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Google Cloud SQL vs. Microsoft Access vs. Microsoft SQL Server

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Cloud SQL

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Cloud SQL is a database-as-a-service (DBaaS) with the capability and functionality of MySQL.

    $0

    per core hour

    Microsoft Access

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.

    $139.99

    per PC

    Microsoft SQL Server

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

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    Google Cloud SQLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    License - Express
    $0
    per core hour
    License - Web
    $0.01134
    per core hour
    Storage - for backups
    $.08
    per month per GB
    HA Storage - for backups
    $.08
    per month per GB
    Storage - HDD storage capacity
    $.09
    per month per GB
    License - Standard
    $0.13
    per core hour
    Storage - SSD storage capacity
    $.17
    per month per GB
    HA Storage - HDD storage capacity
    $.18
    per month per GB
    HA Storage - SSD storage capacity
    $.34
    per month per GB
    License - Enterprise
    $0.47
    per core hour
    Memory
    $5.11
    per month per GB
    HA Memory
    $10.22
    per month per GB
    vCPUs
    $30.15
    per month per vCPU
    HA vCPUs
    $60.30
    per month per vCPU
    Microsoft Access
    $139.99
    per PC
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google Cloud SQLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft SQL Server
    Free Trial
    YesNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPricing varies with editions, engine, and settings, including how much storage, memory, and CPU you provision. Cloud SQL offers per-second billing.——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Google Cloud SQLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft SQL Server
    Database-as-a-Service
    Comparison of Database-as-a-Service features of Google Cloud SQL and Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    Google Cloud SQL
    8.9
    35 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    Automatic software patching9.612 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database scalability8.635 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated backups8.735 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database security provisions8.635 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Monitoring and metrics9.034 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automatic host deployment9.012 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Relational Databases
    Comparison of Relational Databases features of Google Cloud SQL and Microsoft Access and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    Google Cloud SQL
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Access
    7.7
    3 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    ACID compliance00 Ratings7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database monitoring00 Ratings8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database locking00 Ratings8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Encryption00 Ratings7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Disaster recovery00 Ratings7.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Flexible deployment00 Ratings8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple datatypes00 Ratings8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google Cloud SQLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    MongoDB Atlas
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Azure Database
    Score8.8 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google BigQuery
    Score8.8 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google Cloud SQLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (35 ratings)
    7.4
    (102 ratings)
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (17 ratings)
    7.6
    (8 ratings)
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (5 ratings)
    6.4
    (5 ratings)
    7.9
    (26 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.3
    (12 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google Cloud SQLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    Does what it promises well, for instance, as a sidecar for the main enterprise data warehouse. However, I would not recommend using it as the main data warehouse, particularly due to the heavy business logic, as other dedicated tools are more suitable for ensuring scalable operations in terms of change management and multi-developer adjustments.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    As a Material Purchasing/Planning/inventory tracking application, Microsoft Access serves its purpose well. It's presentation is clean, data entry is simple and the ability to customize search fields is welcome. It does, however, come with some caveats; namely, when setting search filters and the need arises to back up a step or two, with Microsoft Access you have to reset, or "clear all", adding extra steps/time to a query.
    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
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    Pros
    Google
    • It has a easily and user understandable interface which provides it every necessary feature to come up with.
    • It's backend is very strong that can help us to run big quieres without any hesitation.
    • It's integration with other tools are one of the powerful feature which makes it more suitable to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Very easy to create entity-relationship diagrams for various tables and designing mock layouts.
    • Really easy to navigate as it hold[s] the classic Microsoft UI. Another good thing is that it comes with the complete MS Office Suite.
    • It is really fast when joining multiple tables no matter what type of join.
    • Works on pretty much same SQL scripts so no need to learn a new language!
    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
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    Cons
    Google
    • Increasing support for more database engines may enable a wider range of application needs to be met.
    • Implementing and updating cutting-edge security features on a constant basis.
    • Streamlining and enhancing the tools for transferring data to Google Cloud SQL from on-premises databases or other cloud providers.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
    • The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
    • Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
    • I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.
    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
    Google
    It fits the current needs and bandwith of out lean organization.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I and the rest of my team will renew our Microsoft Access in the future because we use and maintain many different applications and databases created using Microsoft Access so we will need to maintain them in the future. Additionally, it is a standard at our place of work so it is at $0 cost to us to use. Another reason for renewing Microsoft Access is that we just don' t have the resources needed to extend into a network of users so we need to remain a single-desktop application at this time.
    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
    Google
    As with other cloud tools, users must learn a new terminology to navigate the various tools and configurations, and understand Google Cloud's configuration structure to perform even the most basic operations. So the learning curve is quite steep, but after a few months, it gets easier to maintain.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Access is easy to use. It is compatible with spreadsheets. It is a very good data management tool. There is scope to save a large amount of data in one place. For using this database, one does not need much training, can be shared among multiple users. This database has to sort and filtering features which seem to be very useful.
    Incentivized
    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
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I don't think the program has ever failed me. It is one of those programs where there is always a solution if you know where to look.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Google
    GCP support in general requires a support agreement. For small organizations like us, this is not affordable or reasonable. It would help if Google had a support mechanism for smaller organizations. It was a steep learning curve for us because this was our first entry into the cloud database world. Better documentation also would have helped.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    While I have never contacted Microsoft directly for product support, for some reason there's a real prejudice against MS Access among most IT support professionals. They are usually discouraging when it comes to using MS Access. Most of this is due to their lack of understanding of MS Access and how it can improve one's productivity. If Microsoft invested more resources towards enhancing and promoting the use of MS Access then maybe things would be different.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    In-Person Training
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
    Read full review
    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
    Google
    Unlike other products, Google Cloud SQL has very flexible features that allow it to be selected for a free trial account so that the product can be analyzed and tested before purchasing it. Integration capabilities with most of the web services tools are easier regarding Google Cloud SQL with its nature and support.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Excel is a fantastic - robust application that can do so much so easily. Its easy to train and understand. However - excel does not provide a reporting function and that is typically where we will suggest a move to [Microsoft] Access. [Microsoft] Access requires a little more knowledge of data manipulation.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Scalability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Google
    • Improved integration with Google Cloud, we have set up some automations with Google Workspace, and we have noticed that the raw data sharing between them is very fast as compared to using some other managed database, not sure why.
    • Due to some downtime during maintenance, we had to set up a relatively small service which ingested the data while this went down and dumped it when it came back up. So this was a negative impact on our ROI, since now we had to remedy this downtime against the same profit margins
    • It was cheaper than the legacy aws service since we needed large database instances
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Not having to recreate queries or reports every time you want to use them.
    • Once an item is created and saved as part of the database, you save manpower by not having to recreate them.
    • ROI from a usability standpoint is great. Solid product with great functionality that requires low maintenance usually.
    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
    ScreenShots

    Google Cloud SQL Screenshots

    Screenshot of migrating to a fully managed database solution - Self-managing a database, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server, can be inefficient and expensive, with significant effort around patching, hardware maintenance, backups, and tuning. Migrating to a fully managed solution can be done using a Database Migration Service with minimal downtime.Screenshot of data-driven application development - Cloud SQL accelerates application development via integration with the larger ecosystem of Google Cloud services, Google partners, and the open source community.