. Otherwise, its- no less than any product out there.

varun kohli

Senior Executive in Information Technology at Vardhman textiles ltd. (10,001+ employees)

Vetted Review

19 years of experience

Verified on LinkedIn

Microsoft SQL Server inspiration

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

November 22, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Microsoft SQL Server supports the databases for our primary accounting system (MS Dynamics GP). This avoids us using much less efficient flat files or less compliant software from, for example, open source solutions.

Pros

Transaction oriented
Low resource useage
Universal compatibility

Cons

Query interface
Management interface
Logging

Likelihood to Recommend

Support for any data set that has relational or repetitive data is a good place for Microsoft SQL Server. It scales well and has the instructions to do almost anything you need it to do. It is also extremely scriptable.

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

15 years of experience

Microsoft SQL is a valuable tool to manage and present information across platforms.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

October 10, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I work for a company that creates a software suite that allows our customers to manage and track their work, their companies and contacts, user logins, etc. We use an extensive database built over the years and several stored procedures that can be called from our software to perform calculations and format data in needed layouts.

Pros

It stores information.
It is very reliable, with a few notable exceptions.
It connects with other software quickly, and tools are provided to facilitate that.

Cons

SQL does not run on Snapdragon or any ARM processors in general. Vendors like Dell are starting to sell laptops with ARM-based processors, and while Windows will work, SQL refuses to run.
When Windows 11 came out, SQL would fail after the upgrade from 10 to 11 because Windows 11 formatted the disk with larger sector sizes than SQL allows. This left a lot of our customers unable to use our software until they reverted to Windows 10. Since then, a registry hack has been made available to let SQL run, but we lost quite a bit of customer goodwill. Microsoft needs to test its software, Windows, and SQL on various platforms before pushing upgrades to avoid this.
Since 2008, the maximum database size available to SQL Express has been 10 gigabytes. However, 10 gigs does not go nearly as far now as it did then, and this needs to be doubled.

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft SQL is ubiquitous, while MySQL runs under the hood all over the place. Microsoft SQL is the platform taught in colleges and certification courses and is the one most likely to be used by businesses because it is backed by Microsoft. Its interface is friendly (well, as pleasant as SQL can be) and has been used by so many for so long that resources are freely available if you encounter any issues.

Verified User

Technician in Customer Service (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

18 years of experience

Solid and Reliable.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

August 28, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use MSSQL Server along with SSIS and SSRS as it's a very competent software suite and very stable. It integrates well with other software that we use, namely JAMS Scheduler.

Pros

Easy to use
Reliable
Amazing integration with other software

Cons

The query optimizer is clunky
Performance tuning is difficult to use
It's expensive

Likelihood to Recommend

MSSQL Server is excellent for most organizations that have database needs. Typically businesses will be either a "Microsoft" or "Oracle" shop and it tends to boil down to the software used, as many require SQL Server to begin with. In my experience mostly small to medium sized business use MSSQL Server. For ETL, I find SQL Server the way to go as SSIS is better than Informatica, but that's my opinion.

Verified User

Consultant in Information Technology (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

11 years of experience

Microsoft SQL Server Review

Rating: 9 out of 10

October 28, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am a computer engineer. I have been working as a software developer for about 7 years. I've been using Microsoft SQL Server since I was a student. The interface is very simple and useful, even beginners can use it comfortably. The dark theme has no shortcomings except that it is added under options. Table, schema, and index adding operations can be handled with a single line.

Pros

Ease of learning
Simple design
Common use
Documentation

Cons

Dark theme
Improvement of the query plan
Output screen is white

Likelihood to Recommend

I'm making bank software and I can use Microsoft SQL Server for all scenarios. Customer data, account data, card data, credit data all information is kept in the Microsoft SQL Server database. It provides convenience while keeping related data. While reporting, slowness may occur because there is too much data. We use Oracle as an equivalent.

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (5001-10,000 employees)

Vetted Review

9 years of experience

Gold Standard for Transactional Databases

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

August 13, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use SQL server as a back-end for the vast majority of our software applications. This includes backends for web apps, data staging and SSIS/SSRS. As far as DB's go, SQL server is our first choice because it integrates easily with our Microsoft .net and .net core applications. Our SQL DB's are used across the entire organization.

Pros

high volume transactions
data staging and bulk data loads
integration to active directory
ease of setup

Cons

it's still a memory hog, but that's gotten better since 2016
it can be expensive to license

Likelihood to Recommend

If your organization builds a lot of Microsoft based applications using .net or .net core, then the use of SQL is a no-brainer. The integration with .net is second to none as a backend for web apps and APIs.

In general, SQL performs well for a multitude of tasks beyond web app backends. We use SQL for high volume transactions for our core ESB which has very high data volume and data churn.

Gordon Lo

Digital Solutions Architect in Information Technology at Dynacare (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

15 years of experience

View profile

Microsoft SQL Server is a great database solution!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

August 8, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We currently use Microsoft SQL Server as our database application for our applications. We are using the Microsoft SQL Server jobs, Analysis services, cubes, and many other features to help provide front end data solutions to our customers. Our instance of Microsoft SQL Server also allows for multi-database implementation with full backup capabilities. We also pair with the latest management studio to get the best UI experience.

Pros

Easy to use with Visual Studio and ASP projects
Multiple options for Data Security
Industry standard and easy to use
Easy to install and configure

Cons

Licensing can get complicated
Very very expensive
combability issues and dependencies with servers etc
Microsoft support....you know

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft SQL Server is best for enterprise-level databases for data management. If you need to scale easily there are other options like Azure SQL, etc, but this also works best on bare metals servers. The licensing can get a bit complicated so it is not good for small companies/applications. I also don't think it is the best for mobile applications, etc.

Pritesh Patel

Product Manager, Partnerships & Data Services in Engineering at ProfitSword, LLC (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile

SQL Server - The best option as DB

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

July 21, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We have been using SQL Server through AWS RDS and it is our main tool in terms of data. All collected data from our system goes directly to the SQL Server before going to RedShift. So, we call it internally our live data and it contains everything in real-time.

Pros

It's the most used Database so it's mandatory to have knowledge for most of the roles today
You can find anything your need related to SQL Server on forums
Easy Implementation

Cons

I don't see too much to improve but maybe a more intuitive or graphical way to monitor the performance

Likelihood to Recommend

It is very well suited if you need to store data in the relational model. It is a very powerful tool and can be used from small companies to huge companies. As it is the most used database in the market you can find all the necessary information and how to make it works in a better way.

Verified User

Employee in Information Technology (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

Loading Reviews List....

Microsoft SQL is a valuable tool to manage and present information across platforms.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Incentivized

October 10, 2024

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

It stores information.
It is very reliable, with a few notable exceptions.
It connects with other software quickly, and tools are provided to facilitate that.

Cons

SQL does not run on Snapdragon or any ARM processors in general. Vendors like Dell are starting to sell laptops with ARM-based processors, and while Windows will work, SQL refuses to run.
When Windows 11 came out, SQL would fail after the upgrade from 10 to 11 because Windows 11 formatted the disk with larger sector sizes than SQL allows. This left a lot of our customers unable to use our software until they reverted to Windows 10. Since then, a registry hack has been made available to let SQL run, but we lost quite a bit of customer goodwill. Microsoft needs to test its software, Windows, and SQL on various platforms before pushing upgrades to avoid this.
Since 2008, the maximum database size available to SQL Express has been 10 gigabytes. However, 10 gigs does not go nearly as far now as it did then, and this needs to be doubled.

Likelihood to Recommend

Verified User

Technician in Customer Service (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

18 years of experience