# Page 7 | Microsoft SQL Server Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 7 - Is Microsoft SQL Server the right Database solution for you? Explore 1975 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 (1975) [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 7 - Reviews of Microsoft SQL Server ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 151-175 of 1975 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use 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 AG Andrew G. Software Engineer Insurance Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Software Engineers Perspective SQL" August 31, 2022 5.0 I use it daily. Some is moving to mongodn and documentdb but still relevant Pros JDBC and it's integration with Java. Transact SQL is easy to learn and the syntaxes is clear. Cons Removing duplicate rows is a huge pain and the logging that comes back from some queries is not always useful Switched from [IBM Db2](https://www.capterra.com/p/240589/IBM-Db2/) Outdated. Getting off the mainframe Review Source Daniel T. Solution Architect Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great but unknown database engine" September 18, 2019 5.0 The easy implementation on some occasions generates a quick win on process or projects that require a database engine. The new capabilities to connect with Big Data clusters and, the AlwaysOn to have synchronised the database between different nodes, permit extend the use of this engine. Pros It is easy to use. You can do the setting of the database with the "next-next" to have a quick use. Obviously, it isn't recommended but for the dev environments are quick. To do a good set up of the engine, you have a lot of documentation and if you follow the steps, set up well the engine is not complicated. Others capabilities that I like about this are the capabilities to scale. Cons Some options to set up the database engine requires additional SO configuration and depends a lot of the correct setting of this. Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server We have more knowledge in Microsoft products and in that case in the SQL database. Review Source GM Gabriel M. Software Engineer Airlines/Aviation Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A database for every level of user expertise" January 16, 2021 4.0 Regarding to the cost; licenses are cheaper than others. But when analyzing a database you should consider many others variables like administration cost, available resources, expertise of the team, company size, available servers, budget, etc... Pros SQL Server allows users to setup up a database with different features, from basic database to a complex environment that can include partitions, replication, business intelligence, reporting, etc. Is really simple to deploy on different scenarios like on-premise or cloud. Regarding SQL Language - Transact SQL - it is simpler and easier than other languages. For beginners this could be something positive because of the velocity of the learning curve. The integration with the business process is really easy when working with other Microsoft technologies. Additionally there is an interesting feature called FileTables which allows see the storage as a table. SQL Azure database is something great, an scalable database service that can me managed with Management Studio tool and created in less than a minute. Cons Something that could be an improvement to MS SQL is related to the performance monitor. In general all databases require to have a relative high level of expertise to create a good database design. With a simpler performance tool, junior users could create better queries, indexes, model, etc... Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server The database team has more experience in SQL Server than other engines. Review Source AJ Ali J. Project Engineer Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Easy To Use And User Friendly" June 24, 2023 5.0 It's Great To Help My Task Pros Data Connector, Data Security, Data Storage Management, Backup and Recovery, and Performance Analysis Cons I don't have it. I like it all. Keeping Improvement Review Source Abhinav K. Sr Software Integrator Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server - A RDBMS by Microsoft" November 17, 2018 4.0 Microsoft SQL Server is helping use to find the best programming capacity to match up with the secure and best performance. User interface is also user friendly as it does not need any basic training to under the infrastructure. Pros SQL Server is the one of the best database management software I have ever worked on. Relational database management system based on relational model. Performance of the SQL Server is also high. It is easy to setup and GUI also provide the user friendly interface to work on it. Integration on SQL Server with non relational data source is also improved compare to the SQL Server 2015. The Best feature in it advance analytics which help you to keep the track of the development. Support and integrity also improve in the SQL Server 2017 with cross-platform as it can now work with Linux as well as Docker container. Cons SQL Server is having the large community so the vulnerability and fixing are coming very frequent. Real time intelligence sometime not work as expecting. The SQL profiler should come with more default option and Microsoft should provide the interface where we can develop and design the profiler template. Review Source Nirmesh K. Team Lead Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server - Robust application for database storage, analysis and reporting" December 10, 2018 4.0 We are using Sql server in our organisation to create new databases and maintaining the existing one. Data access is so simple and secure. If there is any sensitive data then we use to encrypt the table columns data. Overall its a great application. Pros Sql server is a powerfull data storage tool and widely used in our organisation. Its enrich with numerous inbuilt features. In sql server backup and restoration task is much easy. Its preety much secure and reliable tool. In sql server there are several security roles to authorize the user, so we use to supply the privilege according to need. Its reporting services are greatly helpfull for us to analyse the data. I can easily monitor the performance / health of the database. Dtabase tuning advisor extremely good in case of performance improvement task as this reveals proper detail of missing items like Index, primary key, stats etc. Easy to review the execution plan of a stored procedure. Data movement from one server to another server is much easy. I can trace the sql statements nicely with the use of trace component. Cons Microsoft Sql server setup takes a bit more time but once done then all good. Review Source QG Quentin G. Products Director Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "This sequel is better" October 7, 2019 5.0 Once SQL Server in Azure was selected, it proved to be a great experience. Security, performance and usability was ironed out for us already. We could focus on building our application rather than learning something new about cloud security or how to use a new type of database or database language variation. We have been pleased with the ability to research performance and include other features such as SSIS to accomplish our business requirements easily. Knowing that manual tasks are being completed automatically is a sigh of relief. We also will know immediately if there are any issues. We have had a great experience with SQL Server. Pros It is an industry standard that continues to improve to make the lives of developers easier. We are able to produce software solutions more efficiently because Microsoft continues to improve SQL Server. We rely heavily on this as critical to our business. Developers tell me how flexible SQL Server is also. SQL is more compatible with software packages than other competing databases. Cons Parts can be not intuitive unless you've been using it for awhile. It is a technical piece of software that requires time and training. If you need the Enterprise edition for specific features, it is expensive. Alternatives considered [MongoDB](https://www.capterra.com/p/127374/MongoDB/)[MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server We needed a back-end database for our new product. We had an AngularJS front end and needed a fast, efficient relational database. We wanted an industry standard that would be supported for many years going forward. We also needed reliability of a database that would meet our needs while continuing to improve in the future. SQL also has great support, user forums, groups, and 3rd party consultants. Many resources are available to us as we build our new solution and have questions. SQL Server in the cloud was a perfect fit for our organization which already used MS Azure. Review Source David M. Senior Developr 2 Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL over the time" October 23, 2018 5.0 I have used SQL Server as the weapon of choice for business development and despite some minor product bugs over time, always has been a highly manageable and capable especially for long-standing data, very friendly even with developers who are not familiar with Microsoft technologies Pros For long time has been the working horse for database oriented applications and corporate data on Microsoft side. Is a highly robust database engine and supports a lot of punishment on production enviroments. Also provides a long standing continuity for older database repositories over from previous versions of the product. The management tools in their several incarnations provided almost all the needed capabilities for developers and database administrators. Also the cross data capabilities and the support for OLAP has been among the stronger points, currently enhanced capabilities for memory oriented data, cloud computing and the newest support for Linux enhance the experience Cons I found that a major drawback i found over the time is than usually SQL Server releases are a little behind their competitors in terms of state of the art capabilities and features. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Lead Software Architect Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Stable, high performance and extremely capable enterprise database software" January 28, 2018 5.0 This is a very vast and complex software and one has to spend years using this software to summarize its very many benefits. Having worked in mostly Microsoft development shops for the past 14 years, I have used SQL server in almost every enterprise project that I have worked on. Ease of use, simplicity to alter schemas, easy TSQL syntax, ability to easily create and manage indexes/stats, reporting services, ease of access control, security via encryption, performance tuning capabilities, always on features, backup and restore capabilities with advanced backup and restore options, cloud capabilities, ease of integration with various front end software are just some of the various benefits of this mammoth software. Pros Microsoft Ecosystem SQL management studio Query Analyser DB Tuning / Optimization wizard Estimated Query Results Ease to integrate with any front end technology High Performance High Scalability Scheduled jobs Ease of Integration via Visual Studio Cons Enterprise License costs Slight learning curve for advanced features like SSIS, data warehousing. Performance Tuning of large database would take years of core specialized training and experience No supporting software like RedGate to performance schema / data comparisons Review Source Girish P. Key Account Manager Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best in Class of DB and usage" May 26, 2022 5.0 Great and well received by me and my company. Easy to use. Pros High quality, easy to configure & lower hardware required. Cons Non compatible with other database and old record. Review Source JD JOHN D. President Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Versatile DMBS for all businesses" November 14, 2023 5.0 I have developed software for SQL Server for over 20 years and am happy with how it fits the needs to small businesses. Pros Integration with Access, Excel. C#, and many other tools. Easy to migrate data in and out. Cons Would prefer a data and schema comparison tool that's built in to SSMS rather than having installing Visual Studio and an extension. Alternatives considered [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/)[Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/)[MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Simple integration with Microsoft products. Review Source BL Brenten L. Facilities Engineer Airlines/Aviation Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Powerful and Scalable Database Software" October 28, 2020 5.0 Storing large quantities of production data to solve quality and efficiency problems has been a big use for SQL. All of the reporting and power to analyze data has solved countless puzzles for me in my job capacity. I also have done a lot of database administration for our ERP software and the tiles to tune and optimize have always been very helpful. Pros One of my favorite things about Microsoft SQL Server is the scalability. Whether you are using the free version for a small program running on a local machine or running an entire factory it is the same basic concept of programming and administration. I really appreciated being able to work to have a database software that could grow and expand when I need it too. Additionally the reporting and automation packages that come with it are super powerful. I would absolutely recommend using Microsoft SQL Server as anyone’s data as software Cons The biggest con in my opinion is that some of the more advanced features for big data analysis and high availability are in the top tier pricing which can be hard for smaller companies to afford. Other than that I have never not been able to solve a problem with Microsoft SQL. Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL had superior options and capabilities. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Automation Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "An easy SQL Server with some issues." February 10, 2023 4.0 Overall satisfactory , meets almost all the necessities , needs to improve some areas. Pros Easily understandable queries , data browser's UI is very simple. Cons Complex data migration process , complexity in installation Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Client recomended. Review Source Serhat C. Senior Software Developer Banking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Developer Friendly" July 5, 2023 5.0 All companies I worked for had MS SQL Server. I also used it as a database. I have gained a lot of experience especially in creating tables, procedures and jobs. Pros We usually use it to keep our own inventory. We chose it because it has a corporate architecture. My favorite features are automatic code completion, creating parts such as tables and indexes without writing code, high level of authorization, multiple users working on the same data, and having a software-friendly interface. Cons When I first started coding, I used MS SQL Server as a database. I've been using it for about 15 years. So far, it has never upset me and there is nothing that I dislike. Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Definitely because it has an enterprise architecture. Review Source YD Yuvraaj D. I.T. Tech Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "There's a reason why most people choose SQL Server over other database softwares" December 27, 2020 5.0 I have never had any problems with SQL Server. It was always efficient and capable of doing whatever needed to be done. Pros Security is one of the most important aspects of database software since sensitive information can be stored in databases. SQL Servers are some one of the most secure servers out there so data is safe from hackers. The scaling aspect of this software is great so whether your business is very small or very large that uses huge amounts of data to be stored, SQL servers can scale and use appropriate resources to handle databases therefore no lagging issues and problems querying databases etc. which makes it extremely fast and efficient. With the large community that uses SQL Server, you have answers to almost all questions that you may have if you encounter any difficulties setting up or using the software, so troubleshooting is made really easy. Cons Cost could be an issue as this software could be a bit expensive however with that being said, you definitely will get quality. Also there might be certain compatibility issues with other non Microsoft software that your company may use so in some cases you might have to switch over to Microsoft softwares in your company depending on what they are. Alternatives considered [Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server Our company uses a Microsoft Infrastructure so it would have been really easy to integrate it into operation. Review Source RB Rob B. Database Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server - One of the most powerful databases" November 9, 2019 5.0 I have been working with SQL Server for 3 years at work and at home for my home projects. I enjoy working with it. It is easy to install, easy to maintain for normal purposes and there are a lot of cool features even in the free versions - for example Express and Developer. I think that it is a very powerful engine - the latest charts also show this by putting SQL Server in one of the first places for the best Databases. I pretty enjoy working with it and pretty recommend it. For years, the companies where I have been working relied on SQL Server and my observation is that it proves its expectations very good. Pros 1\. It has different types of subscriptions - you can either test it with free versions, either use it to develop different projects or when you get in love with it - you can buy it with its powerful features. 2. It is a very good working engine. 3. SQL Server has stability, and the performance mechanisms are very cool. 4. You can maintain multiple instances and databases on one server. 5. There are a lot of built-in functions that developers can use, instead of writing their own. 6. Since the latest years, I think there are more and more new things to explore in newer versions - that is a point which shows that Microsoft invests a lot in their product. 7. It is reliable. Cons Since these years I didn't notice something which I do not like. On the contrary, I pretty like the product and all its features that I have been using through these years, and hope that in the future releases of SQL Server there won't be disappointing things, but only cool ones. Review Source Gurleen K. Software Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "RDBMS by Microsoft" April 24, 2019 5.0 Microsoft SQL Server is a great software to manage your relational database. Data Maintenance plan can be configured easily to setup the different kind of backup like differential backup,transaction log backup, tail-log backup. Microsoft is working on simplifying the management part with high availability of server using features like fail-over and load balancing. Pros SQL Server is a relational database developed by Microsoft. SQL Server manages the data warehousing and manage the workload efficiently. The real time analytics help in improving the store-procedure performance. Clustering help to distribute the workload in the peak hours. Mirroring database helps in redundancy and can be recovered in case of database corrupt .Dynamic data masking and data encryption help to secure the data. Fail-over is easy to configure in SQL Server 2019 edition. Cons MS SQL Server backup encryption is one of the best feature Microsoft added in it but it needs some more options like recover key options. Microsoft SQL Server Developer edition should also support the hybrid cloud environment so DBA's can also implement the 2 Tier architecture. Review Source Lasha M. System Administrator Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "One of the best DB management systems." January 21, 2020 5.0 I've been using SQL Server for a few years and I haven't had any problems with it except for partitioning. It's very optimized and stable and due to it being free - it's an amazing choice for small and medium enterprises. Pros MSSQL comes jam-packed with features. It's standard library is enough to cover the needs of a small enterprise. It is also very stable and can handle large amounts of database exceedingly well. However, my favorite tool is the built-in scripting language - T-SQL. It is very powerful and flexible and lets you do anything you might need. Cons SQL Server takes up a lot of computing resource. We have a small data warehouse and yet it takes up over 1 TB. Views are not as useful as in Oracle. For example, partitioning a fact table by multiple columns is impossible without a workaround. Alternatives considered [Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/) Reason for choosing Microsoft SQL Server SQL Server is free and offers all the features we needed. Oracle is overkill for a hospital. Review Source Sanchita A. Software Engineer Telecommunications Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SQL Server - RBMS by Microsoft." March 22, 2019 5.0 We are working with this technology from past seven years. The buffer pool extension and encryption for database backup make its production ready RBMS. The high featured management tool for SQL Server help in administration and make it user friendly. The SQL express edition is also good as it comes with all basic feature to host the RBMS. Pros Microsoft SQL Server is a structured query language based relational database. SQL server is easy to implement as administrator makes it simple. The high performance sql engine help in data compression and can be scaled upto petabyte of data with maintaining the enterprise grade. MS SQL improves the security with its each patch and make it least vulnerable. High availability and feature like load balancing make it user’s first choice to implement it as its production friendly where A high end server is needed. The backup can be scheduled under maintenance plan. Cons Microsoft SQL server price for enterprise edition cost thousands of dollars. Depending on the requirements it also needs high end and dedicated server which indirectly increase the cost with the platform licensing cost. Review Source Abdul Wahab K. Project Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MSSQL is good and well supported" January 22, 2021 5.0 Overall experience with Microsoft SQL Server is good throughout with no major issues. Pros I found it quite easy to install, setup and operate. It is supported by almost all programing languages. The interface is simple and user friendly. I found it safe to be accessed remotely. The visualization of data and retrieving data from different sources is found good. The functionalities like Jobs, Stored Procedures, Functions and Views enhance the database development / management experience. Cons Performance issues faced with large databases. With every version, the license model changes which make it complex. Switched from [Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/) Due to the integration support with numerous tools. Application support of Microsoft SQL Server for data warehousing is huge in numbers. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Database](https://www.capterra.com/database-management-software/)[Business Intelligence](https://www.capterra.com/business-intelligence-software/)