TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Azure Cosmos DB vs. IBM Informix on Cloud vs. Azure SQL Database

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Azure Cosmos DB

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Azure Cosmos DB is Microsoft's Big Data analysis platform. It is a NoSQL database service and is a replacement for the earlier DocumentDB NoSQL database.N/A

    IBM Informix on Cloud

    N/AN/AIMB Informix on Cloud is a DBaaS deployment of IBM's Informix database, available from IBM Cloud.N/A

    Azure SQL Database

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AAzure SQL Database is Microsoft's relational database as a service (DBaaS).

    $0.50

    Per Hour

    Pricing
    Azure Cosmos DBIBM Informix on CloudAzure SQL Database
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    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 Cosmos DBIBM Informix on CloudAzure SQL Database
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details———
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Azure Cosmos DBIBM Informix on CloudAzure SQL Database
    Considered Multiple Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Azure Cosmos DB
    Because we often use Microsoft products for large corporate projects and other customer projects, and compatibility and integration are important to us, we used this platform, which in addition to very high security, has a very good response speed, also, building modern …
    Incentivized
    Chose Azure Cosmos DB
    Our development and administration teams are just more familiar with the Microsoft Stack, and there was very little additional knowledge required to put this into production.
    Incentivized
    Chose Azure Cosmos DB
    Cosmos DB is unique in the industry as a true multi-model, cloud-native database engine that comes with solutions for geo-redundancy, multi-master writes, (globally!) low latency, and cost-effective hosting built in. I've yet to see anything else that even comes close to the …
    Incentivized
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    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.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    17 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    16 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    14 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Implementation went as expected
    16 Answers
    Features
    Azure Cosmos DBIBM Informix on CloudAzure SQL Database
    Database-as-a-Service
    Comparison of Database-as-a-Service features of Azure Cosmos DB and IBM Informix on Cloud and Azure SQL Database
    Feature
    Azure Cosmos DB
    -
    Ratings
    IBM Informix on Cloud
    -
    Ratings
    Azure SQL Database
    7.2
    32 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Automatic software patching00 Ratings00 Ratings6.330 Ratings
    Database scalability00 Ratings00 Ratings7.832 Ratings
    Automated backups00 Ratings00 Ratings7.832 Ratings
    Database security provisions00 Ratings00 Ratings8.832 Ratings
    Monitoring and metrics00 Ratings00 Ratings6.831 Ratings
    Automatic host deployment00 Ratings00 Ratings6.127 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Azure Cosmos DBIBM Informix on CloudAzure SQL Database
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    MongoDB Atlas
    Score7.8 out of 10
    MongoDB Atlas
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    HBase
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Azure Database
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Azure Database
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cassandra
    Score9 out of 10
    Google Cloud SQL
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Google Cloud SQL
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Azure Cosmos DBIBM Informix on CloudAzure SQL Database
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (32 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.6
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    8.8
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (5 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Azure Cosmos DBIBM Informix on CloudAzure SQL Database
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    Like any NoSQL database, whether it's MongoDB or not, it's best suited for unstructured data. It's also well suited for storing raw data before processing it and performing any type of ETL on the data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    We have found it's a great alternative for making older legacy applications work with online databases instead of only on-premises databases. We've converted over a dozen applications this way, and it has allowed our clients to have a distributed workforce using their applications without incurring the expense of a complete application rewrite.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Scalable Instantly and automatically serverless database for any large scale business.
    • Quick access and response to data queries due to high speed in reading and writing data
    • Create a powerful digital experience for your customers with real-time offers and agile access to DB with super-fast analysis and comparison for best recommendation
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    • Maintenance is always an issue, so using a cloud solution saves a lot of trouble.
    • On premise solutions always suffer from fragmented implementations here and there, where several "dba's" keep track of security and maintenance. With a cloud database it's much easier to keep a central overview.
    • Security options in SQL database are next level... data masking, hiding sensitive data where always neglected on premise, whereas you'll get this automatically in the cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Expensive, so be careful of the use case.
    • We had a thought time migrating from traditional DBs to Cosmos. Azure should provide a seamless platform for the migration of data from on-premises to cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    • One needs to be aware that some T-SQL features are simply not available.
    • The programmatic access to server, trace flags, hardware from within Azure SQL Database is taken away (for a good reason).
    • No SQL Agent so your jobs need to be orchestrated differently.
    • The maximum concurrent logins maybe an unexpected problem.
    • Sudden disconnects.
    • The developers and admin must study the capacity and tier usage limits https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-subscription-service-limits otherwise some errors or even transaction aborts never seen before can occur.
    • Only one Latin Collation choice.
    • There is no way to debug T-SQL ( a big drawback in my point of view).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    It's efficient, easy to scale, and works. We do have to do a bit of administration, but less now than when we started with this a couple of years ago. Microsoft continues to improve its self-management capability.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    This is best solution as a DBA one could expect from a service provider and as a cloud service, it removes all your hassles.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    It has very good compatibility and adaptability with other APIs and developers can safely create new apps because it is compatible with various tools and can be easily managed and run under the cloud, and in terms of security, it is one of the best of its kind, which is very powerful and excellent.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    Microsoft is the best when it comes to after-sales support. They have a well-structured training and knowledge base portal that anyone can use. They are usually quick to respond to cases and are on point for on-call support. I have no complaints from a support standpoint. Pretty happy with the support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Cosmos DB is unique in the industry as a true multi-model, cloud-native database engine that comes with solutions for geo-redundancy, multi-master writes, (globally!) low latency, and cost-effective hosting built in. I've yet to see anything else that even comes close to the power that Cosmos DB packs into its solution. The simplicity and tooling support are nice bonus features as well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    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 subscription. Azure was just priced right, easy to migrate to and plenty of resources to hire to support/maintain it. Very easy to learn, too.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • It's made managing raw data much easier
    • It provides a way to maintain raw data at a low cost
    • It's easy to massage the data
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    • Perfect for small and medium databases, being very cost effective.
    • As a Platform as a Service, there is no concern about patches, upgrades and end of life.
    • Be aware of security and network capabilities. The service cannot run in the VNET as Azure Virtual Machines do.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots