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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Couchbase

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ACouchbase is a distributed NoSQL database platform that combines a JSON document store with a high-performance In-Memory architecture. The solution is designed to support high-throughput applications by integrating multiple data services—including Key-Value, Full-Text Search (FTS), Vector Search, and Real-Time Analytics—within a single unified platform.N/A

    Microsoft SQL Server

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database.

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    CouchbaseMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    CouchbaseMicrosoft SQL Server
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    CouchbaseMicrosoft SQL Server
    Considered Both Products
    Couchbase
    Chose Couchbase
    None of the products mentioned above provided a seamless synchronization strategy that could be available on-premises at the time.
    Incentivized
    Chose Couchbase
    Couchbase is faster.
    Incentivized
    Chose Couchbase
    Comparable but more costly. More features but not necessarily correlated to the price point.
    Incentivized
    Chose Couchbase
    It's reliable. It's been the easiest to use NoSQL solution. Less overhead than standard SQL products.
    Incentivized
    Chose Couchbase
    Cost and speed are some of the biggest concerns and the reason we chose to go with Couchbase. For less critical applications we can get away with using Couchbase community edition and work just fine, but when it came time to move our largest databases over the speed of search …
    Incentivized
    Chose Couchbase
    While in this testing phase, the main feature of Couchbase is the mobile integration. Most of the one listed above use the same algorithm whether it is mobile or desktop. Couchbase offers their Lite version which has everything you need to use the Couchbase suite without having …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft SQL Server

    SQL Server is a full feature robust platform with relatively mature coding standards. Interactivity with other Microsoft products enhances my workflow with minimal installation headaches.

    In contrast, easier licensing for MySQL and SQLite gives them a definite advantage, …

    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    90%
    Would buy again
    27 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    53 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    22 Answers
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    45 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    53 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    19 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    39 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    20 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    45 Answers
    Features
    CouchbaseMicrosoft SQL Server
    NoSQL Databases
    Comparison of NoSQL Databases features of Couchbase and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    Couchbase
    8.9
    97 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Performance8.997 Ratings00 Ratings
    Availability9.496 Ratings00 Ratings
    Concurrency8.994 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security9.094 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scalability9.495 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data model flexibility9.095 Ratings00 Ratings
    Deployment model flexibility8.094 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    CouchbaseMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    IBM Cloudant
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Cloudant
    Score7.4 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Cloudant
    Score7.4 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    CouchbaseMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (100 ratings)
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    2.1
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.3
    (95 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.5
    (5 ratings)
    7.9
    (26 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.0
    (52 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    CouchbaseMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Couchbase
    Best suited when edge devices have interrupted internet connection. And Couchbase provides reliable data transfer. If used for attachment Couchbase has a very poor offering. A hard limit of 20 MB is not okay. They have the best conflict resolution but not so great query language on Couchbase lite.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Couchbase
    • Couchbase performance is exceptional both for in-memory and persisted transactions.
    • Handling of node failures and cluster rebalancing (high availability).
    • Enterprise support from Couchbase themselves
    • Good documentation
    • Streaming of bucket (database) level mutations via their Database Change Protocol (DCP).
    • Replication of datasets between native clients and Couchbase buckets
    • Handling of simultaneous writes to the same record with performance penalties
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Easy to configure and use with Visual Studio and Dot Net
    • Easy integration with MSBI to perform data analysis
    • Data Security
    • Easy to understand and use
    • Very easy to export database and tables in the form of SQL query or a script
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Couchbase
    • The N1QL engine performs poorly compared to SQL engines due to the number of interactions needed, so if your use case involves the need for a lot of SQL-like query activity as opposed to the direct fetch of data in the form of a key/value map you may want to consider a RDBMS that has support for json data types so that you can more easily mix the use of relational and non-relational approaches to data access.
    • You have to be careful when using multiple capabilities (e.g. transactions with Sync Gateway) as you will typically run into problems where one technology may not operate correctly in combination with another.
    • There are quality problems with some newly released features, so be careful with being an early adopter unless you really need the capability. We somewhat desperately adopted the use of transactions, but went through multiple bughunt cycles with Couchbase working the kinks out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise edition has a high cost but is the only edition which supports SQL Always On Availability Groups. It would be nice to include this feature in the Standard version.
    • Licensing of Microsoft SQL Server is a quite complex matter, it would be good to simplify licensing in the future. For example, per core vs per user CAL licensing, as well as complex licensing scenarios in the Cloud and on Edge locations.
    • It would be good to include native tools for converting Oracle, DB2, Postgresql and MySQL/MariaDB databases (schema and data) for import into Microsoft SQL Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Couchbase
    I rarely actually use Couchbase Server, I just stay up-to-date with the features that it provides. However, when the need arises for a NoSQL datastore, then I will strongly consider it as an option
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We understand that the Microsoft SQL Server will continue to advance, offering the same robust and reliable platform while adding new features that enable us, as a software center, to create a superior product. That provides excellent performance while reducing the hardware requirements and the total cost of ownership of our solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Couchbase
    Couchbase has been quite a usable for our implementation. We had similar experience with our previous "trial" implementation, however it was short lived.
    Couchbase has so far exceeded expectation. Our implementation team is more confident than ever before.
    When we are Live for more than 6 months, I'm hoping to enhance this rating.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SQL Server mostly 'just works' or generates error messages to help you sort out the trouble. You can usually count on the product to get the job done and keep an eye on your potential mistakes. Interaction with other Microsoft products makes operating as a Windows user pretty straight forward. Digging through the multitude of dialogs and wizards can be a pain, but the answer is usually there somewhere.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Couchbase
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Couchbase
    One of Couchbase’s greatest assets is its performance with large datasets. Properly set up with well-sized clusters, it is also highly reliable and scalable. User management could be better though, and security often feels like an afterthought. Couchbase has improved tremendously since we started using it, so I am sure that these issues will be ironed out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Couchbase
    I haven't had many opportunities to request support, I will look forward to better the rating. We have technical development and integration team who reach out directly to TAM at Couchbase.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We managed to handle most of our problems by looking into Microsoft's official documentation that has everything explained and almost every function has an example that illustrates in detail how a particular functionality works. Just like PowerShell has the ability to show you an example of how some cmdlet works, that is the case also here, and in my opinion, it is a very good practice and I like it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Couchbase
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Couchbase
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Couchbase
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Other than SQL taking quite a bit of time to actually install there are no problems with installation. Even on hardware that has good performance SQL can still take close to an hour to install a typical server with management and reporting services.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Couchbase
    The Apache Cassandra was one type of product used in our company for a couple of use-cases. The Aerospike is something we [analyzed] not so long time ago as an interesting alternative, due to its performance characteristics. The Oracle Coherence was and is still being used for [the] distributed caching use-case, but it will be replaced eventually by Couchbase. Though each of these products [has] its own strengths and weaknesses, we prefer sticking to Couchbase because of [the] experience we have with this product and because it is cost-effective for our organization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    [Microsoft] SQL Server has a much better community and professional support and is overall just a more reliable system with Microsoft behind it. I've used MySQL in the past and SQL Server has just become more comfortable for me and is my go to RDBMS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Couchbase
    So far, the way that we mange and upgrade our clusters has be very smooth. It works like a dream when we use it in concert with AWS and their EC2 machines. Having access to powerful instances along side the Couchbase interface is amazing and allows us to do rebalances or maintenance without a worry
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Couchbase
    • Great performance.
    • Leading Couchbase Lite capabilities for mobile use.
    • Developers' learning curve with replica reads and multi cluster can be long. Needs guidance and nurturing.
    • Cluster maintenance during OS patching, etc. has multiple ways to approach. Operational teams may need some guidance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Increased accuracy - We went from multiple users having different versions of an Excel spreadsheet to a single source of truth for our reporting.
    • Increased Efficiency - We can now generate reports at any time from a single source rather than multiple users spending their time collating data and generating reports.
    • Improved Security - Enterprise level security on a dedicated server rather than financial files on multiple laptop hard drives.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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