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Microsoft Access vs. PostgreSQL vs. Microsoft SQL Server

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    PostgreSQL

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/APostgreSQL (alternately Postgres) is a free and open source object-relational database system boasting over 30 years of active development, reliability, feature robustness, and performance. It supports SQL and is designed to support various workloads flexibly.N/A

    Microsoft SQL Server

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

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    Microsoft AccessPostgreSQLMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    Microsoft Access
    $139.99
    per PC
    No answers on this topic
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AccessPostgreSQLMicrosoft SQL Server
    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
    Features
    Microsoft AccessPostgreSQLMicrosoft SQL Server
    Relational Databases
    Comparison of Relational Databases features of Microsoft Access and PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    7.7
    3 Ratings
    5% below category average
    PostgreSQL
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft SQL Server
    -
    Ratings
    ACID compliance7.02 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database monitoring8.02 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database locking8.03 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Encryption7.02 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Disaster recovery7.73 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Flexible deployment8.02 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple datatypes8.03 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AccessPostgreSQLMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    MariaDB Platform
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    MySQL
    Score8.5 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    SQLite
    Score8 out of 10
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AccessPostgreSQLMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (102 ratings)
    8.3
    (56 ratings)
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    7.6
    (8 ratings)
    8.3
    (9 ratings)
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.4
    (5 ratings)
    9.3
    (7 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
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (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
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (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
    Microsoft AccessPostgreSQLMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    PostgreSQL is best used for structured data, and best when following relational database design principles. I would not use PostgreSQL for large unstructured data such as video, images, sound files, xml documents, web-pages, especially if these files have their own highly variable, internal structure.
    Incentivized
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    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.
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    Pros
    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!
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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    • It works well with external data sources and runs on platforms with stable performance.
    • Clients can rest assured that their personal information will be safe and secure.
    • Many forums discuss setup and usage, and most are free.
    • Adding tooling applications to a computer is unlimited.
    • PostgreSQL runs on many OS platforms and supports ANSI SQL, stored procedures, and triggers.
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    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
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    Cons
    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
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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    • Clearer indications on what is the query plan, to optimize the query
    • More out of the box, Postgres specific, SQL functions
    • It would be nice to have a more visual aid of the relationship between all tables, but possibly this depend more on the UI used
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Likelihood to Renew
    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.
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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    As a needed software for day to day development activities
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Usability
    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
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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    Postgresql is the best tool out there for relational data so I have to give it a high rating when it comes to analytics, data availability and consistency, so on and so forth. SQL is also a relatively consistent language so when it comes to building new tables and loading data in from the OLTP database, there are enough tools where we can perform ETL on a scalable basis.
    Incentivized
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    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
    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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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    PostgreSQL's availability is top notch. Apart from connection time-out for an idle user, the database is super reliable.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The data queries are relatively quick for a small to medium sized table. With complex joins, and a wide and deep table however, the performance of the query has room for improvement.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    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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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    There are several companies that you can contract for technical support, like EnterpriseDB or Percona, both first level in expertise and commitment to the software.
    But we do not have contracts with them, we have done all the way from googling to forums, and never have a problem that we cannot resolve or pass around. And for dozens of projects and more than 15 years now.
    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
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The online training is request based. Had there been recorded videos available online for potential users to benefit from, I could have rated it higher. The online documentation however is very helpful. The online documentation PDF is downloadable and allows users to pace their own learning. With examples and code snippets, the documentation is great starting point.
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    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
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    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The online documentation of the PostgreSQL product is elaborate and takes users step by step.
    Incentivized
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    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
    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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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    Although the competition between the different databases is increasingly aggressive in the sense that they provide many improvements, new functionalities, compatibility with complementary components or environments, in some cases it requires that it be followed within the same family of applications that performs the company that develops it and that is not all bad, but being able to adapt or configure different programs, applications or other environments developed by third parties apart is what gives PostgreSQL a certain advantage and this diversification in the components that can be joined with it, is the reason why it is a great option to choose.
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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
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The DB is reliable, scalable, easy to use and resolves most DB needs
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    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
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    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    • Easy to administer so our DevOps team has only ever used minimal time to setup, tune, and maintain.
    • Easy to interface with so our Engineering team has only ever used minimal time to query or modify the database. Getting the data is straightforward, what we do with it is the bigger concern.
    • It's free. You can't beat that.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    ScreenShots