# Page 6 | Microsoft SQL Server Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 6 - Is Microsoft SQL Server the right Database solution for you? Explore 1977 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/reviews --- Microsoft SQL Server 4.6 (1977) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 25th, 2026 # Page 6 - Reviews of Microsoft SQL Server ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 126-150 of 1977 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Shaunak P. Data Platform Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best, well-known and wide-spread product for SQL." November 13, 2022 5.0 There are lots of benefits to using MS SQL Server.1) Secure data storage.2) SSMS for data exploration on desktop.3) Awesome public documentation by MS. Pros Little can I write about this vast product, but to brief each which I find insightful are below:1) Fine-grained role and attribute-based access control. 2) Highly secure and robust ways for authorization and authentication.3) Sync with Active Directory authentication.4) Awesome connectors with data warehousing tools.5) Best data at rest and in transit encryption.6) Dedicated support and advisory. Cons Almost nothing to be pitched here, it is continually being developed and refined for adding better features.My advice would be to learn T-SQL for best usage. Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server MS SQL Server is enterprise-level software, and cannot be overshadowed. Review Source AB Anthony B. Senior Applications Manager Civil Engineering Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server | The Gold Standard" April 28, 2022 5.0 Overall, I have had an excellent experience with SQL Server. It is cost-effective, provides a great deal of functionality, and is a great piece of software for database management. Pros In my current role as an Application Manager, it is vital to have a means of benchmarking and assessing application performance. The tools within SQL Server, particularly Activity Monitor, make it very easy to determine when performance bottlenecks arise. Cons I believe the default alerting functionality could be improved. For example, I believe it would make more sense to alert the user to any failed SQL Agent jobs when launching SSMS. Currently, either alerts need to be set up individually or the user would need to view the job history. Alternatives considered [Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM](https://www.capterra.com/p/72011/Oracle-HCM-Cloud/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Cost was the main deciding factor, but we also had/have more SQL Server experience in-house when compared to Oracle. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Marketing specialist Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A leading and innovative data solution" December 29, 2020 4.0 My personal experience has been very positive once I was able to dive into the product dashboard, look into online training and guides that helped provide a lot of great insight into how to we get the most out of the platform and learn about the latest releases and features to help us keep up to speed on the latest capabilities available to use and try out. Pros The ability to visualize data, connect data from different sources and track activity and data usage/storage has allowed our organization to be successful in how we meet our objectives from a technical, data delivery and performance optimization standpoint. Cons There were times early on in the deployment and on-boarding process where it was difficult to get quality technical support, which created a few small hiccups early on, but eventually was cleared up once we connected with our solutions engineer who connected us with the right resources and training materials. Alternatives considered [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Based on the number of tools that can be integrated with SQL server and how we can feed data from other sources, it made the decision more clear and decisive from an overall capabilities and long term solution standpoint. Review Source PL Phil L. SQL DBA \\ ERP Administrator Oil & Energy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Microsoft SQL Server" August 11, 2023 5.0 We have been successfully hosting our Enterprise Resource Planning system on MS SQL Server with very few issues over a number of years. Upgrades have been relatively easy to implement, and performance has been adequate for the most part. Pros MS SQL Server provides a secure, fault tolerant, and robust environment for our data hosting needs. It provides secure methods to integrate data with other systems, while also providing the ability to automate integration jobs. Cons Pricing for the Enterprise version is rather steep for our size of business. It would be nice to see the features of third-party tools (example: SQL Complete) added to the native MS SQL Server Management tool. The database mail component could also use an upgrade to be more intuitive and easier to configure. Review Source VMG Victor Manuel G. infrastructure analyst Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server, excellent database" May 24, 2022 4.0 in general it is an excellent product, here we use it for all our systems, we have lunch systems that we have implemented, our billing system, power BI, we have almost everything integrated with SQL server, so far it is one of our best products, it is excellent highly recommend Pros what I like most about this software is that it is easy to install and implement, the search engine is very good and adapts to any need, small, medium and even large companies can use it, very good product Cons sometimes it can be a bit difficult to install if you don't have the basic knowledge Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server other equal or perhaps better products are quite expensive, it is not worth buying another perhaps more expensive product, when SQL server solves our problems. Review Source SB Surender B. Technical Lead Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best DBMS tool for scalable enterprises" May 16, 2019 5.0 My overall experience is 100% satisfactory because of its robust feature. I recommend this to all either its a large or small scale compan y because SQL server can handle large quantities of data and process it smoothly. Just loving it. Pros Microsoft SQL server is one of the best database management system that provide top rated performance optimisation with SQL queries, below is the list of top highlights: 1. Richness of user interface that provides ease of use with cool features like dock able windows. 2. Intelligence window is prominent feature that saves a lot of development time up to large extent. 3. Code debugging and performance tuning with query flow maps is the best features that assures about code optimisation. 4. Microsoft SQL Server Agent is provided with this software and that runs the automatic jobs in very secure way and later we can track the statements executed. 5. We can filter out the records in SQL Server Agent interface based on our interest. 6. Code snippet manager makes it easy to write high standard code that is perfact for code convention. 7. Most prominent feature is that it can handle large quantities of data, runs automatic jobs with concurrent transactions. 8. At last it's a Microsoft product that provides a belief to users. Cons I have been using SQL server from version 2012 to 2014 and never troubled with SQL server's performance in any way. However I feel that error details must long descriptive when statement have some syntax error. Sometime its pathetic when we wants to know the exact error line but is hints the whole block of code instead of exact line number. Otherwise Its a great product and happy with it. Review Source AB Abhinav B. IT Head Entertainment Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server : Best database I have ever seen . " April 10, 2024 5.0 Pros User friendly interface, extensive documentation , large community support , automatic backups, overall robust performance Cons Nothing as such. Till this time SQL is great to use and deploy. Switched from [Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/) Oracle is very complicated than Microsoft SQL. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Data Analyst Insurance Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Like this SQL" November 6, 2023 5.0 Pros They incorporate other softwares which make your job easier such as SQL complete and SQL source control. Cons Sometimes there's access issues or connections issues. Review Source Vijai T. CV /AV Architect Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Efficient & Affordable RDBMS Product" September 29, 2018 5.0 Great experience using this product back from SQL 2000 days to SQL Server 2017. Have used for both small size applications to big data projects that has data over 100 gb. Partitioning, Indexing, Sprocs, Views are used and taken advantage off. Automatic plan correction, Adaptive Query Processing are improvements in 2017 need to take advantage off. My vote is for this product Pros Nice GUI & Easy to configure using wizards. Scalable product from midsize to complex solutions. Has come a long way from where it was started back from late 90's to till date. On par with other RDBMS products like Oracle in the market. Microsoft has built nice cluster support especially for redundancy and high availability.. New features such as Dynamic resource allocation, Graphical Query Analyzer, OLAP services are huge win. Additional products to support warehousing & Reporting, Transformation services, Analytics is a huge plus. Lot of performance improvement with 2017 version.Bang for the buck. Cons Still there's a concern from consumers perspective that SQL Server is for mid-complex systems. For ERP based systems, IoT use cases users go for No SQL products. Another challenge is for global distributed database solutions there's challenge especially Mirroring of data, synchronization, concurrency it's a huge challenge. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer System Support Engineer Commercial Real Estate Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Relation Database Management" May 1, 2023 4.0 The availability of server editions and the Microsoft premium support where you will get access to premium support with Microsoft skilled specialist.The SQL server also supports for use on Linux Pros The Microsoft SQL server editions available like enterprise, standard, web, developer for basic data management and business intelligence features and SQL server components availability was the most advantage of using SQL server Cons The enterprise edition was more expensive for per core licence it is around $14,200. Alternatives considered [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/)[MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server The Microsoft SQL server developer edition was free and which has all the features required for us. We can download install and manage database on our own. Review Source Bruno H. Programmer Program Development Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "A Great Start To Database Management" July 20, 2021 3.0 Microsoft SQL Server software has many facets, more positive than negative. But it is undoubtedly one of the favorites of web developers and internet marketers. Since it is ideal for database management and has warranty. On the other hand you can have many tools to optimize its operation, which you can equate to multiple useful guides provided by the same company. Pros Is quite secure, it guarantees the security of the databases, it is very easy to configure unlike other database management programs, the installation and configuration is easier. And it also has data recovery support. Cons Cost, there is a free version that can be used, however for more advanced data-driven applications and functions, you will need to make a considerable investment in higher versions of the software. Also, additional investments in Microsoft software may be necessary if your company uses some or no Microsoft infrastructure. Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/)[MariaDB](https://www.capterra.com/p/132005/MariaDB/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Actually, it was my teacher who suggested using this program to evaluate us. Review Source RS Rupinder S. Developer Telecommunications Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL review " March 28, 2024 4.0 I have work on sql db for more than 11 yrs and trust me it has never let me down . Microsoft provides the online documentation for most of the topics Pros It is economical , has most of the functionality db need to have . Cons If you are working with older versions of the sever it can be daunting Review Source Michael H. Systems Engineer Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server - Keeps Getting Better" November 15, 2018 4.0 I have spent more than a decade working with SQL Server and various technologies from a Sys-Admin/Sys-Analyst role in modern day IT organizations. I've had the opportunities to install, maintain, worked on and within, and develop throughout several versions of SQL Server. I've worked in SaaS and Web App for providers that combined have covered the entire Fortune 50 and more than half of the Fortune 500. I've worked in JavaScript prior to and throughout it's massive growth creating projects in NodeJS using mssql and node-mssql to transform SQL data into useful JSON object sets on the fly since before SQL could even output JSON. I've authored several helpful tools over the years combining SQL Server with bleeding edge platforms to provide tools to previous organizations that were better at the time than even some leading tools performing those functionalities today. Pros SQL Server is an industry standard software. It is highly configurable, capable of multiple setups, and deeply ingrained with the Microsoft Windows platform. Administration is quick, effective, and easier than ever. Cons SQL Server 2017 has a weak implementation of Graph databases which will be a much more prevalent database type once big data and IoT really kicks in. In my opinion, Microsoft should be forcing the graph database capabilities forward and trying to match products like NEO4j in performance. Review Source MP Marcos P. Machine Learning Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL server, the usual database that never disappoints." July 9, 2023 4.0 Pros There are other databases with greater processing capacity, scaling, etc. However SQL server is a safe bet. You know that what it does it does well, and it is backed by a tech giant that will offer you support if something happens. Cons In general there are better databases than sql server today, there is little innovation and changes between its different versions. Review Source Ebrahim F. Software Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Stable, fast and reliable" January 9, 2019 5.0 Overall, my experience with SQL Server has been awesome Pros As a lot of my development work depends on SQL Server, it is something that I use almost every day. It is extremely stable and reliable and certainly the only database platform that I will ever consider working with. There is still so much I have yet to learn about SQL and so much to explore, but for my current skills and work requirements, it is excellent and always works well. From simple queries to complicated procedures, I always find it a pleasure to work with. I have worked with other database architectures before, but found that SQL is much quicker, as well as easier to work with. Cons My problem is with SQL Management tools and some of their limitations, but not SQL Server itself. One such example would be backing up and restoring of large databases (40GB upwards). While backups are mostly a breeze, restoring becomes extremely challenging and time-consuming as the database grows beyond the 40GB mark. I am not sure if this is because of the limitations on the available management tools, or if it is an actual problem with SQL server, as the large databases I have worked with had no issues with CRUD operations or backups. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "every day using MS SQL Server " January 19, 2022 5.0 have +10 years experience in SQl server , i have create a lot of apps depend on it as database storage engine Pros \- every day i use it through management studio or from C# Code by using Entity framework and you can depend on it in any scale application ( small - medium - and large ) - easy integrate with applications - good security -have a good Replication feature Cons it expensive compared by other competitors Alternatives considered [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/)[Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) MS SQl server more efficient in medium / large scale Review Source Charan G. Senior Software Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MS SQL Server is the best tool for DBMS - All in one" February 22, 2019 5.0 I am using the MS SQL server since 2011 which is almost 9 years and I never faced any challenges in database management. I would say it is a great application, easy to learn, use and play with it. Also, Microsoft is having great support for this application in terms of documentation, trouble shooting and live support. Whenever I faced any challenges in terms of server connectivity, database connection, authentication I always get a solution from Microsoft forums to resolve this issue. Simply I am a happy user and I would recomend MS SQL to others as well. Pros The MS SQL Server helps our organization to create/organize/maintain customers data. For most of the Web applications, we are using the MS SQL server for database management. It is not only helping to manage customer database, but it also helps in generating SRS reports for our valuable client. It gives ability to create tables, stored procedure, functions, triggers, backup and restore the data. It is having job scheduling capability as well. It is having the ability to create indexes on database tables which allows us to retrieve the database in a faster manner. Cons I don't have anything to mention here. I find everything is good in this software. Using the MS SQL Management Studio you can use this software for your database management. Review Source Punit J. Technical Consultant Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Store and Query your data efficiently" April 7, 2021 5.0 Overall It has been fantastic experience, learning, writing, executing sql queries here in really amazing. I prefer others to learn and use SQL Server. Pros Microsoft SQL Server is one of the best RDBMS i.e. Relational Database Management System which provides best way of storing your data permanently in the database and retrieving data very efficiently. Writing queries in SQL Server is easy to learn and practice. SSMS i.e. SQL Server Management Studio provides UI to write and execute your SQL Server queries using query window. UI provides wide range of functionalities to perform very easily like backup, recovery, import and export data from files. Cons Switching between query windows is very irritating here in SQL Server. Sometimes It take a minute or more to switch from one query window to other which I think is not a good user experience. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer software developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Data management in Microsoft SQL Server" August 4, 2021 5.0 It is the best tool for data management. Pros The user interface of Microsoft SQL Server gives easy access to the stored data to developers and database administrators. The developers can manipulate the data direct in the backend. This helps to correct bugs created by users as long as you know the data type of the value, the name of the database, table name and column name. Developers should also be careful when making changes values in the backend since sometimes you can change on some tables and forget other tables. Thus the reports wont tie. Microsoft SQL Server allows database backup, recovery and restore. This features ensures data is not lost or corrupted. It makes data management easy. Microsoft SQL Server is also free making it a good tools to learner. Cons None. So far so good though i have not exhausted all the features. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Software Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server in my daily life" August 7, 2018 4.0 70% of my daily office work is depend upon this product. Whenever i need to debug the issue, find the query, procedure executed behind the display then i have to execute on Sql Server. I use to select the data, update, alter , change in any column as per requested by customer. I always check my CPU, Execution time, reads and writes to improve the performance of my product display. Pros This is one of the product which I use in my daily life. 1. With this , I check all the data in the tables which show in the front end (display). 2. I use one of the feature i.e. Sql Profiler to get the query, procedure, tables etc which executing while load the display. 3. Get the execution time , CPU time , Reads, Wrtites, etc of the query from profiler with this product. 4. We can make shortcut keys of the query which you use the most like select query, show the columns of particular columns etc. Cons Sometimes, I faced the issue while using the WINDOW+R shortcut which toggles the result set. Many times it stucks and then I toggle the result set by dragging it. For installing it , need compatible software, window version. It took more time to set up . If one of the requirements is not fulfilled then you have to make it compatible and try again the process. Review Source Deniz Ö. Consumer Insights Data Expert Consumer Goods Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best for Data Extraction" August 30, 2023 5.0 When we are dealing with data from different sources and try to match them with the help of unique identifiers, SQL is making our life a lot easier. Pros After getting used to this tool at my master's degree, I was able work on projects with a greater scale where advanced data analytics is reqiured Cons I find this tool, I do not know the exact reason but, still old school in terms the interface, I suppose it could have been more easy to navigate around. Review Source Andres Ernesto L. Developer - Data specialist Consumer Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "My Opinion" December 10, 2023 5.0 Pros It's very difficult for it to leave you wrong, it's the number 1 relational database manager on the market, a software with years of maturity and with a large community Cons I think there are managers who handle larger amounts of data more easily. Review Source JCC Jesus Cortes C. Gerente Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Sql server" October 14, 2022 4.0 Buena, tenemos michos clientes con estas bases de datos. Pros La cantidad de datos que podemos tener en una bd, depende de la versión, con la gratuita ppdemos tener hasta 10gb Cons La gestión de copias de seguridad, las copias se tienen que programar por comandos Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Funciona mucho mejor Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Network Admin Oil & Energy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Database software that is easy to set up and use!" December 17, 2021 5.0 Works great, has never let us down, and enabled us to be agile for software needs for our organization. Pros It is easy to set up, easy to backup up databases, works with many, many 3rd party software's, and easy to upgrade.it is very versatile and widely used and easy to find online knowledge for advanced database needs. Cons Licensing options and costs are crazy depending upon your needs. Alternatives considered [MongoDB](https://www.capterra.com/p/127374/MongoDB/)[Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/)[MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server We expected at teh time we needed to grow and probably add other 3rd party software's. we did and haev over time. It's been critical to our success and agility to change applications and data needs. Review Source SS Sampath S. Executive - ICT Apparel & Fashion Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Most popular database management system is Microsoft SQL Server" November 25, 2021 5.0 Data warehouse running on the MSSQL so this is really worth for organization works. All of my data base's are running on the SQL so far its working perfectly. I have seen lot of career opportunities with application development. Pros Easy to Install using given setup files. User friendly application. data recovery and backup mechanism is very functionable. Microsoft has several SQL Server editions according to our requirements. We have online documentation to refer product details. Compatible tools are providing like Management Studio. Cons Edition are expensive. CPU and memory usage is high. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.