Azure Analysis Services vs. Azure SQL Database

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Analysis Services
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Azure Analysis Services delivers enterprise-grade BI semantic modeling capabilities with the scale, flexibility, and management benefits of the cloud. Azure Analysis Services helps transform complex data into actionable insights. Azure Analysis Services is built on the analytics engine in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services.N/A
Azure SQL Database
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's relational database as a service (DBaaS).
$0.50
Per Hour
Pricing
Azure Analysis ServicesAzure 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 Analysis ServicesAzure 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 Analysis ServicesAzure SQL Database
Considered Both Products
Azure Analysis Services
Chose Azure Analysis Services
Microsoft Azure Analysis Services is the best tool available in market in present scenario and it justifies it's role. The solution is packed with lot of functionalities which helps in taking useful decision. The integration and deployment part is easy and need less time and …
Chose Azure Analysis Services
Azure Data Factory
Chose Azure Analysis Services
The best thing about it is the ability to create a query and drill down the data to a more granular level when needed. The best thing about Azure Analysis Services is. It provides secured access anytime from anywhere, it also provides REST API for this, which is very easy to …
Chose Azure Analysis Services
The platform has vast number of features and modules. The UI is sleek and once you get to use to it, you will be able to do a lot of stuff. Also support for data sources is more in Azure Analysis Services.
Chose Azure Analysis Services
We have used the IBM cloud which was truly a specific nightmare for our team. User experience, layout, and design is big for us as it understandably is with many people. Even if any type of program can technically do all that we need it to, we still found our team will not be …
Chose Azure Analysis Services
I had used SAP at a different Organization and the organization where I used Azure Analysis Services was already having it and hence I had to use it. Both have their own sets of pros and cons to look into. To be honest I liked SAP more than Azure Analysis Services
Chose Azure Analysis Services
A different UIUX between both products, but some would say Cloud Platform is easier to be used. Performance-wise both functions to their fullest ability so it boils down to the company's decision to select which products to be implemented. Would definitely not go wrong choosing …
Azure SQL Database
Chose Azure SQL Database
Better and more useful automation tools are available. Better at scaling and hosting your data. Greater security around access of data and encrypting where required. Allows for seamless integration in other Azure solutions which allows for greater flexibility when using the …
Chose Azure SQL Database
Depending on the use case they stack up very well. Google and AWS are well suited multi-cloud strategies or those that need a high level of RDS performance.
Chose Azure SQL Database
Mainly response time. Azure SQL Database is very fast and very reliable when it comes to executing queries and gathering the data results. Also, the exporting options it gives are far exceeding expectations and enable users to accommodate any deliverable in a timely and …
Chose Azure SQL Database
I selected Azure SQL because it integrates nicely with the technology stacks we currently maintain. The pricing is right, and clients are happy with that. Scaling is easy. Most of our clients don't want to maintain a full-blown database server, and they don't need one. For …
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 …
Features
Azure Analysis ServicesAzure SQL Database
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.6
Ratings
5% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports8.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.8
Ratings
9% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
9.0
Ratings
10% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
Publish to Web9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
9.0
Ratings
12% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
9.3
Ratings
9% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)9.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.6
Ratings
10% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
8.8
Ratings
13% above category average
Azure SQL Database
-
Ratings
REST API8.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Javascript API8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
iFrames8.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Java API8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)9.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Database-as-a-Service
Comparison of Database-as-a-Service features of Product A and Product B
Azure Analysis Services
-
Ratings
Azure SQL Database
7.3
Ratings
15% below category average
Automatic software patching00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Database scalability00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Automated backups00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Database security provisions00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Monitoring and metrics00 Ratings6.80 Ratings
Automatic host deployment00 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Analysis ServicesAzure SQL Database
Small Businesses
Yellowfin
Yellowfin
Score 8.6 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Reveal
Reveal
Score 10.0 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Kyvos Semantic Layer
Score 9.5 out of 10
IBM Cloudant
IBM Cloudant
Score 7.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Analysis ServicesAzure SQL Database
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Analysis ServicesAzure SQL Database
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft Azure Analysis Services is best tool which is well suited for many type of scenarios. Like if the organization is dealing with a lot of critical data and need some better analysis and insights for that data then tool serves the best. It helps in depth analysis and getting the desired result which helps in making big decision for any organization. We can create role based access for sensitive data hence it is very helpful for security point of view. Helps in making the business more productive and taking decision based on facts. It is less appropriate for scenarios like where data amount is less and the solution is very costly and someone can get a cheaper solution. Also not suited for environment where user directory do not exist because without the help of user directory role could not be created hence proper utilization of this tool will not be possible.
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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
  • You can import data from various sources (i.e. Oracle, Azure SQL...)
  • You can store data models
  • You can elaborate data and create insights
  • Perfect integration with Excel and Power BI
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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
  • Microsoft Azure Analysis Services is very costly solution and in that price we can get some better business intelligence tool with lot more of capabilities
  • The dashboard or we can say user interface is complex and need time to understand and gain expertise in order for proper working.
  • It needs continuation monitoring which is sometime a big task.
  • Sometime, the tool shows unusual behavior and become unstable, so we need to clear temp files for proper functioning.
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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
No answers on this topic
The interfaces are intuitive once you are familiar with all the functions. The ability to use different tools to interact with the platform, such as directly via a browser or code editors such as VS Code or Visual Studio is a great option and allows for integrating withn the project and other testing and developing tools.
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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
We have used the IBM cloud which was truly a specific nightmare for our team. User experience, layout, and design is big for us as it understandably is with many people. Even if any type of program can technically do all that we need it to, we still found our team will not be as motivated or satisfied using it compared to something more visually appealing and smooth.
Read full review
I selected Azure SQL because it integrates nicely with the technology stacks we currently maintain. The pricing is right, and clients are happy with that. Scaling is easy. Most of our clients don't want to maintain a full-blown database server, and they don't need one. For them, Azure SQL is the right size.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Website analytics; We have realized so many benefits like traffic analysis, CRM, click-through funnels, and many more.
  • Aas allows us to do complex calculations and aggregations at slight efforts. It accommodates DAX expression, which in return is simple to apply.
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  • Positive: very easy implementation!
  • Positive: finally a good (easy) implementation of data masking, something we always neglected on premise.
  • Positive: no maintenance!! No "server is down" messages on your phone at 3 'o clock in the morning.
  • Negative: Too expensive to use for all other scenario's than a few very important applications.
Read full review
ScreenShots