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PostgreSQL vs. SAP SQL Anywhere vs. Microsoft SQL Server

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    SAP SQL Anywhere

    Score7 out of 10
    N/ASAP® SQL Anywhere® solutions aim to deliver enterprise-level data management and synchronization capabilities. The solutions are designed to run in remote and mobile environments on a wide range of small-footprint devices and in real-world conditions.N/A

    Microsoft SQL Server

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

    $1,418

    Per License

    Pricing
    PostgreSQLSAP SQL AnywhereMicrosoft SQL Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Subscription
    $1,418.00
    Per License
    Enterprise
    $13,748.00
    Per License
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    PostgreSQLSAP SQL AnywhereMicrosoft 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
    Community Pulse
    PostgreSQLSAP SQL AnywhereMicrosoft SQL Server
    Considered Multiple Products
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    No answer on this topic
    SAP
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    32 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    53 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    32 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    45 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    32 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    53 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    25 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    39 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    31 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    45 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    PostgreSQLSAP SQL AnywhereMicrosoft SQL Server
    Small Businesses
    MariaDB Platform
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    MySQL
    Score8.4 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SQLite
    Score8 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
    PostgreSQLSAP SQL AnywhereMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (56 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    7.9
    (107 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    8.3
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.3
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 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
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 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
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 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
    PostgreSQLSAP SQL AnywhereMicrosoft SQL Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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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    SAP
    SAP SQL Anywhere is better than not using a database, let's be clear there! However, I wouldn't pick it as my first or even second or third choice. I'd recommend looking at other options. Largely, it appears less powerful both in terms of its robustness and general performance and in its implementation of SQL. The standard Sybase utilities provided are lacking in basic features, and the interactive SQL utility is quite horrendous. However, the great thing is it is an ODBC-compliant SQL-compliant relational database.
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    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.
    Read full review
    SAP
    • Good performance with relatively large data sets - its cost-based query optimizer is particularly robust
    • ANSI SQL compliant
    • Supports T-SQL
    • Scales well between the desktop (single user) and client/server installations supporting 50-1000 users
    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
    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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    SAP
    • I think it should be more user friendly for non-technical users.
    • More functional functionalities should be added to the object explore when working with a table to transform data/manipulate data.
    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
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    As a needed software for day to day development activities
    Incentivized
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    SAP
    Ease of use, relationship to existing software's used in house and familiarity with the product
    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
    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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    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    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
    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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    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Its does not have outages.
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    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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    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SSAS data cubes may some time slow down your Excel reports.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    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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    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    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
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    No answers on this topic
    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was good
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    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.
    Incentivized
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    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    very hands on and detailed training
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The online documentation of the PostgreSQL product is elaborate and takes users step by step.
    Incentivized
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    SAP
    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
    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.
    Incentivized
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    SAP
    I worked with Oracle for years during my career. I wouldn't select SQL Anywhere to implement a global ATM system with tens of thousands of concurrent connections, but SQL Anywhere is much easier to use and deploy and works very well in workgroup settings. Query performance often exceeds some Oracle versions without having to rely on database tuning.
    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
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    Scalability
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The DB is reliable, scalable, easy to use and resolves most DB needs
    Incentivized
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    SAP
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    SQL server does handle growing demands of a mid sized company.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    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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    SAP
    • Skilled/experienced resources are less prominent than Microsoft SQL Server or even Oracle, or MySQL, so finding solutions and assistance, if needed, takes more time than it would with other platforms
    • You will need to find a good SQL query tool by yourself because the Sybase Central / Interactive SQL utilities are lacking in many basic features, and just generally have a bad user interface
    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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