# Best Relational Databases for Small Business

  *By [Shalaka Joshi](https://research.g2.com/insights/author/shalaka-joshi)*

   Products classified in the overall Relational Databases category are similar in many regards and help companies of all sizes solve their business problems. However, small business features, pricing, setup, and installation differ from businesses of other sizes, which is why we match buyers to the right Small Business Relational Databases to fit their needs. Compare product ratings based on reviews from enterprise users or connect with one of G2's buying advisors to find the right solutions within the Small Business Relational Databases category.

In addition to qualifying for inclusion in the Relational Databases category, to qualify for inclusion in the Small Business Relational Databases category, a product must have at least 10 reviews left by a reviewer from a small business.





## Category Overview

**Total Products under this Category:** 185


## Trust & Credibility Stats

**Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings:**

- 30 Analysts and Data Experts
- 12,100+ Authentic Reviews
- 185+ Products
- Unbiased Rankings

G2's software rankings are built on verified user reviews, rigorous moderation, and a consistent research methodology maintained by a team of analysts and data experts. Each product is measured using the same transparent criteria, with no paid placement or vendor influence. While reviews reflect real user experiences, which can be subjective, they offer valuable insight into how software performs in the hands of professionals. Together, these inputs power the G2 Score, a standardized way to compare tools within every category.



---

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---

## Top-Rated Products (Ranked by G2 Score)
  ### 1. [Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS)](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-relational-database-service-rds/reviews)
  Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity while managing time-consuming database administration tasks such as hardware provisioning, database setup, patching and backups. It frees you up to focus on your apps so you can give them the better performance, availability, security, and compatibility they need. Amazon RDS is available on 6 familiar database instances: Amazon Aurora, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle Database and SQL Server engines. This means that the code, applications, and tools you already use today with your existing databases can be used with Amazon RDS. Amazon RDS automatically patches the database software and backs up your database, storing the backups for a user-defined retention period and enabling point-in-time recovery. You benefit from the flexibility of being able to scale the compute resources or storage capacity associated with your relational database instance via a single API call. In addition, Amazon RDS makes it easy to use replication to enhance availability and reliability for production databases. Amazon RDS for MySQL also enables you to scale out beyond the capacity of a single database deployment for read-heavy database workloads. As with all Amazon Web Services, there are no up-front investments required, and you pay only for the resources you use.


  **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 859

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Amazon Web Services (AWS)](https://www.g2.com/sellers/amazon-web-services-aws-3e93cc28-2e9b-4961-b258-c6ce0feec7dd)
- **Year Founded:** 2006
- **HQ Location:** Seattle, WA
- **Twitter:** @awscloud (2,223,984 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon-web-services/ (156,424 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NASDAQ: AMZN

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** DevOps Engineer, Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 38% Mid-Market, 34% Enterprise


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (32 reviews)
- Scalability (30 reviews)
- Security (19 reviews)
- Setup Ease (18 reviews)
- Backup Services (16 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (34 reviews)
- Cost Issues (10 reviews)
- Limited Control (9 reviews)
- Complexity (7 reviews)
- Limited Customization (7 reviews)

  ### 2. [Amazon Aurora](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-aurora/reviews)
  Amazon Aurora is a fully managed relational database service that combines the performance and availability of high-end commercial databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open-source databases. Compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL, Aurora delivers up to five times the throughput of standard MySQL databases and up to three times that of standard PostgreSQL databases. It is designed for high availability, offering up to 99.99% availability within a single region and up to 99.999% across multiple regions. Aurora's architecture includes a distributed, fault-tolerant storage system that automatically scales up to 128 tebibytes, ensuring continuous data access and durability. Additionally, Aurora provides serverless configurations, allowing automatic scaling based on application needs, and integrates seamlessly with other AWS services for machine learning and analytics. Key Features and Functionality: - High Performance: Delivers up to five times the throughput of MySQL and three times that of PostgreSQL, enabling efficient handling of demanding workloads. - High Availability: Designed for up to 99.99% availability within a single region and up to 99.999% across multiple regions, ensuring continuous data access. - Scalability: Automatically scales storage up to 128 tebibytes and supports up to 15 read replicas for read-intensive applications. - Serverless Configuration: Offers Aurora Serverless, which automatically adjusts capacity based on application demand, eliminating the need for manual provisioning. - Machine Learning Integration: Integrates with Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Comprehend, allowing for in-database machine learning capabilities without data movement. - Security: Provides multiple layers of security, including network isolation, encryption at rest and in transit, and compliance with various industry standards. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: Amazon Aurora addresses the need for a high-performance, highly available, and scalable relational database service that is cost-effective and easy to manage. By offering compatibility with MySQL and PostgreSQL, it allows organizations to migrate existing applications without significant code changes. Aurora's automatic scaling and serverless options cater to applications with variable workloads, reducing operational overhead and costs. Its integration with AWS machine learning services enables real-time analytics and predictive capabilities directly within the database, enhancing application functionality. Overall, Aurora simplifies database management while delivering enterprise-grade performance and reliability.


  **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 434

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Amazon Web Services (AWS)](https://www.g2.com/sellers/amazon-web-services-aws-3e93cc28-2e9b-4961-b258-c6ce0feec7dd)
- **Year Founded:** 2006
- **HQ Location:** Seattle, WA
- **Twitter:** @awscloud (2,223,984 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon-web-services/ (156,424 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NASDAQ: AMZN

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** DevOps Engineer, Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 38% Small-Business, 34% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Scalability (14 reviews)
- Availability (12 reviews)
- Ease of Use (12 reviews)
- Performance (12 reviews)
- High Availability (10 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (20 reviews)
- AWS Dependency (7 reviews)
- Feature Limitations (6 reviews)
- Cost Issues (5 reviews)
- Learning Curve (5 reviews)

  ### 3. [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-sql-server/reviews)
  SQL Server 2017 brings the power of SQL Server to Windows, Linux and Docker containers for the first time ever, enabling developers to build intelligent applications using their preferred language and environment. Experience industry-leading performance, rest assured with innovative security features, transform your business with AI built-in, and deliver insights wherever your users are with mobile BI.


  **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 2,110

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Microsoft](https://www.g2.com/sellers/microsoft)
- **Year Founded:** 1975
- **HQ Location:** Redmond, Washington
- **Twitter:** @microsoft (13,105,844 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft/ (227,697 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** MSFT

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Software Developer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 46% Enterprise, 37% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (32 reviews)
- Database Management (29 reviews)
- Performance (25 reviews)
- Features (23 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (22 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (21 reviews)
- High Licensing Cost (12 reviews)
- High Licensing Costs (12 reviews)
- Expensive Licensing (11 reviews)
- Performance Issues (11 reviews)

  ### 4. [MySQL](https://www.g2.com/products/mysql/reviews)
  MySQL is the world's most popular open-source database, renowned for its reliability, performance, and ease of use. It serves as the backbone for many high-profile web applications, including those of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. MySQL offers a comprehensive suite of features that cater to the needs of modern web, mobile, embedded, and cloud applications. Key Features and Functionality: - Transactional Data Dictionary: Implemented as a set of SQL tables stored in a single InnoDB tablespace, enhancing data management efficiency. - Common Table Expressions (CTEs): Also known as WITH queries, CTEs simplify complex queries and improve readability. - Window Functions: These functions reduce code complexity and boost developer productivity by allowing calculations across sets of table rows related to the current row. - Invisible Indexes: Facilitate better management of software upgrades and database changes for applications that require continuous operation. - Descending Indexes: Eliminate the need for sorting results, leading to performance improvements. - JSON Support: Includes the JSON\_TABLE() function, which accepts JSON data and returns it as a relational table, enhancing flexibility in data handling. - Document Store: Allows the development of both SQL and NoSQL document applications using a single database, providing versatility in application design. - SQL Roles: Simplify permission management by granting and denying permissions to groups of users, thereby reducing the security workload. - OpenSSL Integration: Utilizes OpenSSL as the default TLS/SSL library, ensuring secure data transmission. - Default to utf8mb4 Character Set: Supports richer mobile applications and international character sets, accommodating a global user base. - Geographic Information System (GIS) Enhancements: Supports geography and Spatial Reference Systems (SRS), enabling advanced spatial data analysis. - InnoDB Cluster: Provides improved high availability through integrated solutions. - InnoDB ClusterSet: Offers cross-region disaster recovery capabilities, ensuring data resilience. - Replication: Provides flexible topologies for scale-out and high availability, enhancing system robustness. - Reliability: Requires minimal intervention to achieve continuous uptime, ensuring consistent performance. - Partitioning: Improves performance and management of very large database environments by dividing tables into smaller, more manageable pieces. - ACID Transactions: Ensures reliable and secure business-critical applications by supporting Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability. - Stored Procedures and Triggers: Enhance developer productivity and enforce complex business rules at the database level. - Views: Ensure sensitive information is not compromised by providing controlled access to data. - Ease of Use: Offers a "3 minutes from download to development" installation and configuration process, facilitating quick deployment. - Low Administration: Requires very little database maintenance, reducing operational overhead. Primary Value and User Solutions: MySQL delivers a robust, scalable, and secure database solution that addresses the needs of developers and enterprises alike. Its comprehensive feature set supports the development of high-performance applications across various platforms, including web, mobile, embedded, and cloud environments. By offering advanced functionalities such as ACID compliance, high availability, and flexible replication, MySQL ensures data integrity and reliability. Its ease of use and low administrative requirements enable organizations to reduce operational costs and accelerate time-to-market for their applications. Furthermore, MySQL's support for modern development practices, including JSON and NoSQL capabilities, allows developers to build versatile and future-proof applications.


  **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 1,572

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Oracle](https://www.g2.com/sellers/oracle)
- **Year Founded:** 1977
- **HQ Location:** Austin, TX
- **Twitter:** @Oracle (827,310 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/1028/ (199,301 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NYSE:ORCL

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Software Developer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 37% Small-Business, 33% Enterprise


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (17 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (9 reviews)
- Reliability (9 reviews)
- Performance (7 reviews)
- Features (6 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Feature Limitations (12 reviews)
- Limited Database Support (9 reviews)
- Performance Issues (5 reviews)
- Slow Performance (5 reviews)
- Scaling Issues (4 reviews)

  ### 5. [Google Cloud SQL](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-sql/reviews)
  Cloud SQL is a fully-managed managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server with rich extension collections, configuration flags, and developer ecosystems.


  **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 353

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Google](https://www.g2.com/sellers/google)
- **Year Founded:** 1998
- **HQ Location:** Mountain View, CA
- **Twitter:** @google (31,885,216 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/1441/ (336,169 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NASDAQ:GOOG

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Data Engineer, Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 41% Mid-Market, 33% Small-Business


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Database Management (22 reviews)
- Integrations (21 reviews)
- Ease of Use (20 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (20 reviews)
- Scalability (19 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (17 reviews)
- Cost Concerns (7 reviews)
- Scaling Issues (6 reviews)
- Complex Pricing (5 reviews)
- Pricing Confusion (5 reviews)

  ### 6. [Oracle Database](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-database/reviews)
  Oracle Database is a comprehensive, multi-model database management system developed by Oracle Corporation. It is designed to handle various data types and workloads, including online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing, and mixed database operations. With its robust architecture, Oracle Database supports deployment across on-premises environments, cloud platforms, and hybrid configurations, offering flexibility and scalability to meet diverse business needs. Key Features and Functionality: - Multi-Model Support: Oracle Database accommodates various data models, including relational, document, graph, and key-value, enabling developers to work with diverse data types within a single platform. - Advanced Analytics: The database integrates advanced analytics capabilities, such as in-database machine learning and AI Vector Search, allowing users to perform complex analyses directly within the database environment. - High Availability and Scalability: Designed for mission-critical applications, Oracle Database offers features like data replication, backup, server clustering, and automatic storage management to ensure high availability and seamless scalability. - Security: With comprehensive security measures, including encryption, SQL Firewall, and data masking, Oracle Database safeguards sensitive information and maintains data integrity. - Multicloud Deployment: Oracle Database supports deployment across various cloud platforms, including Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, providing flexibility and compliance with data residency requirements. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: Oracle Database addresses the complex data management needs of modern enterprises by offering a unified platform that supports multiple data models and workloads. Its integration of AI and machine learning capabilities enables organizations to derive actionable insights directly from their data, enhancing decision-making processes. The database's high availability and scalability ensure that businesses can maintain continuous operations and adapt to growing data demands. Additionally, its robust security features protect against data breaches and ensure compliance with regulatory standards. By supporting multicloud deployments, Oracle Database provides the flexibility to operate in various cloud environments, facilitating seamless integration and innovation across different platforms.


  **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 922

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Oracle](https://www.g2.com/sellers/oracle)
- **Year Founded:** 1977
- **HQ Location:** Austin, TX
- **Twitter:** @Oracle (827,310 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/1028/ (199,301 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NYSE:ORCL

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Software Developer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 62% Enterprise, 27% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Security (18 reviews)
- Performance (17 reviews)
- Ease of Use (16 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (13 reviews)
- Reliability (13 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (22 reviews)
- Complexity (13 reviews)
- Poor Usability (8 reviews)
- Difficult Learning (7 reviews)
- Learning Curve (7 reviews)

  ### 7. [PostgreSQL](https://www.g2.com/products/postgresql/reviews)
  PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system renowned for its reliability, extensibility, and adherence to SQL standards. Originating from the POSTGRES project at the University of California at Berkeley in 1986, it has evolved over nearly four decades into a robust platform capable of handling complex data workloads across various operating systems. PostgreSQL's architecture emphasizes data integrity and scalability, making it a preferred choice for developers and organizations worldwide. Key Features and Functionality: - Comprehensive Data Types: Supports a wide range of data types, including primitives (Integer, Numeric, String, Boolean), structured (Date/Time, Array, Range), document (JSON/JSONB, XML), and geometric types. - Advanced Data Integrity: Ensures data accuracy through features like UNIQUE constraints, primary and foreign keys, exclusion constraints, and various locking mechanisms. - High Performance and Concurrency: Utilizes advanced indexing methods (B-tree, GiST, GIN, BRIN), a sophisticated query planner, multi-version concurrency control (MVCC), parallel query execution, and table partitioning to optimize performance. - Reliability and Disaster Recovery: Offers write-ahead logging (WAL), various replication methods (asynchronous, synchronous, logical), point-in-time recovery (PITR), and active standbys to ensure data durability and availability. - Robust Security Measures: Provides multiple authentication methods (GSSAPI, SSPI, LDAP, SCRAM-SHA-256, Certificate, OAuth 2.0), a comprehensive access-control system, and supports multi-factor authentication. - Extensibility: Allows the creation of custom data types, functions, and operators. Supports procedural languages like PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python, and Tcl, with additional languages available through extensions. Primary Value and User Solutions: PostgreSQL addresses the needs of developers and organizations by offering a highly extensible and standards-compliant database system that ensures data integrity, scalability, and robust performance. Its open-source nature allows for continuous innovation and adaptability, enabling users to tailor the database to their specific requirements. Whether managing small applications or large-scale enterprise systems, PostgreSQL provides a reliable foundation for storing and processing data efficiently.


  **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 641

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [PostgreSQL](https://www.g2.com/sellers/postgresql)
- **HQ Location:** United States
- **Twitter:** @postgresql (56,705 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/758353/ (86 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Senior Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 35% Small-Business, 34% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Features (16 reviews)
- Ease of Use (13 reviews)
- Open Source (10 reviews)
- Reliability (10 reviews)
- Scalability (10 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Beginner Unfriendliness (7 reviews)
- Complexity (6 reviews)
- Learning Curve (5 reviews)
- Slow Performance (5 reviews)
- Complex Configuration (4 reviews)

  ### 8. [Azure SQL Database](https://www.g2.com/products/azure-sql-database/reviews)
  Azure SQL Database is a fully managed, intelligent relational database service built on the Microsoft SQL Server engine, designed to support modern cloud applications. It offers scalability, high availability, and robust security features, enabling developers to build and maintain applications without the complexities of infrastructure management. Key Features and Functionality: - Hyperscale Storage: Rapidly scale storage resources to meet demand, supporting large databases with up to 100 TB capacity. - Serverless Compute: Automatically adjust compute resources based on workload needs, optimizing performance and cost. - Built-in Intelligence: Utilize AI-driven features for performance tuning, threat detection, and advanced security measures. - High Availability: Ensure business continuity with automatic backups, geo-replication, and a 99.99% uptime SLA. - Advanced Security: Protect data with multi-layered security, including encryption, access controls, and compliance with over 100 certifications. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: Azure SQL Database simplifies database management by automating routine tasks such as patching, backups, and monitoring, allowing developers to focus on application development. Its scalability and performance capabilities support applications of varying sizes, from small web apps to large enterprise solutions. The integration with Azure services and support for AI and machine learning workloads enable the creation of intelligent applications. Additionally, its comprehensive security and compliance features ensure data protection and regulatory adherence, making it a reliable choice for businesses seeking a robust cloud-based database solution.


  **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 228

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Microsoft](https://www.g2.com/sellers/microsoft)
- **Year Founded:** 1975
- **HQ Location:** Redmond, Washington
- **Twitter:** @microsoft (13,105,844 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft/ (227,697 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** MSFT

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 41% Enterprise, 33% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Scalability (26 reviews)
- Integrations (16 reviews)
- Security (13 reviews)
- Ease of Use (12 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (12 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (25 reviews)
- Complexity Issues (7 reviews)
- Complexity (6 reviews)
- Feature Limitations (6 reviews)
- Limited Database Support (6 reviews)

  ### 9. [SAP HANA Cloud](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-hana-cloud-2025-10-01/reviews)
  SAP HANA Cloud is a modern database-as-a-service (DBaaS) powering the next generation of intelligent data applications. SAP HANA Cloud offers a competitive edge by incorporating advanced machine learning and predictive tools grounded in modern data science. Its powerful in-memory performance safeguards efficient data processing. By securely storing vast amounts of data with its integrated multitier storage and handling various types on a single copy in its native multi-model database, SAP HANA Cloud simplifies data management and connects to other data sources. The seamless integration of these capabilities in a reliable, unified foundation makes it easier for developers to build high-demand intelligent data apps.


  **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 509

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [SAP](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sap)
- **Company Website:** https://www.sap.com/
- **Year Founded:** 1972
- **HQ Location:** Walldorf
- **Twitter:** @SAP (297,227 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/ (141,341 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Consultant, SAP Consultant
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 61% Enterprise, 26% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (55 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (41 reviews)
- Integrations (40 reviews)
- Speed (39 reviews)
- Scalability (35 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Complexity (33 reviews)
- Expensive (32 reviews)
- Learning Curve (30 reviews)
- Difficult Learning (28 reviews)
- Complex Setup (20 reviews)

  ### 10. [Supabase](https://www.g2.com/products/supabase-supabase/reviews)
  Supabase is an open-source backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform that enables developers to build and scale applications efficiently without managing server infrastructure. Launched in 2020 as an alternative to Firebase, Supabase offers a suite of tools including a PostgreSQL database, authentication, real-time subscriptions, and storage capabilities. By leveraging the robustness of PostgreSQL, Supabase provides a scalable and secure foundation for modern web and mobile applications. Key Features and Functionality: - PostgreSQL Database: Each Supabase project includes a dedicated PostgreSQL database, offering full SQL support and advanced features such as JSON handling, full-text search, and vector support. - Instant APIs: Supabase automatically generates RESTful and GraphQL APIs based on your database schema, eliminating the need for manual coding and accelerating development. - Authentication and Authorization: The platform provides built-in user authentication with support for various sign-in methods, including email/password, magic links, and social logins. It also integrates seamlessly with PostgreSQL's Row Level Security for fine-grained access control. - Real-time Capabilities: Supabase enables real-time data synchronization via WebSockets, allowing applications to respond instantly to database changes. - Edge Functions: Developers can deploy serverless functions close to users for low-latency execution, facilitating scalable and efficient backend logic. - File Storage: Supabase offers scalable storage solutions for managing and serving files, complete with configurable access policies to ensure data security. Primary Value and User Solutions: Supabase addresses the challenges developers face in building and scaling applications by providing a comprehensive, open-source backend platform. It eliminates the complexities of managing server infrastructure, allowing developers to focus on creating feature-rich applications. With its real-time capabilities, robust authentication, and seamless integration with PostgreSQL, Supabase empowers developers to build secure, scalable, and responsive applications efficiently.


  **Average Rating:** 4.7/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 38

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 6.7/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 10.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Supabase](https://www.g2.com/sellers/supabase)
- **Year Founded:** 2020
- **HQ Location:** Global, US
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/supabase/ (270 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 79% Small-Business, 13% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (9 reviews)
- Features (7 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (5 reviews)
- Setup Ease (5 reviews)
- User-Friendly (5 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Beginner Unfriendliness (2 reviews)
- Expensive (2 reviews)
- High Complexity (2 reviews)
- Insufficient Guidance (2 reviews)
- Learning Difficulty (2 reviews)

  ### 11. [YugabyteDB](https://www.g2.com/products/yugabytedb/reviews)
  YugabyteDB is AI-ready, turbocharged PostgreSQL for business-critical transactional applications. 100% open source, it offers built-in resilience, on-demand scaling, and more! YugabyteDB eliminates the tradeoffs you get with legacy databases by uniquely combining enterprise-grade RDBMS capabilities with the horizontal scalability and resilience of cloud native architectures. YugabyteDB delivers a single logical database that can span across any cloud (private, public or hybrid). Industry-leading companies including Kroger, GM, Rakuten, Fiserv and Wells Fargo rely on YugabyteDB for mission-critical transactional applications. PostgreSQL Compatibility: YugabyteDB is more than just wire compatible with PostgreSQL, it is code compatible. YugabyteDB achieves this by reusing PostgreSQL’s query layer to achieve a high degree of compatibility with existing PostgreSQL applications or those that can be migrated to PostgreSQL. Developers can be immediately productive with the ecosystem of PostgreSQL-compatible frameworks, applications, drivers, and tools. Advanced Relational Database Capabilities: YugabyteDB delivers a comprehensive set of advanced RDBMS features like triggers, functions, stored procedures, strong secondary indexes, and distributed ACID transactions. This means that developers don't need to choose between the horizontal scalability of NoSQL systems and the ACID guarantees of traditional SQL systems. Resilience and High Availability: With YugabyteDB, critical services remain available during node, zone, region, and data center failures with fast failovers. YugabyteDB heals itself by re-replicating data automatically, and delivers zero downtime on maintenance tasks such as software upgrades, security patching, and distributed backups. Horizontal Scalability: Operations teams can effortlessly scale out even under heavy load without disruption or downtime by simply adding nodes to their YugabyteDB cluster. The database automatically rebalances load to use available resources. YugabyteDB’s shared nothing architecture is designed with no single point of failure or bottleneck. Geographic Distribution: YugabyteDB offers the most comprehensive and flexible deployment options in geo-distributed environments. Operators can make use of synchronous and asynchronous data replication and geo-partitioning to achieve desired consistency, resilience, performance, and compliance objectives. Security: YugabyteDB is built from the ground up with data security in mind. The database enables organizations to maintain a robust security posture with built-in controls such as LDAP authentication, role-based access control (RBAC), data encryption at rest and in transit (TLS), audit logging, and column-level permissions. Advanced features such as row level security (RLS) and column-level encryption are available for more advanced use cases. YugabyteDB is 100% open source, so download and start using the full set of features for free. You can also choose a flexible cloud DBaaS consumption option based on your needs: 1. YugabyteDB Aeon: Start with a free trial and enjoy a fully-managed DBaaS service that allows you to leave the day 2 operations and management work to YugabyteDB. 2. YugabyteDB Anywhere: Deploy a self-managed DBaaS in your environment with built-in automation to deploy, scale, and monitor YugabyteDB clusters at scale. YugabyteDB Voyager is an end-to-end modernization tool that can accelerate your cloud native adoption by simplifying the migration of both schema and data from databases including Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, Azure SQL for PostgreSQL, and more. Learn more about YugabyteDB: https://www.yugabyte.com/ Sign up for YugabyteDB Aeon for free: https://cloud.yugabyte.com/


  **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 63

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Yugabyte, Inc.](https://www.g2.com/sellers/yugabyte-inc)
- **Company Website:** https://www.yugabyte.com/
- **Year Founded:** 2016
- **HQ Location:** Sunnyvale, CA
- **Twitter:** @Yugabyte (9,291 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/10643910 (426 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Top Industries:** Financial Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 45% Mid-Market, 39% Small-Business


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Scalability (24 reviews)
- Reliability (21 reviews)
- High Availability (17 reviews)
- Availability (14 reviews)
- Performance (14 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Complexity (18 reviews)
- Learning Curve (15 reviews)
- Complex Setup (10 reviews)
- Complex Configuration (8 reviews)
- Slow Performance (7 reviews)

  ### 12. [IBM Db2](https://www.g2.com/products/ibm-db2/reviews)
  Built to run the world’s mission-critical workloads. Designed by the world’s leading database experts, IBM Db2 empowers developers, enterprise architects, and data engineers to run low-latency transactions and real-time analytics equipped for the most demanding workloads. From microservices to AI workloads, Db2 is the tested, resilient, and hybrid database providing the extreme availability, built-in refined security, effortless scalability, and intelligent automation for systems that run the world.


  **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 598

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [IBM](https://www.g2.com/sellers/ibm)
- **Year Founded:** 1911
- **HQ Location:** Armonk, NY
- **Twitter:** @IBM (709,023 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/1009/ (324,553 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** SWX:IBM

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Senior Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Banking
  - **Company Size:** 66% Enterprise, 21% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Performance (14 reviews)
- Reliability (13 reviews)
- Scalability (11 reviews)
- Security (11 reviews)
- Ease of Use (10 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Complex Setup (4 reviews)
- Expensive (4 reviews)
- Learning Curve (4 reviews)
- Complexity (3 reviews)
- Difficult Setup (3 reviews)

  ### 13. [EDB for PostgreSQL](https://www.g2.com/products/edb-for-postgresql/reviews)
  PostgreSQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) designed to handle a wide range of workloads, from small single-machine applications to large internet-facing applications with many concurrent users. It is known for its robustness, extensibility, and support for advanced data types and performance optimization features. PostgreSQL is particularly favored by developers and organizations looking to leverage a powerful database solution that can scale as their needs grow. The target audience for PostgreSQL includes software developers, database administrators, and organizations of all sizes that require a reliable and flexible database solution. Its versatility makes it suitable for various use cases, including web applications, data warehousing, and analytics. PostgreSQL supports complex queries, transactions, and concurrency, making it an ideal choice for applications that demand high performance and data integrity. Additionally, its open-source nature allows users to customize and extend its capabilities to meet specific requirements. EDB enhances PostgreSQL by providing additional features and tools that help organizations innovate and accelerate their database operations. EDB's offerings include advanced security features, enhanced performance tuning options, and tools for easier migration from other database systems. These enhancements enable users to maximize the potential of PostgreSQL, ensuring that they can efficiently manage their data and support their business objectives. Key features of EDB's PostgreSQL solutions include advanced replication capabilities, which ensure high availability and disaster recovery, and robust security measures that protect sensitive data. Furthermore, EDB provides comprehensive support and training resources, allowing users to fully leverage the capabilities of PostgreSQL. The combination of PostgreSQL's inherent strengths and EDB's enhancements creates a powerful database environment that can adapt to evolving business needs. Overall, EDB for PostgreSQL stands out in the database management landscape by offering a flexible, scalable, and secure solution. Postgres's ability to handle diverse workloads, coupled with EDB's additional features and support, makes it a compelling choice for organizations looking to innovate and accelerate their data-driven initiatives.


  **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 85

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [EnterpriseDB (EDB)](https://www.g2.com/sellers/enterprisedb-edb)
- **Company Website:** https://enterprisedb.com
- **Year Founded:** 2004
- **HQ Location:** Bedford, US
- **Twitter:** @EDBPostgres (8,641 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/edbpostgres/ (1,502 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Database Administrator
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 44% Mid-Market, 33% Enterprise


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Customer Support (30 reviews)
- Performance (15 reviews)
- Migration Ease (11 reviews)
- Data Security (10 reviews)
- Security (10 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (17 reviews)
- Learning Curve (10 reviews)
- Poor Documentation (7 reviews)
- Feature Limitations (6 reviews)
- Pricing Confusion (4 reviews)

  ### 14. [InterSystems IRIS](https://www.g2.com/products/intersystems-iris/reviews)
  InterSystems IRIS is a complete cloud-first data platform that includes a multi-model transactional data management engine, an application development platform, and interoperability engine, and an open analytics platform. It is the next generation of our proven data management software.It includes the capabilities of InterSystems Cache and Ensemble, plus a wealth of exciting new capabilities to make it easy to build and deploy cloud based, analytics-intensive enterprise applications with even greater performance and scalability. InterSystems IRIS provides a set of APIs to operate with transactional persistent data simultaneously: key-value, relational, object, document, multidimensional. Data can be managed by SQL, Java, node.js, .NET, C++, Python, and native server-side ObjectScript language. InterSystems IRIS includes an Interoperability engine and modules to build AI solutions. InterSystems IRIS provides features for horizontal scalability (sharding, ECP) and provides High Availability features, Business intelligence, transaction support, and backup.


  **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 59

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.4/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [InterSystems](https://www.g2.com/sellers/intersystems)
- **Year Founded:** 1978
- **HQ Location:** Cambridge, MA
- **Twitter:** @InterSystems (61,515 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/6959 (2,080 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Hospital & Health Care
  - **Company Size:** 50% Small-Business, 28% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Features (9 reviews)
- Ease of Use (8 reviews)
- Performance (8 reviews)
- Customer Support (6 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (6 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Difficult Learning (6 reviews)
- Expensive (5 reviews)
- Insufficient Documentation (5 reviews)
- Learning Curve (5 reviews)
- Poor Documentation (5 reviews)

  ### 15. [TiDB](https://www.g2.com/products/tidb/reviews)
  TiDB is an advanced open-source, distributed SQL database solution designed to help data-intensive businesses manage and scale their data operations seamlessly. Developed by PingCAP, TiDB combines the scalability of NoSQL databases with the full functionality of traditional relational database management systems (RDBMS). This unique architecture allows organizations to build petabyte-scale clusters while efficiently handling millions of tables, numerous concurrent connections, and frequent schema changes without experiencing downtime. The target audience for TiDB includes large enterprises, software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, and digital-native companies that require robust data management capabilities. These organizations often face challenges related to data scalability, operational complexity, and the need for high availability. TiDB addresses these challenges by offering a solution that supports a wide range of workloads, including transactional, analytical, operational, and artificial intelligence (AI) tasks. Its multi-tenant architecture further enhances operational agility, allowing businesses to adapt to changing demands quickly. Key features of TiDB include seamless scalability, which enables organizations to expand their database infrastructure effortlessly as their data needs grow. The platform's MySQL compatibility ensures that developers can easily integrate TiDB into existing workflows and leverage familiar tools and platforms. Additionally, TiDB supports online DDL (Data Definition Language) operations, allowing for worry-free schema changes that do not disrupt ongoing processes. This operational flexibility is critical for businesses that require constant uptime and reliability. TiDB also prioritizes data security and availability, boasting built-in ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) compliance and a remarkable 99.99% availability rate. The database adheres to various regulatory standards, including GDPR, SOC, HIPAA, and PCI, ensuring that organizations can trust their data management practices. Notable companies such as Databricks, Pinterest, and Plaid have adopted TiDB, allowing them to concentrate on growth and innovation rather than the complexities of data infrastructure management. With its AI-driven innovations and multi-cloud capabilities, TiDB stands out as a powerful solution for businesses looking to enhance their data management strategies. By providing unmatched agility, resilience, and security, TiDB empowers organizations to unlock their full potential in an increasingly data-driven world. For more information, please visit TiDB.io.


  **Average Rating:** 4.6/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 70

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [PingCAP](https://www.g2.com/sellers/pingcap)
- **Company Website:** https://tidb.io
- **Year Founded:** 2015
- **HQ Location:** Sunnyvale 
- **Twitter:** @PingCAP (7,203 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/pingcap (495 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** DBA, Senior Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services
  - **Company Size:** 30% Enterprise, 26% Small-Business


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Scalability (52 reviews)
- Ease of Use (32 reviews)
- Database Management (29 reviews)
- Compatibility (26 reviews)
- Performance (25 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Learning Curve (22 reviews)
- Performance Issues (15 reviews)
- Slow Performance (13 reviews)
- Difficult Learning (11 reviews)
- Poor Documentation (11 reviews)

  ### 16. [SQLite](https://www.g2.com/products/sqlite/reviews)
  SQLite is a C-language library that provides a self-contained, serverless, and zero-configuration SQL database engine. Renowned for its small footprint and high reliability, SQLite is the most widely deployed database engine globally, embedded in billions of devices and applications. Its cross-platform database file format ensures seamless data transfer across different systems, making it a preferred choice for developers seeking an efficient and dependable database solution. Key Features and Functionality: - Self-Contained and Serverless: Operates without a separate server process, reading and writing directly to disk files. - Zero-Configuration: Requires no setup or administration, facilitating easy integration into applications. - Full-Featured SQL Implementation: Supports advanced capabilities like partial indexes, indexes on expressions, JSON, common table expressions, and window functions. - Single-File Database: Stores the entire database, including multiple tables, indices, triggers, and views, in a single cross-platform disk file. - Scalability: Handles databases up to 281 terabytes and supports row sizes up to 1 gigabyte. - Compact Size: With all features enabled, the library size can be less than 900KiB, depending on the target platform and compiler optimization settings. - High Performance: In some cases, SQLite is faster than direct filesystem I/O. - Cross-Platform Compatibility: Supports various operating systems, including Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, and Windows. - Public Domain Source Code: The source code is in the public domain, allowing free use for any purpose. Primary Value and User Solutions: SQLite offers a lightweight, reliable, and easy-to-use database solution that eliminates the complexities associated with traditional database management systems. Its serverless architecture and zero-configuration setup make it ideal for applications where simplicity and efficiency are paramount. By storing data in a single file, SQLite simplifies data management and portability, addressing the needs of developers and organizations seeking a robust database engine without the overhead of a full-fledged RDBMS.


  **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 251

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [SQLite](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sqlite)
- **HQ Location:** San Francisco, California
- **Twitter:** @planetsqlite (645 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sqlitecloud/ (7 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Software Developer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 44% Small-Business, 32% Enterprise


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Setup Ease (2 reviews)
- Ease of Use (1 reviews)
- Management Ease (1 reviews)
- Speed (1 reviews)
- User Interface (1 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Difficult Learning (1 reviews)
- Feature Limitations (1 reviews)
- Limited Database Support (1 reviews)

  ### 17. [Knack](https://www.g2.com/products/knack/reviews)
  Knack is an AI-powered no-code platform for building custom, database-driven applications, internal tools, and portals. Businesses use Knack to create systems that manage data, automate workflows, and support day-to-day operations, all in one place. The platform combines a built-in relational database, AI app builder, customizable forms, and workflow automation. Users can define their data model, create user roles, and control access with granular permissions. Applications can be deployed as internal tools or external portals, and embedded into existing websites. Knack supports a wide range of use cases, including customer and vendor portals, custom CRMs, project and task management systems, inventory tracking, logistics and supply chain tools, membership and volunteer management, and government operations. Teams can start from scratch, from a template, or use AI to build fully custom applications tailored to their processes. Knack's healthcare-specific offering, Knack Health, allows organizations to build secure, HIPAA-compliant applications for patient intake, scheduling, care coordination, and operational workflows. The platform supports role-based permissions, record history logs, and secure data handling for protected health information (PHI), with a signed business associate agreement (BAA) available for covered entities. For more advanced use cases, developers can extend applications using a REST API, custom CSS, and JavaScript. Knack also supports integrations with 500+ third-party tools to fit into existing workflows. Knack is designed for flexibility and scale, making it a fit for SMBs, nonprofits, and enterprise teams that need systems tailored to how their business actually operates.


  **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 110

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 7.7/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Knack](https://www.g2.com/sellers/knack)
- **Year Founded:** 2010
- **HQ Location:** New York, NY
- **Twitter:** @knackhq (1,926 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/knackhq (90 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Top Industries:** Construction, Information Technology and Services
  - **Company Size:** 56% Small-Business, 32% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (15 reviews)
- Intuitive (9 reviews)
- Easy Setup (8 reviews)
- Customer Support (7 reviews)
- Ease of Learning (7 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Missing Features (10 reviews)
- Feature Limitations (6 reviews)
- Limited Customization (6 reviews)
- Limited Features (5 reviews)
- Slow Performance (4 reviews)

  ### 18. [MariaDB](https://www.g2.com/products/mariadb/reviews)
  MariaDB frees companies from the costs, constraints and complexity of proprietary databases, enabling them to reinvest in what matters most – rapidly developing innovative, customer-facing applications. MariaDB uses pluggable, purpose-built storage engines to support workloads that previously required a variety of specialized databases. With complexity and constraints eliminated, enterprises can now depend on a single complete database for all their needs, whether on commodity hardware or their cloud of choice. Deployed in minutes for transactional or analytical use cases, MariaDB delivers unmatched operational agility without sacrificing key enterprise features including real ACID compliance and full SQL. Trusted by organizations such as Deutsche Bank, DBS Bank, Nasdaq, Red Hat, ServiceNow, Verizon and Walgreens – MariaDB meets the same core requirements as proprietary databases at a fraction of the cost. No wonder it’s the fastest growing open source database. Real business relies on MariaDB™.


  **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 217

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [MariaDB](https://www.g2.com/sellers/mariadb)
- **Year Founded:** 2014
- **HQ Location:** Espoo, Finland
- **Twitter:** @mariadb (453,268 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/1214250/ (332 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NYSE: MRDB

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Software Engineer, Senior Software Engineer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 43% Small-Business, 33% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (2 reviews)
- Easy Integrations (2 reviews)
- Query Speed (2 reviews)
- Backup Services (1 reviews)
- Connectivity (1 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Beginner Unfriendliness (1 reviews)
- Connectivity Issues (1 reviews)
- Difficult Learning (1 reviews)
- Error Handling (1 reviews)
- Feature Limitations (1 reviews)

  ### 19. [SAP HEC (HANA Enterprise Cloud)](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-hec-hana-enterprise-cloud/reviews)
  SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud is the only end-to-end solution of its kind, delivering comprehensive cloud infrastructure and managed services for our in-memory applications, database, and platform.


  **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 88

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.7/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.5/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [SAP](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sap)
- **Year Founded:** 1972
- **HQ Location:** Walldorf
- **Twitter:** @SAP (297,227 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/ (141,341 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NYSE:SAP

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** SAP Consultant
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Logistics and Supply Chain
  - **Company Size:** 42% Enterprise, 30% Mid-Market


  ### 20. [Aiven for PostgreSQL](https://www.g2.com/products/aiven-for-postgresql/reviews)
  Aiven for PostgreSQL is a fully managed, scalable PostgreSQL service. It is full-featured, and backed by a 99.99% SLA. You can launch a fully operational PostgreSQL cluster in the cloud and region of your choice in minutes - using the Aiven web console or programmatically via Aiven’s API, CLI, Terraform provider or Kubernetes operator. You'll have access to premium features, such as Point in Time Restore, database forking, connection pooling, and more. And you can use over 70 PostgreSQL extensions. With Aiven for PostgreSQL, you don’t need to worry about taking backups or applying maintenance updates. All this is done automatically - with no downtime. You can upgrade to a new version, increase the storage of your cluster, expand to new regions or migrate to a different cloud, with a click of a mouse. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and clusters are always run on dedicated virtual machines. The service is ISO27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA and PCI/DSS compliant.


  **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 77

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Aiven](https://www.g2.com/sellers/aiven)
- **Year Founded:** 2016
- **HQ Location:** Helsinki, Southern Finland
- **Twitter:** @aiven_io (4,084 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/10294984/ (439 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** CTO
  - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Financial Services
  - **Company Size:** 67% Small-Business, 27% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Ease of Use (11 reviews)
- Customer Support (5 reviews)
- Setup Ease (5 reviews)
- Application Development (3 reviews)
- Deployment Ease (3 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Expensive (5 reviews)
- Cost Issues (2 reviews)
- Poor Customer Support (2 reviews)
- Service Limitations (2 reviews)
- Expensive Licensing (1 reviews)

  ### 21. [IBM Informix](https://www.g2.com/products/ibm-informix/reviews)
  • Harness data with broad functionality and unlimited scalability. IBM Informix is a secure embeddable database, optimized for OLTP and Internet of Things (IoT) data. Informix has the unique ability to seamlessly integrate SQL, NoSQL/JSON, time series and spatial data. Everyone from developers to global enterprises can benefit from its reliability, flexibility, ease of use and low total cost of ownership. • Optimize business decisions Perform analytics close to data sources to enhance local decision making. Access business intelligence faster with enhanced integration with various tools and applications. • Eliminate downtime Ensure always-on operations across your grid environment. Upgrade, maintain and configure the grid with no downtime. Successfully meet service-level agreements. • Improve development agility Support both structured and unstructured data with a hybrid database system for enhanced flexibility and easier development. • IBM Informix is available on-premise and on the IBM Cloud. IBM Informix on Cloud offers the complete feature set of on-premises Informix deployments. Run your OLTP queries and workloads on an optimized instance and use the Informix warehouse accelerator to configure in-memory query acceleration for predictive analytics. Get the benefits of Informix without the cost, complexity and risk of managing your own infrastructure. IBM Informix V14.10 enhances all editions, bringing improvements to performance, security, administration, and core database capabilities including support for online transaction processing (OLTP) and replication workloads, timeseries and spatial data. Discover why many of the world’s most innovative companies depend on IBM Informix.


  **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 91

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 9.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [IBM](https://www.g2.com/sellers/ibm)
- **Year Founded:** 1911
- **HQ Location:** Armonk, NY
- **Twitter:** @IBM (709,023 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/1009/ (324,553 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** SWX:IBM

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 45% Enterprise, 32% Mid-Market


  ### 22. [CockroachDB](https://www.g2.com/products/cockroachdb/reviews)
  Overview Cockroach Labs is the creator of CockroachDB, the cloud-native, resilient, distributed SQL database enterprises worldwide trust to run mission-critical AI and other applications that scale fast, avert and survive disaster, and thrive everywhere. It runs on the Big 3 clouds, on prem, and in hybrid configurations powering Fortune 500, Forbes Global 2000, and Inc. 5000 brands, and game-changing innovators, including OpenAI, CoreWeave, Adobe, NETFLIX, Booking.com, DoorDash, FANDUEL, Cisco Systems, P&G, UiPath, FORTINET, Roblox, EA, BestBuy, SpaceX, NVIDIA, The VA, Squarespace, The Home Depot, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Cockroach Labs has customers in 40+ countries across all world regions, 25+ verticals, and 50+ Use Cases. Cockroach Labs operates its own ISV Partner Ecosystem powering Payments, Identity Management (IDM/IAM), Banking & Wallet, Trading, and other high-demand use cases. Cockroach Labs is an AWS Partner of the Year finalist and has achieved AWS Competency Partner certifications in Data & Analytics and Financial Services (FSI). CockroachDB pricing is available at https://www.cockroachlabs.com/pricing/ Vector, RAG, and GenAI Workloads CockroachDB includes native support for the VECTOR data type and pgvector API compatibility, enabling storage and retrieval of high-dimensional embeddings. These vector capabilities are critical for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines and GenAI workloads that rely on similarity search and contextual embeddings. By supporting distributed vector indexing within the database itself, CockroachDB removes the need for external vector stores and allows AI applications to operate against a single, consistent data layer. C-SPANN Distributed Indexing At the core of CockroachDB’s vector search capabilities is the C-SPANN indexing engine. C-SPANN provides scalable approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search across billions of vectors while supporting incremental updates, real-time writes, and partitioned indexing. This ensures low-latency retrieval in the tens of milliseconds, even under high query throughput. The algorithm eliminates central coordinators, avoids large in-memory structures, and leverages CockroachDB’s sharding and replication to deliver scale, resilience, and global consistency. Machine Learning and Apache Spark Integration CockroachDB integrates with modern ML workflows by supporting embeddings generated through frameworks such as AWS Bedrock and Google Vertex AI. Its compatibility with the PostgreSQL JDBC driver allows seamless integration with Apache Spark, enabling distributed processing and advanced analytics on CockroachDB data. PostgreSQL Compatibility and JSON Support CockroachDB speaks the PostgreSQL wire protocol, so applications, drivers, and tools designed to work with Postgres can connect to CockroachDB without modification, enabling seamless use of familiar SQL features and integration with the wider Postgres ecosystem. This includes support for advanced data types such as JSON and JSONB, which allow developers to store and query semi-structured data natively. Geospatial and Graph Capabilities CockroachDB also provides first-class geospatial data support, allowing developers to store, query, and analyze spatial data directly in SQL. For graph workloads, CockroachDB employs JSON flexibility to represent relationships and delivers query capabilities for graph-like traversals. This combination enables hybrid applications that merge relational, geospatial, document, and graph data within a single platform. Analytics, BI, and Integration To support high-performance analytics and BI, CockroachDB supports core analytical use cases and functions including Enterprise Data Warehouse, Lakehouse, and Event Analytics, and offers materialized views for precomputing complex joins and aggregations. Its PostgreSQL wire compatibility ensures direct connectivity with all relevant BI and analytics apps and tools including Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, Kafka, Google BigQuery, Salesforce Tableau, Databricks, Cognos, Looker, Grafana, Power BI, Qlik Sense, SAP, SAS, Sisense, and TIBCO Spotfire. Data scientists can interact with CockroachDB through Jupyter Notebooks, querying structured and semi-structured data and loading results for analysis. Change data capture (CDC) streams provide real-time updates to analytics pipelines and feature stores, keeping downstream systems fresh and reliable. Columnar vectorized execution accelerates query processing, optimizes transactional throughput, and minimizes latency for demanding distributed workloads. MOLT AI-Powered Migration Organizations often know their data infrastructure is not supporting the business, but find it too painful to change. CockroachDB’s MOLT (Migrate Off Legacy Technology) is designed to enable safe, minimal-downtime database migrations from legacy systems to CockroachDB. MOLT Fetch supports data migration from PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle, with SQL Server and DB2 coming soon. CockroachDB also has a portfolio of data replication platform integrations including Precisely, Striim, Qlik, Confluent, IBM, etc. Together, these capabilities ensure that CockroachDB supports both operational and analytical workloads, bridging traditional SQL applications with emerging Gen AI and ML use cases.


  **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 27

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [Cockroach Labs](https://www.g2.com/sellers/cockroach-labs)
- **Year Founded:** 2015
- **HQ Location:** New York, NY
- **Twitter:** @CockroachDB (13,526 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/cockroach-labs/ (720 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services
  - **Company Size:** 55% Small-Business, 34% Mid-Market


#### Pros & Cons

**Pros:**

- Database Management (4 reviews)
- Ease of Use (4 reviews)
- Performance (4 reviews)
- Scalability (4 reviews)
- Big Data Handling (3 reviews)

**Cons:**

- Learning Curve (4 reviews)
- Complexity (2 reviews)
- Difficult Learning (2 reviews)
- Feature Limitations (2 reviews)
- Limitations (2 reviews)

  ### 23. [SingleStore](https://www.g2.com/products/singlestore/reviews)
  SingleStore enables organizations to scale from one to one million customers, handling SQL, JSON, full text and vector workloads — all in one unified platform.


  **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 114

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 9.4/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [SingleStore](https://www.g2.com/sellers/singlestore)
- **Year Founded:** 2011
- **HQ Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Twitter:** @SingleStoreDB (15,476 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/singlestore/ (546 employees on LinkedIn®)

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Data Engineer, Software Developer
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services, Computer Software
  - **Company Size:** 39% Enterprise, 37% Small-Business


  ### 24. [SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE)](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-adaptive-server-enterprise-ase/reviews)
  With SAP® Adaptive Server® Enterprise (SAP ASE), you can handle massive volumes of data and thousands of concurrent users to accelerate the growth of new data-driven business applications. Drive value with a faster, more efficient transactional system that is designed to meet the demands of the digital economy.


  **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 36

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 7.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [SAP](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sap)
- **Year Founded:** 1972
- **HQ Location:** Walldorf
- **Twitter:** @SAP (297,227 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/ (141,341 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NYSE:SAP

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Top Industries:** Information Technology and Services
  - **Company Size:** 41% Enterprise, 32% Mid-Market


  ### 25. [SAP SQL Anywhere](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-sql-anywhere/reviews)
  SAP® SQL Anywhere® solutions deliver enterprise-level data management and synchronization capabilities. The solutions are designed to run in remote and mobile environments on a wide range of small-footprint devices and in real-world conditions.


  **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0
  **Total Reviews:** 79

**User Satisfaction Scores:**

- **Ease of Use:** 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
- **Workload Management:** 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
- **Data Schema:** 7.8/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)
- **Query Language:** 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.6/10)


**Seller Details:**

- **Seller:** [SAP](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sap)
- **Year Founded:** 1972
- **HQ Location:** Walldorf
- **Twitter:** @SAP (297,227 Twitter followers)
- **LinkedIn® Page:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/ (141,341 employees on LinkedIn®)
- **Ownership:** NYSE:SAP

**Reviewer Demographics:**
  - **Who Uses This:** Data Scientist
  - **Top Industries:** Computer Software, Information Technology and Services
  - **Company Size:** 41% Enterprise, 36% Mid-Market




## Parent Category

[Database Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/database-software)



## Related Categories

- [Data Warehouse Solutions](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-warehouse)
- [Database Management Systems (DBMS)](https://www.g2.com/categories/database-management-systems-dbms)
- [Document Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/document-databases)
- [Key Value Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/key-value-databases)
- [Database as a Service (DBaaS) Providers](https://www.g2.com/categories/database-as-a-service-dbaas)
- [Time Series Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/time-series-databases)
- [Vector Database Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/vector-database)



---

## Buyer Guide

### What You Should Know About Relational Databases Software

### What is Relational Databases Software?

Relational databases organize and maintain data in the form of tables that are by rows and columns, where columns represent a single type of data (e.g., an order date), and rows relate to multiple data types to a single, unique identifier. Each row’s unique identifier is called a primary key. In relational databases, multiple tables can be connected using foreign keys. This allows users to search for a range of interconnected data with ease. Relational databases software facilitates the creation, maintenance, and usage of these tables. These solutions store large volumes of data and allow access to structured data sets efficiently and flexibly. 

Relational databases can also be called relational database management systems (RDBMS) or structured query language (SQL) databases. An RDBMS is based on SQL that allows users to update, query, and administer a relational database. SQL is typically the standard programming language used to access a relational database. Relational databases software can read SQL and use SQL syntax or similar. SQL’s syntax is very simplistic, and as such, it is one of the easiest programming languages to access and query relational databases. 

#### What Types of Relational Databases Software Exist?

From a licensing point of view, relational databases can be categorized under two important types:

**Open-source databases**

Open-source software make their source code available for anybody to access. The code is open and free for download and modification.

**Commercially supported databases**

Commercial or proprietary software is solely owned by the entity that developed it. It is made available only under license.

Relational databases can be deployed on both cloud and on-premises as far as the buyer complies with the license: 

**Cloud**

A relational database deployed on the cloud provides an improved infrastructure that lets companies focus more on their strategic work rather than managing a full house of servers on-premises. These solutions provide cost control as organizations pay for what they use.

**On-premises or license **

An on-premises data warehouse software lets organizations buy one time, deploy in-house and enable control over their hardware and software infrastructure. This deployment solution requires a consultant to help with installation and ongoing support. One advantage of on-premises relational solutions is that it gives complete control and access over the data within an organization, helping minimize security risks.

### What's the best relational database tool for app development?

For those looking to find the best relational database tool for app development, these are some top G2 recommended solutions:

- [MySQL](https://www.g2.com/products/mysql/reviews)
- [PostgreSQL](https://www.g2.com/products/postgresql/reviews)
- [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-sql-server/reviews)
- [Oracle Database](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-database/reviews)

These relational database tools offer advanced features, open-source options, and scalability for app developers.

### What is an ideal relational database for fast-growing businesses?

Depending on your or the company's specific needs, G2 offers a variety of options for your ideal relational database software for fast-growing businesses. Some of these top contenders are:

- [Amazon RDS](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-relational-database-service-rds/reviews): Offers ease of setup, management, and automatic scaling, making it perfect for businesses with fluctuating demands.
- [MariaDB](https://www.g2.com/products/mariadb/reviews): Open-sourced, flexible option that's widely supported, easy to use, and ideal for their scalability and cost efficiency.
- [Google Cloud SQL](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-sql/reviews): A fully managed database service that provides scalability, reliability, and secure access in the cloud.

These options are particularly well-suited for businesses anticipating rapid growth.

### What are the Common Features of Relational Databases?

The following are some core features within relational databases that can help users store, organize and maintain large data sets at the same time query data using a structured query language:

**Data storage:** Allows data to be stored in the form of tables (i.e., rows and columns). It also facilitates a primary key, which helps in the unique identification of the rows.

**Data modification:** Allows data update and access to multiple data elements simultaneously. Users can also retrieve data from large volumes of datasets stored in the database using a structured query language.

**Database creation and maintenance:** Quickly create brand-new relational databases and modify them with ease.

**Indexing:** This feature helps build relationships between data elements via keys and indexes which enables users with ease to access and search the databases.

**Scalability:** Relational database solutions grow with data, so the only capacity that’s concerning is physical or cloud storage capacity.

**Data security:** Relational database solutions include data security features to protect the data a business stores in its databases. 

**Access control** : Relational databases grant administrators complete control over who can access them. Users can be granted access based on their work and requirements. 

**OS compatibility:** Relational database solutions are compatible with numerous operating systems, so the user won’t have to worry about the OS when creating databases.

**Recovery** : Whether a database needs to be rolled back or outright recovered, some relational database solutions offer recovery features.

**Multi-user access:** RDBMS solutions allow multiple users to access databases at a single time. This functionality prevents multiple users from colliding with each other when making updates and also blocks access to partial data entries.

Other Features of Relational Databases: [Open source](https://www.g2.com/categories/relational-databases/f/open-source), [Proprietary](https://www.g2.com/categories/relational-databases/f/proprietary)

### What are the Benefits of Relational Databases?

RDBMS solutions are built on a specific relational data model which makes it easy for users to access, update and retrieve data from various data sets within the database. This software can help organizations manage large volumes of data sets at the same time and give them the ability to manipulate and maintain them.

**Data association:** Relational databases are extremely powerful for storing and retrieving associative data. Be it e-commerce order details, patient information, stock tracking, or something more, relational databases excel in creating meaningful connections between a primary key and the related description. Since they can be uniquely generated, primary key values are typically numbers, and values (e.g., full name, quantity, order date) are associated with that value by being stored in the same row on the table. This massively improves data organization for companies.

**Targeted query results:** By using relational database software, businesses can build vast, interconnected databases that quickly return important information, exactly as needed. Relational databases have massive strength in being able to produce query results that span over numerous tables. By using join operations and table aliases, users can query across several tables at once to build an output of the exact data they require. This eliminates the need to store huge quantities of data on a single table. Instead, database administrators can build out as many tables as needed to better organize data, and those tables can be connected by foreign keys if any of the data needs to be associated.

**Ease of use:** Relational databases are designed to be easy to build and even easier to use. At a fairly low learning curve, anyone that could make use of relational databases tools would be able to do so with basic training on the software.

**Data consistency:** RDBMS is based on the ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability) model which facilitates structured and consistent data sets.

**Speed:** The tabular format of relational databases allows quick data retrieval. The standard SQL language used to pull data from databases enables faster data pull.

**Better decision-making:** Relational databases facilitate the provision of well-organized data which is up to date as well. This helps organizations make accurate and timely decisions. 

### Who Uses Relational Databases?

**Database administrator:** DBAs work towards maintaining the performance and managing the database and the applications connected to them. They are also responsible for the security and integrity of the database as well as any related troubleshoot issues.

**Developers:** Developers write codes in various programming languages to interact with databases. They are also responsible for designing and developing new databases.

**End users:** They are individuals who perform data manipulation tasks on the databases like update, delete, and more.

#### Software Related to Relational Databases

Related solutions that can be used together with relational databases include:

[NoSQL databases software](https://www.g2.com/categories/nosql-databases) **:** As noted previously, while relational databases solutions excel with structured data, NoSQL databases like object-oriented, document, graph, etc., more effectively store loosely structured and unstructured data. NoSQL database solutions pair well with relational databases software if a company deals with diverse data that can be collected by both structured and unstructured means.

[Data warehouse software](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-warehouse) **:** Data warehouse software acts as a single central repository of integrated data from multiple disparate sources that provides business insights with the help of BI Tools. Data warehouses also store data similar to relational databases but the end purpose involves the collection and storing of historical data to perform reporting and data analysis.

[Data quality software](https://www.g2.com/categories/data-quality) **:** Relational databases struggle with handling unstructured data, and duplicate or incorrect data can throw off the accuracy of results once data becomes structured. Data quality solutions help clean and structure data, which makes it easier to turn around and create a formal relational database for that data.

### Challenges with Relational Databases

Software solutions can come with their own set of challenges. 

**Unstructured data:** As noted above, there is a point where relational databases can struggle: handling unstructured data. Relational databases hinge on data being structured to properly create relationships between data points and data tables. If a company uses mostly unstructured data, they should consider perhaps a NoSQL database solution or a data quality software to clean and structure unstructured data.

**Query lag**** :** Relational databases can store massive quantities of data, but they run queries a little more slowly on larger data sets. This is mainly due to the sheer volume of data being queried. In situations where queries might traverse significant quantities of data, users can try to query based on specific values whenever possible. Also, querying strings takes significantly longer than querying numerics, so focusing on numerics whenever possible may help improve search times.

### Which Companies Should Buy Relational Databases?

What makes relational databases software particularly beneficial is that it’s highly flexible and can be used by many teams throughout a company. Below are some examples:

**Finance and accounting:** Relational databases can be used to track payments and dues by associating a vendor ID, customer ID, or other unique identifiers to payment dates, payment amounts, check or order numbers, and more. All of this can be easily queried through relational database tools, and a complete transactional record can be created in a matter of minutes or even seconds. The ability to organize or isolate this data by, say, transaction date or personnel can greatly improve efficiency.

**E-commerce:** Internet prevalence and ease of use has made online ordering, from food to clothes or machinery, not only simple but very widely used. Relational databases can store vast transactional data, including order date/time, customer name, payment method used, customer location, and more. Verifying an order’s correctness is a query away. Additional benefits for e-commerce come in that relational databases can store incredible volumes of information. Individual tables can store millions upon millions of entries at once without harming workflow.

**Healthcare:** Relational database tools offer immense value in health care because of the ability to relate so many data points to a single unique identifier. In health care, patients have a number of data points to describe their condition, including age, weight, blood pressure, and others. By being able to associate all of those data points to a single unique identifier (e.g., a person’s patient ID), health care professionals—doctors, nurses, lab techs, database admins, and more—can have quick access to any relevant data.

### How to Buy Relational Databases

#### Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Relational Databases

If a company is just starting and looking to purchase their first relational database solution, or maybe an organization needs to update a legacy system--wherever a business is in its buying process, G2.com can help select the best relational database software for the business.

The particular business pain points might be related to storing and managing large volumes of data sets within an organization. If the company has amassed a lot of data, the need is to look for a solution that can help organize and structure that data to manage it. Users should think about the pain points and jot them down; these should be used to help create a checklist of criteria. Additionally, the buyer must determine the number of employees who will need to use this software, as this drives the number of licenses they are likely to buy.

Taking a holistic overview of the business and identifying pain points can help the team springboard into creating a checklist of criteria. The checklist serves as a detailed guide that includes both necessary and nice-to-have features including a budget, features, number of users, integrations, security requirements, cloud or on-premises solutions, and more.

Depending on the scope of the deployment, it might be helpful to produce an RFI, a one-page list with a few bullet points describing what is needed from a data warehouse software.

#### Compare Relational Databases Products

**Create a long list**

From meeting the business functionality needs to implementation, vendor evaluations are an essential part of the software buying process. For ease of comparison after all demos are complete, it helps to prepare a consistent list of questions regarding specific needs and concerns to ask each vendor.

**Create a shortlist**

From the long list of vendors, it is helpful to narrow down the list of vendors and come up with a shorter list of contenders, preferably no more than three to five. With this list in hand, businesses can produce a matrix to compare the features and pricing of the various solutions.

**Conduct demos**

To ensure the comparison is thoroughgoing, the user should demo each solution on the shortlist with the same use case and datasets. This will allow the business to evaluate like for like and see how each vendor stacks up against the competition. 

#### Selection of Relational Databases

**Choose a selection team**

Before getting started, it's crucial to create a winning team that will work together throughout the entire process, from identifying pain points to implementation. The software selection team should consist of members of the organization who have the right interest, skills, and time to participate in this process. A good starting point is to aim for three to five people who fill roles such as the main decision maker, project manager, process owner, system owner, or staffing subject matter expert, as well as a technical lead, IT administrator, or security administrator. In smaller companies, the vendor selection team may be smaller, with fewer participants multitasking and taking on more responsibilities.

**Negotiation**

Just because something is written on a company’s pricing page, does not mean it is final (although some companies will not budge). It is imperative to open up a conversation regarding pricing and licensing. For example, the vendor may be willing to give a discount for multi-year contracts or for recommending the product to others.

**Final decision**

After this stage, and before going all in, it is recommended to roll out a test run or pilot program to test adoption with a small sample size of users. If the tool is well used and well-received, the buyer can be confident that the selection was correct. If not, it might be time to go back to the drawing board.

### What Does Relational Databases Cost?

There are a couple of robust relational databases that are available for free in the market. There are typically two pricing models, one where users pay only for what they use, and in the other one, users pay a one-time license fee. 

### Relational Databases Trends

**Databases and data aggregation**

The debate continues on the use of relational databases solutions versus NoSQL databases as the better business solution, as data aggregation continues to rise in the business world. Data-driven products and services require immense data backing now, and the debate is on the best way to store that data. In reality, the two database types should be used together. While relational databases excel in structured data storage, NoSQL databases—non-relational databases—shine when there’s no real structure to how data should be collected and stored. Both relational and non-relational databases can scale quite easily, given the right software supporting them. This shouldn’t be a debate, but a collaboration. Thus, bridging the gap between SQL/NoSQL to let them work together.

**Big data**

Data has become the backbone of conducting business in the information age. As data drives business decisions and trends, the data must be digestible, easy to follow, and easy to reference. That’s why big data software mostly falls back on relational database solutions. Designed with strict organization, referencing, and referral in mind, relational databases can absorb and store massive amounts of data to be later digested in the decision-making process.