Top SQL Server Alternatives & Competitors 2026

Reviewed in Last 12 Months

How Alternatives Are Selected

1. MongoDB Atlas

4.5

MongoDB Atlas has been a foundational data platform for scaling our company's global tax infrastructure. Its managed multi-cloud architecture, built-in sharding, and operational simplicity enabled us to handle large-volume, globally distributed transactional workloads with strong consistency, performance and reliability. The platform significantly reduced our operational overhead compared to self-managed relational databases. While there are some limitations around networking flexibility, search functionality, and cost predictability at scale, overall the experience has been highly positive for mission-critical workloads where every millisecond of latency and every minute of OS uptime matters.

Read all insights and reviews for MongoDB Atlas

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

2. Oracle AI Database

By Oracle

4.5

(1159 Ratings)

As a user of the program, I like the easy-to-use tile system however it takes time to navigate and remember what tile to find things in.

Read all insights and reviews for Oracle AI Database

Where SQL Server Scored Higher

Better at service and support
Easier to integrate and deploy
Better evaluation and contracting

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

3. Teradata VantageCloud

By Teradata

4.6

(631 Ratings)

Teradata VantageCloud offers exceptional technology. We are able to use the advanced analytics functions in ClearScape Analytics within the platform without ever moving our data. For my team, keeping the data in one location has enabled my team to eliminate many complex pipelines which required hops between multiple technologies.

Read all insights and reviews for Teradata VantageCloud

Where SQL Server Scored Higher

Easier to integrate and deploy
Better evaluation and contracting

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

4. Oracle MySQL HeatWave

By Oracle

4.5

(617 Ratings)

Overall, I have been happy with MySQL since I started using it 5 years ago. One of the nice things about it is that it includes design and development components in one place.

Read all insights and reviews for Oracle MySQL HeatWave

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

5. Amazon Redshift

By Amazon Web Services (AWS)

4.4

(551 Ratings)

The experience with Amazon has been great as it helps us with our daily tasks with faster performance with the capabilities it has. The features in Amazon Redshift help day-to-day users make life easy. As it is an Amazon product, it is easy to incorporate with other Amazon services for further use. For example: Using Amazon Redshift to query and get results from complex data, which can later pull the data into Amazon QuickSight SPICE for data visualizations and dashboard building which can help to deliver to end users the data they want to see with real-time refresh.

Read all insights and reviews for Amazon Redshift

Where SQL Server Scored Higher

Easier to integrate and deploy

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

6. Amazon Aurora

By Amazon Web Services (AWS)

4.6

(477 Ratings)

Aurora is the simplest way of implementing highly available / scalable / performing SQL database within the AWS ecosystem

Read all insights and reviews for Amazon Aurora

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

7. SAP HANA Cloud

By SAP

4.3

(410 Ratings)

SAP does everything you'd want it to do, but it can be very difficult to learn the ins and outs. It's easy enough once you have proper training, but it's not the most intuitive system, in my opinion. That said, I do like the breadth it covers.

Read all insights and reviews for SAP HANA Cloud

Where SQL Server Scored Higher

Better at service and support
Easier to integrate and deploy
Better evaluation and contracting

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

8. Google BigQuery

By Google

4.5

(394 Ratings)

A great data warehouse product for collating and manipulating data that you can easily feed into other systems. Constantly evolving with new features and has Gemini now built into it. Gives you direct access to cloud storage and scheduled queries can be set up to manage and synchronise the movement of data and files. There is a wealth of documentation and help files and of course Gemini to help people get up to speed and make the most of the product.

Read all insights and reviews for Google BigQuery

Where SQL Server Scored Higher

Better at service and support

Compare with SQL Server

Add to Compare

...

Showing Result 1-8 of 154

Considering alternatives to SQL Server? See what this market SQL Server users also considered in their purchasing decision. When evaluating different solutions, potential buyers compare competencies in categories such as evaluation and contracting, integration and deployment, service and support, and specific product capabilities.

Check out real reviews verified by Gartner to see how SQL Server compares to its competitors and find the best software or service for your organization.

1. MongoDB Atlas

2. Oracle AI Database

3. Teradata VantageCloud

4. Oracle MySQL HeatWave

5. Amazon Redshift

6. Amazon Aurora

7. SAP HANA Cloud

8. Google BigQuery

Top Alternatives to SQL Server