# Amazon Athena vs Azure SQL Database Comparison | | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Star Rating** | 4.4 out of 5 | 4.5 out of 5 | | **Total Reviews** | 172 | 241 | | **Largest Market Segment** | Enterprise (51.6% of reviews) | Enterprise (39.1% of reviews) | | **Entry Level Price** | No pricing available | No pricing available | --- ## Top Pros & Cons ### Amazon Athena Pros: - Analytics (1 reviews) - Big Data Handling (1 reviews) Cons: - Function Limitations (1 reviews) - Limited SQL (1 reviews) ### Azure SQL Database Pros: - Scalability (26 reviews) - Integrations (16 reviews) Cons: - Expensive (25 reviews) - Complexity Issues (7 reviews) --- ## Ratings Comparison | Rating | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Meets Requirements** | 8.4 (126 reviews) | 9.0 (198 reviews) | | **Ease of Use** | 8.9 (126 reviews) | 8.8 (197 reviews) | | **Ease of Setup** | 9.1 (61 reviews) | 8.7 (111 reviews) | | **Ease of Admin** | 8.5 (55 reviews) | 8.6 (85 reviews) | | **Quality of Support** | 8.5 (108 reviews) | 8.8 (190 reviews) | | **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?** | 8.7 (55 reviews) | 8.8 (81 reviews) | | **Product Direction (% positive)** | 9.2 (99 reviews) | 9.6 (183 reviews) | --- ## Pricing ### Amazon Athena #### Entry-Level Pricing No pricing available #### Free Trial No information available ### Azure SQL Database #### Entry-Level Pricing No pricing available #### Free Trial No information available --- ## Features Comparison By Category ### Database Management Systems (DBMS) | Product | Score | Reviews | |---|---|---| | **Amazon Athena** | 8.5/10 | 33 | | **Azure SQL Database** | N/A | N/A | #### Management | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Data dictionary** | 8.0 (27 reviews) | Not enough data | | **Data Replication** | 8.7 (25 reviews) | Not enough data | | **Query Language** | 8.6 (31 reviews) | Not enough data | | **Data Modeling** | 8.5 (29 reviews) | Not enough data | | **Performance Analysis** | 8.5 (29 reviews) | Not enough data | #### Maintenance | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Data Migration** | 8.0 (28 reviews) | Not enough data | | **Backup and Recovery** | 8.3 (27 reviews) | Not enough data | | **Multi-User Environment** | 8.1 (27 reviews) | Not enough data | #### Security | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Data Encryption** | 9.0 (29 reviews) | Not enough data | | **User Access Control** | 9.1 (31 reviews) | Not enough data | ### Relational Databases | Product | Score | Reviews | |---|---|---| | **Amazon Athena** | N/A | N/A | | **Azure SQL Database** | 8.9/10 | 111 | #### Management | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Data Schema** | Not enough data | 8.9 (74 reviews) | | **Query Language** | Not enough data | 9.3 (74 reviews) | | **ACID - Complaint** | Not enough data | 8.7 (68 reviews) | | **Data Replication** | Not enough data | 8.6 (73 reviews) | #### Support | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Text Search** | Not enough data | 8.8 (75 reviews) | | **Data Types** | Not enough data | 8.7 (76 reviews) | | **Languages** | Not enough data | 8.7 (74 reviews) | | **Operating Systems** | Not enough data | 8.6 (74 reviews) | #### Security | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Database Locking** | Not enough data | 8.7 (72 reviews) | | **Access Control** | Not enough data | 8.9 (76 reviews) | | **Encryption** | Not enough data | 9.1 (75 reviews) | | **Authentication** | Not enough data | 9.0 (76 reviews) | #### Performance | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Disaster Recovery** | Not enough data | 8.9 (75 reviews) | | **Data Concurrency** | Not enough data | 8.7 (71 reviews) | | **Workload Management** | Not enough data | 8.7 (72 reviews) | | **Advanced Indexing** | Not enough data | 8.8 (68 reviews) | | **Query Optimizer** | Not enough data | 8.7 (71 reviews) | #### Database Features | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Storage** | Not enough data | 9.4 (101 reviews) | | **Availability** | Not enough data | 9.4 (105 reviews) | | **Stability** | Not enough data | 9.2 (101 reviews) | | **Scalability** | Not enough data | 9.3 (103 reviews) | | **Security** | Not enough data | 9.2 (103 reviews) | | **Data Manipulation** | Not enough data | 8.6 (94 reviews) | | **Query Language** | Not enough data | 8.8 (95 reviews) | ### Database as a Service (DBaaS) | Product | Score | Reviews | |---|---|---| | **Amazon Athena** | 8.9/10 | 55 | | **Azure SQL Database** | 8.8/10 | 85 | #### Configuration | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Application Performance** | 8.9 (46 reviews) | 8.9 (78 reviews) | | **Orchestration** | 8.5 (38 reviews) | 8.5 (75 reviews) | | **Database Monitoring** | 8.7 (40 reviews) | 8.9 (80 reviews) | | **Anomaly Detection** | 8.3 (36 reviews) | 8.1 (72 reviews) | | **Network Security** | 9.0 (37 reviews) | 9.0 (77 reviews) | #### Database Administration | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Provisioning** | 8.9 (36 reviews) | 8.7 (76 reviews) | | **Governance** | 9.0 (38 reviews) | 8.8 (76 reviews) | | **Auditing** | 8.9 (39 reviews) | 8.7 (75 reviews) | #### Availability | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Scalability** | 8.8 (44 reviews) | 9.1 (81 reviews) | | **Backup** | 8.9 (38 reviews) | 9.2 (79 reviews) | | **Archiving** | 8.7 (38 reviews) | 8.6 (77 reviews) | | **Indexing** | 8.7 (38 reviews) | 9.0 (76 reviews) | #### Security | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Data Masking** | 8.8 (36 reviews) | 8.8 (66 reviews) | | **Authentication And Single Sign-On** | 9.2 (36 reviews) | 9.1 (69 reviews) | | **Data Anonymization** | 9.0 (34 reviews) | 8.6 (65 reviews) | #### Data Management | Feature | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Data Replication** | 9.1 (36 reviews) | 8.7 (71 reviews) | | **Advanced Data Analytics** | 9.1 (43 reviews) | 8.6 (65 reviews) | --- ## Categories **Shared Categories (1):** [Database as a Service (DBaaS) Providers](https://www.g2.com/categories/database-as-a-service-dbaas) **Unique to Amazon Athena (1):** [Database Management Systems (DBMS)](https://www.g2.com/categories/database-management-systems-dbms) **Unique to Azure SQL Database (1):** [Relational Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/relational-databases) --- ## Reviewer Demographics ### By Company Size | Segment | Amazon Athena | Azure SQL Database | |---|---|---| | **Small-Business** | 22.4% | 27.4% | | **Mid-Market** | 26.1% | 33.5% | | **Enterprise** | 51.6% | 39.1% | ### By Industry #### Amazon Athena - **Information Technology and Services:** 15.0% - **Computer Software:** 11.9% - **Financial Services:** 8.1% - **Computer & Network Security:** 4.4% - **Retail:** 4.4% - **Marketing and Advertising:** 4.4% - **Pharmaceuticals:** 4.4% - **Hospital & Health Care:** 3.8% - **Banking:** 3.1% - **Media Production:** 2.5% - **Other:** 38.1% #### Azure SQL Database - **Information Technology and Services:** 24.5% - **Computer Software:** 20.5% - **Financial Services:** 4.4% - **Hospital & Health Care:** 4.4% - **Accounting:** 3.1% - **Computer & Network Security:** 3.1% - **Telecommunications:** 2.6% - **Education Management:** 2.6% - **Oil & Energy:** 2.6% - **Retail:** 1.7% - **Other:** 30.6% --- ## Alternatives ### Alternatives to Amazon Athena - [Snowflake](https://www.g2.com/products/snowflake/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (740 reviews) - [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-sql-server/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (2274 reviews) - [DBeaver](https://www.g2.com/products/dbeaver/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (168 reviews) - [SAP HANA Cloud](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-hana-cloud-2025-10-01/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (621 reviews) - [Toad For Oracle](https://www.g2.com/products/quest-software-toad-for-oracle/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (286 reviews) - [Google Cloud SQL](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-sql/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (366 reviews) - [IBM Db2](https://www.g2.com/products/ibm-db2/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (682 reviews) - [Databricks](https://www.g2.com/products/databricks/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (769 reviews) - [DbVisualizer](https://www.g2.com/products/dbvisualizer/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (269 reviews) - [Oracle Database](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-database/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (1010 reviews) ### Alternatives to Azure SQL Database - [Oracle Database](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-database/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (1010 reviews) - [Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS)](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-relational-database-service-rds/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (906 reviews) - [Amazon Aurora](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-aurora/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (457 reviews) - [Google Cloud SQL](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-sql/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (366 reviews) - [SAP HANA Cloud](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-hana-cloud-2025-10-01/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (621 reviews) - [IBM Db2](https://www.g2.com/products/ibm-db2/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (682 reviews) - [MySQL](https://www.g2.com/products/mysql/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (1675 reviews) - [PostgreSQL](https://www.g2.com/products/postgresql/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (677 reviews) - [MongoDB Atlas](https://www.g2.com/products/mongodb-atlas/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (370 reviews) - [MariaDB](https://www.g2.com/products/mariadb/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (226 reviews) --- ## Top Discussions ### Amazon Athena - Title: [Is AWS Athena free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-aws-athena-free) — 1 comment > **Top comment:** "No" - Title: [How do I use AWS Athena?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-do-i-use-aws-athena) — 1 comment > **Top comment:** "AWS Management Console Command Line Interface (CLI) JDBC/ODBC Drivers WS Serverless Application Repository" ### Azure SQL Database - Title: [What is Azure SQL Database used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-azure-sql-database-used-for) — 3 comments, 1 upvote > **Top comment:** "Azure SQL Database is a managed relational database service used for hosting, managing, and scaling SQL Server-based databases in the cloud. It is used for..." - Title: [Is Azure SQL Database free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-azure-sql-database-free) — 2 comments > **Top comment:** "There is a free tier, but for production workload you have to pay." --- **Source:** [G2.com](https://www.g2.com) | [Comparison Page](https://www.g2.com/compare/amazon-athena-vs-azure-sql-database)