--- title: Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Reviews meta_title: 'Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 17 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Azure SQL Server Stretch Database works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.1 review_count: 17 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-04' parent_category: name: Database Software url: https://www.g2.com/categories/database-software --- # Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Reviews **Vendor:** Microsoft **Category:** [Database Management Systems (DBMS)](https://www.g2.com/categories/database-management-systems-dbms) **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 17 ## About Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Azure SQL Server Stretch Database was a feature introduced in SQL Server 2016 that allowed organizations to dynamically extend their on-premises databases to Azure, enabling seamless access to both hot and cold data without significant changes to existing applications. This capability provided virtually unlimited storage and compute capacity, facilitating efficient management of large datasets. Key Features and Functionality: - Dynamic Data Stretching: Automatically migrate cold or infrequently accessed data from on-premises SQL Server databases to Azure, while keeping hot data on-premises for optimal performance. - Transparent Query Processing: Execute queries across both on-premises and Azure-stored data without modifying existing applications, as the process is transparent to users. - Integrated Security: Utilize Always Encrypted technology to ensure that sensitive data is encrypted before being transferred to Azure, with encryption keys remaining on-premises. - Scalability: Leverage Azure's scalable storage and compute resources to manage growing data volumes without the need for significant infrastructure investments. Primary Value and User Solutions: Azure SQL Server Stretch Database addressed the challenges of managing large and growing datasets by providing a cost-effective solution for archiving cold data without compromising accessibility. It enabled organizations to maintain compliance with data retention policies and regulatory requirements by keeping data online and readily available. By offloading cold data to Azure, businesses could optimize on-premises storage and compute resources, leading to improved performance and reduced maintenance costs. However, it's important to note that Microsoft announced the deprecation of the SQL Server Stretch Database feature in SQL Server 2022, with the supporting Azure service retired as of July 9, 2024. Organizations are advised to explore alternative solutions for managing cold data, such as utilizing the CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE AS SELECT (CETaS) feature in SQL Server 2022, which allows archiving data to Azure Storage in Parquet format for cost-effective storage and analytics. ## Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **seamless integration** of Azure SQL Server Stretch Database, especially for large enterprises. (1 reviews) - Users value the **solution efficiency** of Azure SQL Server Stretch Database, noting its seamless operation for large enterprises. (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find the **poor customer support** for Azure SQL Server Stretch Database to be frustrating and unhelpful. (1 reviews) ## Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Reviews ### 1. Excellent **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jenika D. | Workday Senior Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 24, 2025 **What do you like best about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** The services provided were good and the software is seamless and works well for large enterprises **What do you dislike about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** It is somewhere not good in support services. **What problems is Azure SQL Server Stretch Database solving and how is that benefiting you?** It provides secured and reliable data storage that gives user multiple and fast data access.also it is benificial to reduce data maar costs. ### 2. Azure SQL Server Stretch Database: The only tool you will need to effectively manage your Data **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Aditya P. | Associate Content Analyst, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 04, 2022 **What do you like best about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** The main advantage of this application is that it can work with large datasets and has many inbuilt functions like dividing the data into cold and warm categories which help to optimize cost. Another best feature I like about this application is the ease of migration and easy management of the console. **What do you dislike about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** The only thing which I dislike the most about this application is that, whenever we have any problem with the tool, it gets hard to reach out to the support team as we have to write an email to reach them. Instead, they can introduce Chatbot for a quick resolution. **Recommendations to others considering Azure SQL Server Stretch Database:** This can be very good for medium-sized businesses, but small-sized businesses might find it a bit costly. **What problems is Azure SQL Server Stretch Database solving and how is that benefiting you?** It has helped my organization in managing the organizational data very efficiently and cost-effectively without any hassles of migration as it provides seamless service. ### 3. Best tool to manage data **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Appa E. | Software engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 19, 2022 **What do you like best about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** The option behind using this tool is that it has advanced security options, a good dashboard and we can move our existing data without any application changes also we don't need to change existing queries, **What do you dislike about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** Pricing should be lower so small businesses can afford it, need to provide a short training video otherwise it is a good tool to choose for data management. **What problems is Azure SQL Server Stretch Database solving and how is that benefiting you?** It was too difficult to move our existing data into an application, we have to make some changes in our application before using it, but this tool helps us to move data without any changes, easy to manage. ### 4. Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Prateek J. | DevSecOps Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 06, 2022 **What do you like best about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** 1. Can divide data into warm and cold categories to optimize cost 2. Migration can be done without changing anything in the application 3. Easy to manage from the console **What do you dislike about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** 1. Quite expensive for small businesses 2. Doesn't have great support and documentation **What problems is Azure SQL Server Stretch Database solving and how is that benefiting you?** I came across a requirement to move data of one of our clients to Azure Cloud, the only available option was SQL Server Stretch Database. It's a bit expensive but the service is seamless. ### 5. Less time, less worry using SQL Server Stretch Database **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alexander M H. | Data Analyst, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 13, 2020 **What do you like best about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** What I like best is that this program puts efficiency at your fingertips. In the database indstry, we know that queries being able to run like clockwork is the nature of our business. That's what this program was created for. **What do you dislike about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** A couple things jump out at me when I think of what I dislike. One is the support around M.S. products. I don't like dealing with people through emails. I've found it tedious and taxing to try to get even the most basic questions answered from M.S. There have been times where I've explicitly told a support rep to not email me but rather call me and they still don't call me. I don't really like the cost layout either. For a small business, it makes the program cost-prohibitive. **What problems is Azure SQL Server Stretch Database solving and how is that benefiting you?** I like what the program does. It basically isolates the data that you're running the query on so that only that data is taking up space in the database. That makes everything run smoother and quicker. ### 6. Learning A New Tool...It Great! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Government Administration | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 19, 2019 **What do you like best about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** This program has a good dashboard. things are easy to locate but unfortunately that is where it ends. The one thing that Azure does provide is that it allows my organization to share its physical resources with all 14 of our Divisions across one County (different locations). **What do you dislike about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** Most software/programs in this field are similar and if you can use one, you can use them all. That is not the case with this software/program. I'd recommend that anyone who will be using this get some kind of formal training or at least watch a video on YouTube. It is not the most user-friendly program. **Recommendations to others considering Azure SQL Server Stretch Database:** Be sure to get formal training. This software is unlike any other. **What problems is Azure SQL Server Stretch Database solving and how is that benefiting you?** Azure SQL Server Stretch Database allows my organization to host data that meets a specific criteria in Azure, and keep it online and accessible without the need for code change. ### 7. Great experience **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Hospital & Health Care | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 23, 2019 **What do you like best about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** Simplicity, reliability and performance in handling the data consolidations and analytic reporting needs **What do you dislike about Azure SQL Server Stretch Database?** Scalability for very large volumes is an issue and also if it can be used for large user quesires **What problems is Azure SQL Server Stretch Database solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have used it for Data curation, consolidation and reporting ## Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Discussions - [What is a similar product? Who are its' competitors?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/32519-what-is-a-similar-product-who-are-its-competitors) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [What is stretch database in SQL Server?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-stretch-database-in-sql-server) - 1 comment - [View Azure SQL Server Stretch Database pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/azure-sql-server-stretch-database/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=5§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-04+09%3A21%3A02+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=122b3ae8-9031-4c87-9266-b21e1e70d9da&secure%5Btoken%5D=11ebec049b4a3d9aa6b0f813a0a0ce26b856a6ec8fa214459dc4de2b7b36cb52&format=llm_user) ## Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Features **Management** - Data dictionary - Data Replication - Query Language - Data Modeling - Performance Analysis **Maintenance** - Data Migration - Backup and Recovery - Multi-User Environment **Security** - Data Encryption - User Access Control ## Top Azure SQL Server Stretch Database Alternatives - [Snowflake](https://www.g2.com/products/snowflake/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (712 reviews) - [Toad For Oracle](https://www.g2.com/products/quest-software-toad-for-oracle/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (281 reviews) - [SAS Viya](https://www.g2.com/products/sas-sas-viya/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (774 reviews)