--- title: Microsoft SQL Server Reviews meta_title: 'Microsoft SQL Server Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 2284 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Microsoft SQL Server works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.4 review_count: 2284 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-02' parent_category: name: Database Software url: https://www.g2.com/categories/database-software --- # Microsoft SQL Server Reviews **Vendor:** Microsoft **Category:** [Relational Databases](https://www.g2.com/categories/relational-databases) **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 2,284 ## About Microsoft SQL Server 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. ## Microsoft SQL Server Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users appreciate the **ease of use** of Microsoft SQL Server, enjoying its intuitive GUI and powerful capabilities. (32 reviews) - Users appreciate the **robust database management** of Microsoft SQL Server, enabling effective data handling and user administration. (29 reviews) - Users value the **exceptional performance** of Microsoft SQL Server, noting its powerful capabilities and ease of use. (25 reviews) - Users appreciate the **enterprise-grade security and powerful features** of Microsoft SQL Server, enhancing peace of mind and usability. (23 reviews) - Users appreciate the **easy integrations** of Microsoft SQL Server, enhancing their data management and analytics workflows seamlessly. (22 reviews) - Users love the **seamless integration** of Microsoft SQL Server with other Microsoft products, enhancing productivity significantly. (21 reviews) - Reliability (18 reviews) - Users appreciate the **ease of data management** with Microsoft SQL Server, enjoying its simplicity and flexibility for various applications. (16 reviews) - Setup Ease (13 reviews) - Users appreciate the **incredible efficiency** of Microsoft SQL Server, making it the go-to standard for database management. (12 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find Microsoft SQL Server's **high licensing costs** prohibitive, particularly affecting smaller businesses and startups. (21 reviews) - Users struggle with the **high licensing costs** of Microsoft SQL Server, making it challenging for smaller businesses. (12 reviews) - Users note that the **high licensing costs** of Microsoft SQL Server can be challenging for smaller businesses and projects. (12 reviews) - Users find the **licensing costs to be prohibitively high** , especially for small businesses and projects. (11 reviews) - Users find **performance issues** with SQL Server, particularly regarding tuning, scaling, and resource consumption on older systems. (11 reviews) - Users experience **slow performance** with SQL Server, especially when running alongside other software and during data searches. (11 reviews) - Users find the **user interface complex** and not intuitive, leading to a steeper learning curve for newcomers. (8 reviews) - Difficult Learning (7 reviews) - High Hardware Requirements (7 reviews) - Technical Difficulties (7 reviews) ## Microsoft SQL Server Reviews ### 1. Robust, Enterprise-Ready SQL Server with Powerful Performance Tuning **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kavipriya S. | Data Engineer, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 27, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** The query optimizer and execution plans make performance tuning much easier, as we can clearly understand what’s happening behind the scenes and take action accordingly. T-SQL is a well-established and powerful language, offering strong support for features like CTEs, window functions, and structured error handling. SSMS continues to be one of the most reliable and user-friendly database management tools, and we benefit from its smooth integration with the wider Microsoft ecosystem, including Azure, SSIS, .NET, and Active Directory. On top of that, enterprise features such as Always On Availability Groups and Transparent Data Encryption are both dependable and thoroughly documented. Overall, it’s a robust, enterprise-ready platform that performs well and scales effectively for demanding workloads. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Honestly, there isn’t much to dislike—it’s a strong platform overall. If I had to point to a few areas that could be improved, the licensing model can feel complex and expensive for smaller teams or startups. That sometimes nudges them toward open-source alternatives before they’ve even had a chance to properly evaluate what SQL Server can do. SSMS could also benefit from a UI refresh and stronger cross-platform support. Azure Data Studio is a step in the right direction, but it still feels like a separate product rather than part of a unified experience. And while newer features like JSON handling are functional, they can still feel a bit verbose compared to how PostgreSQL or MongoDB handle similar use cases more natively. Overall, these are minor friction points in an otherwise excellent product—more about polish and cohesion than any fundamental issues. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** SQL Server addresses the core challenge of managing, querying, and securing large volumes of structured data reliably at enterprise scale. For our team, it supports complex ETL workflows, reporting, and transactional workloads without forcing us to stitch together multiple tools. The built-in high availability features (Always On) mean we spend less time worrying about downtime and more time building and shipping features. Its integration with SSIS and Azure Data Factory makes data pipeline orchestration more straightforward, and the security model—row-level security, TDE, and dynamic data masking—helps us meet compliance requirements without having to bolt on third-party solutions. Bottom line: it brings together what would otherwise be 4–5 separate tools into one dependable platform, reducing operational overhead and letting the team focus on delivering value instead of managing infrastructure. ### 2. Reliable, High-Performance Database That Fits Seamlessly in the Microsoft Ecosystem **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Charumathi A. | Technical Lead- Data Engineering, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 27, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** What I like most about MS SQL Server is how it combines reliability, strong performance, and straightforward management for day-to-day database operations. It handles structured data efficiently, offers solid security and high-availability features, and fits smoothly within the Microsoft ecosystem. For teams that need a dependable enterprise database platform, it’s a very practical choice. Integration with Microsoft tools is another big plus. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** What I dislike about MS SQL Server is that it isn’t always the most budget-friendly option. Also, some of its advanced features come with a learning curve. For simpler use cases, it can feel a bit more complex than I’d prefer. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** MS SQL Server helps me store, organize, and manage structured data in a reliable way, which is critical for day-to-day application and reporting work. It provides strong performance, security, and scalability, so I can handle growing data needs without worrying too much about stability. I also benefit from how well it integrates with other Microsoft tools, which makes development, administration, and analytics much smoother. ### 3. Excellent Performance, Security, and Seamless Microsoft Ecosystem Integration **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** POTLAPALLI S. | DevOps Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 22, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Microsoft SQL Server delivers excellent performance, strong security, and dependable data management. I especially like how seamlessly it integrates with the Microsoft ecosystem, along with its powerful T-SQL capabilities and built-in tools such as SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). These features make database administration and development smoother, and they also simplify backups and performance tuning. Overall, it feels stable and scalable, and it works well for both small applications and enterprise-level use cases. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Microsoft SQL Server’s licensing costs can be high, especially with the Enterprise Edition. On top of that, some advanced features are only available in higher editions, which can push the overall cost up further. For large-scale deployments, you may also need careful performance tuning and ongoing resource management to keep things running smoothly. Finally, major version upgrades and migrations can be time-consuming and require thorough planning to avoid compatibility issues. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server helps us securely store, manage, and process large volumes of business data. It supports reliable transaction processing, reporting, and analytics while ensuring data integrity and high availability. This enables faster application performance, easier database administration, better decision-making through accurate data, and reduced downtime, improving overall business productivity. ### 4. Fast, Easy SQL Querying with Clear Table Dependency Insights **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Shyam s. | Data Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 21, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It is very easy to query and understand the dependencies between tables, and it’s also very fast when it comes to processing data. We use stored procedures to perform multiple transformations, and those transformations were faster in SQL compared to distributed computing. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** There are a few issues that cause an indeterministic update when multiple rows match a single target record. Instead of throwing an error, it updates a random row, which is a big issue. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Currently, we are using it as a data warehouse, and it is fast. We also have all our data coming in from multiple sources. On top of that, we have written multiple transformations as stored procedures and orchestrated them using Azure Data Factory. Overall, everything is running faster, and it helps us make decisions based on the fact tables that are connected in Power BI. ### 5. Reliable, High-Performance Database Management with Strong Security **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dhirendra Y. | Associate Software Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 24, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** The best thing about Microsoft SQL Server is its reliability and powerful performance for handling structured data. It offers a robust set of tools for data management, querying, and reporting, making it easy to work with large databases efficiently. I also like its strong security features, seamless integration with other Microsoft tools, and user-friendly interface through SQL Server Management Studio, which simplifies database administration and development tasks. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** One of the main drawbacks is its high licensing and maintenance cost, especially for small businesses or individual users. It can also be resource-intensive, requiring strong hardware for optimal performance. Additionally, some advanced features have a learning curve, and it’s less flexible compared to open-source alternatives when it comes to customization and cross-platform support. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server solves the problem of efficiently storing, managing, and retrieving large volumes of structured data in a secure and reliable way. It helps ensure data consistency, supports complex queries, and provides tools for reporting and analytics. This benefits me by making data handling faster and more organized, improving decision-making, and reducing the risk of data loss or errors. Its automation and integration capabilities also save time in managing databases and streamline overall workflows. ### 6. Easy-to-Use Database Management with Strong Error Handling and Debugging **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bansi V. | Database Administrator, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 04, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** This app is used for storing databases and working with MS SQL language databases. Here, we can create a database, and then within the database we can create tables and do many more related tasks. It provides a very good interface, along with helpful troubleshooting, error handling, and clear support when issues come up. In my organization, we are storing our DB in the SSMS platform, and every day we are using this product. It's easy to use and understand. It gives the perfect error handling with line state number and how to solve this error and why it comes, and also gives SQL Server Profiler for debugging, and also provides backups and restores databases. when i am strating then i got some problem to understand but when i am using it day to day is it easy to handle. easy to intergrate. we can also perform try catch and transaction in ms sql for error handling .its gives the best performance some times when we are use this tools it will slow down our system and some times we got stucked and also takes too much timme to start .. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** It takes too long to start, and sometimes using this product slows our system down. As an organization, we use this tool with Red Gate, and the Red Gate extensions are costly. Also, it doesn’t provide an AI interface like other tools do. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy to manage project data,Saves a lot of time during development, bettwe result while performing developemnt of applications.less debugging time needed ### 7. Top-Notch UI/UX, Fast Performance, and First-Class Support **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Stephen W. | Senior Systems Analyst: Digital Accessibility, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 13, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I've always liked the UI/UX far more than my experience with the alternatives, and I much prefer Microsoft's version of SQL. This has really helped when I've had to integrate with other systems, and I've been really happy by how quickly it performs. Pricing is always tricky, we'd all like to pay less than we do but thankfully I don't have to pay personally! Support has always been first class and I've never not been able to successfully develop. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Nothing really stands out and I cannot think of anything to suggest. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** I originally learnt to develop databases using ORACLE, Delphi, and MS Access before moving to MS SQL Server. I use SQL Server for all my backend systems now because it allows for integrations with many systems, and the tools are there to enable me to work efficiently. ### 8. MS SQL Server Data Platform **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Financial Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 15, 2017 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Without a doubt, its simplicity in a large part of the tasks and operations on it. Robustness, the fact of supporting multiple workloads and types of data; constituting, along with Oracle, the best convergent databases. The family of advanced functionalities IQP (Intelligent Query Processing) has been introducing greater automation through the versions. Analytical functions for macro data environments and PSP (parameter-sensitive plans), which allows caching up to 3 plans per statement. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Your TCO, the licensing costs, or even as a service. **Recommendations to others considering Microsoft SQL Server:** Keep in mind and consider topics like scalability **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** The database provides support to certain satellite systems of the Organization, such as HR and the document management system. Both systems require minimal support intervention regarding the database. And it is used as a data platform for integration, consolidation, and data analysis. ### 9. Satisfied with MSQL **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Financial Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 18, 2019 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Overall experience with SQL server 2016 is very nice and excited in my perceptions due to Better support for memory optimzed tables, Built in JSON support, Stretch DB concepts, Query Store and dynamic temp db according to size and presence of CPU in the databases **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Only I know very least number of disadvantages this MS SQL server 2016 is having: 1. Enterprise pricing may be costly as some of the organisation cant afford for the count of data they are having. 2 With the performance tuning, Microsoft SQL Server will be having some gobble resources **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are using Sql server in our organisation to create new databases and maintaining the existing ones. Data access is so simple and secure. If there is any business sensitive data then we use to encrypt the table columns data ### 10. SQL Server: The Best Choice for High-Volume Data Query Development **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Adrian C. | OPS Supervisor, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 27, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** We handle data in very high volumes, which is why we rely on SQL Server to develop and test our queries. The results we get there can be replicated in our main automation tool, so SQL Server remains the best option for us. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** The newest version feels a bit overcomplicated compared with previous versions, for example. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** We deploy new scripts for data extraction every week, and since all of our databases use SQL, the natural choice for managing them is MS SQL Server. ### 11. Unmatched Reliability and Seamless Administration **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bhavana K. | integration analyst, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 18, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I appreciate how Microsoft SQL Server securely consolidates our application data and delivers unmatched reliability. It also makes complex database administration and troubleshooting feel seamless and straightforward. The initial setup was easy, which was a real advantage for us. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** I’m not a fan of the licensing costs or the portability limitations around SSMS. In my view, Microsoft SQL Server would be better if it offered truly cross-platform capabilities and did away with the restrictive 128 GB memory cap. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server helps us address data fragmentation by securely consolidating our application data in one place. The biggest benefit for us has been its unmatched reliability, and it also makes complex database administration and troubleshooting feel much more seamless. ### 12. SQL Server Stored Procedures Handle XML Parsing Smoothly **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Vigneshwar K. | Senior Technical Lead, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 18, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** In my opinion, I used SQL Server’s inbuilt stored procedures to parse XML files, and they are very good at handling missing tags in xml files **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** When we query a table with a huge volume of data, it takes a long time to retrieve the results and can cause deadlocks on the table unless we use NOLOCK. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** It optimizes query performance when working with large datasets. ### 13. My Favorite: Seamless Microsoft Integration and SQL Server on Linux **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Felipe M. | ServiceNow Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 17, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I like how it integrates with other Microsoft products. Also, at least in Latin America, it’s basically the standard—if you literally don’t know SQL Server here, it feels like you’re not in tech, not in IT, and not a software engineer. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** nothing really, it's my favorite product of yours, I love it that from a couple of years ago it can be used on linux as well, and you can have a pretty good stack, lightweight, and then microsoft sql server on top of that **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** it's my main job, it stores the data and also stored procedures, so... business logic, of all the companies I work for ### 14. Practical and Intuitive, But Needs More Stability **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Victor M. | Especialista de Soporte TI, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 05, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** The truth is, what I like most about Microsoft SQL Server is how practical and intuitive it is to use. I think the performance panel is wonderful, as it shows real-time metrics about the server's status. I also greatly value the SQL agent, which allows me to execute pre-configured tasks like table backups. I use the activity monitor a lot, as it helps me detect when there is a query that is stuck and causing slowness for users. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Well, I recently upgraded to SQL Server 22.1.0 and sometimes when I try to check the performance panel, the application closes unexpectedly. It doesn't happen all the time, but it has happened to me a couple of times. I think the main thing is to make the application more stable, since the problem is that it consumes a lot of computer resources. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Microsoft SQL Server to edit tables and execute scheduled tasks. Its features, such as the SQL Agent for backups and the Activity Monitor, help me identify slow queries. Additionally, its performance dashboard displays real-time metrics. ### 15. Automates Financial Metrics with Ease, Needs More Functions **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Anastasiia M. | Data Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 07, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I like Microsoft SQL Server's built-in functions and the possibility to write stored procedures and triggers. These features help me automate many processes and get relevant data on a daily basis, which is crucial because we update data and calculate metrics every day. I also appreciate that Microsoft SQL Server is more up to date compared to our previous solution. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** There are fewer code updates than in other databases. Some basic built-in functions are missing, like a delete duplicates function, and the ability to group by values calculated in the same select statement. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Microsoft SQL Server to manage big data, automate daily data updates, and calculate financial metrics and KPIs, providing a complete overview for management. ### 16. Seamless Database Management with Robust Connectivity **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ritesh S. | Java developer intern , Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 01, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I like that with Microsoft SQL Server, I can get any table data easily and perform any query effortlessly, whether it's a select, stored procedure, view, or function. The connection is good with no lag or discrepancy in the system. I appreciate having the backup and storage area available, which makes my work more reliable. The initial setup was also very easy if you know the credentials to your database. I find it helpful and even teach my colleagues how to use it. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** If I execute any query, it would be helpful if there is an option for rollback if I run the query by mistake. Sometimes, after reopening my application, the query page is lost. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Microsoft SQL Server to easily access different servers and manage database connections. It allows me to perform any query, backup, and rollback efficiently without lag or system discrepancies. ### 17. Continually Improving with Customer-Driven Updates **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Timothy L. | Medicare Broker, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 18, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** The product continues to update and upgrade implementing many of the suggestions from customers to improve the product **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Many of the connections change over time and to upgrade loses those connections or requires removal of old connections. They have separated several pieces that are constantly used together like SSMS and SSRS that now are separate products making implementation more cumbersome. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** For smaller databases this is a proper tool to implement, manage and hold data that can later be used for analysis. ### 18. Reliable Performance, Seamless Integration, and Flexible Scaling with SQL Server **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sharin S. | Team Lead - Azure and Windows server, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 30, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** We are running Microsoft SQL Server on virtual machines, and it consistently delivers strong performance even under heavy performance loads. We have integrated with Microsoft Power BI and built a dashboard that pulls data from SQL Server, and users can interact with reports without needing to understand the backend. It comes with the great management tool Microsoft SQL Management Studio, which is one of my favorite admin tools. I used it daily for backup management and user permissions. We migrated some of the SQL Server workloads to Azure SQL database. The transition was smooth, and it gives flexibility to scale based on budget and workload. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Understanding the SQL Server licensing is complex, especially when mixing CALs and core-based models. Reporting and analysis workloads are resource-intensive. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** In my environment, Microsoft SQL Server resolves several key challenges related to data management, performance, and security. ### 19. Easy-to-Use, Production-Ready Database That Just Works **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 07, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Easy to use production ready database not made by Oracle, it's a total win. Easy to install and maintain. If you know Windows can you run SQL. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** For most prodcts I can list a number of things I dislike but not SQL. It's an good all around product that gets the job done when you need it to the most. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Information store for all Windows-based applications. We use it to power our backup software, as well as many other critical utilities. ### 20. A honest MSSQL Server Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ljupcho T. | Microsoft Certified Trainer, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 06, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I have been using MSSQL daily for over 15 years, and I can confidently say that it is designed to handle high transaction volumes and manage large datasets effectively. It offers a very stable and highly secure environment for data management, making it well-suited for both small applications and large enterprise systems. Depending on your requirements, you can select from several editions, such as Express, Developer, Standard, or Enterprise. Integration with other products like Azure, Excel, or PowerBI is straightforward and intuitive. While the general implementation process is simple, setting up high availability options can be more time-consuming. The documantation and technical support are excelent, there are many official guides, tutorials and free community resources that it makes easy to learn and troubleshoot. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Some features are still lacking or limited in SQL, which can make some tasks more difficult to complete.Additionaly the license cost can be quite expensive for enterprise level deployments. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** This product offers a reliable high availability solution for disaster recovery, and it integrates smoothly with data analytics tools such as Integration Services and Analysis Services, making it well-suited for database warehouse solutions. ### 21. Microsoft SQL Server - Easy & Reliable **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Vishal J. | Software Project Manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 19, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Microsoft SQL Server is one of the easiest databases to setup and use, especially if you are developing a .NET application using C# or VB. the visual editor available in Visual Studio makes it much easier to build relational databases. Configuring various constraints like Primary keys, Foreign keys, and mappings is quite straightforward. With respect to coding, integrating SQL Server data objects with C# is simple with the help of ADO.NET. Overall, a great product from Microsoft. I have used both the server version as well as the compact editions. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** You might have to struggle a bit to integrate Microsoft SQL server setup if you plan to use it with languages like PHP and Python. However, if you install the right driver, then it shouldn't be much of an issue. The pricing is a bit on the higher side, especially for the Enterprise Edition. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am using Microsoft SQL Server to store financial application data that I am developing using Microsoft Visual C# .NET. It helps a great deal in building relational database systems using MS SQL Server. ### 22. Reliable, High-Performance Platform with Strong MS Ecosystem Integration **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consumer Goods | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 15, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It stand out for its reliability, performance, and strong integration with the MS ecosystem. What I appreciate most is the maturity of the platform: it provides robust tools lik SQL Server Management Studio that simplify administration, performance and troubleshooting **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** In my opinion the main downside is the licensing cost, which can become significant as you scale, especially for enterprise features like HA and advanced analytics. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Helps us centralize and manage critical business data in a reliable and secure way. ### 23. Mature Backup & HA, and Smooth Microsoft Ecosystem Integration **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 14, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It’s enterprise-grade stable with deep Microsoft integration and powerful T-SQL, so you get reliability, great tooling, and fast development in one stack. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Lower licensing cost, full feature parity on Linux, and better native JSON + dev tools for modern workflows. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** SQL Server delivers reliable, ACID-compliant data at scale, with built-in high availability and analytics tools. As a result, you can count on trusted insights and near-zero downtime. ### 24. SSMS Makes Monitoring SQL Server Insights and Execution Plans Easy **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ramesh Babu C. | Implementation Consultant, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 23, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** SSMS is a tool where we can monitor insights from the SQL Server instance and review execution plans. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Not on par with competitive AI tools; Co-Pilot still needs improvement. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mainly, I’ve been having performance issues, and they’re being resolved. ### 25. Powerful, Reliable, and Seamlessly Integrated with Microsoft Ecosystem **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Aristeidis N. | Infra Transormation Assosiate, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 14, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** What I like most about Microsoft SQL Server is its combination of power, reliability, and ease of use. It’s a robust relational database system that handles both small and massive datasets efficiently, making it suitable for everything from single applications to large enterprise solutions. I appreciate its tight integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, including Azure, Power BI, and .NET, which makes reporting, analytics, and application development seamless. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** One of the main drawbacks of Microsoft SQL Server is its cost, as licensing can be expensive, especially for enterprise editions or large-scale deployments. It can also be resource-intensive, requiring substantial memory and CPU for optimal performance. While it now supports Linux, it has historically been Windows-centric, which can limit flexibility in some environments. Advanced features like Always On, replication, or partitioning are powerful but often complex to configure and maintain. Additionally, the different editions with varying feature sets can be confusing, and Microsoft’s licensing rules can sometimes be tricky to navigate, particularly in cloud or hybrid setups. Overall, SQL Server is powerful but can be costly, resource-heavy, and complex for advanced use cases. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server solves the problem of storing, managing, and analyzing large amounts of structured data efficiently and securely. It provides a reliable platform for handling transactional workloads, reporting, and analytics, while ensuring data integrity, high availability, and security. For me, this is beneficial because it simplifies data management, allowing me to focus on building applications, generating insights, and making data-driven decisions rather than worrying about data loss, inconsistencies, or downtime. Features like T-SQL for complex queries, automation via stored procedures, and integration with tools like Power BI make it easier to retrieve, analyze, and visualize data quickly. Overall, SQL Server reduces operational headaches, improves efficiency, and helps turn raw data into actionable insights. ### 26. Solid Performance and Total Control for Large Data Volumes **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Juan Pablo M. | Ingeniero de sistemas, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 06, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Performance and control in large volumes of data, seamless integration with .NET / C#. I like SQL Server because it is solid, predictable, integrates perfectly with .NET, and gives me total control when working with large data and critical processes. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Be heavy on RAM and CPU, expensive licenses in production **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** SQL Server allows me to execute complex queries, batch processes, and recurring jobs with stability and good performance, even under load. It gives me the peace of mind that the data is processed correctly and on time. ### 27. Microsoft SQL Server - Databases for all **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Michael W. | Technical Support Manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 17, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I feel that ease of use and setup is key. That it's robust ability to handle large data sets and makes report running an ease. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** I feel that SSMS is lacking some features that dbeaver for instance has and is taken for granted. For instance the ability to easily delete tables from a database so you can recreate them. In SSMS you have to drop the table through scripting and isn't as elegant of a solution. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Our backend software relies on MS Access which is great for small data sets. However, we leverage SQL for our highest edition and due to the fact that years and years of data can be stored for little sacrifice. It helps with reporting and tracking sales over time. ### 28. Microsoft SQL Server is a very easy to use and robust relational database server **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Transportation/Trucking/Railroad | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 17, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Microsoft SQL Server is pretty easy to install and configure, and is very easy to use in conjunction with using Microsoft SQL Management Studio as the database client integrated development environment (IDE). I use Microsoft SQL Server daily for my work, and it is robust and highly available in our production environment. I use the Microsoft SQL Server JDBC driver to connect to SQL Server from a Java-based application, and that driver performs well. I previously encountered a defect with a specific version of that driver, and my interaction with Microsoft customer support to get that defect fixed was perfect, providing a fix in a timely manner and back-porting the fix to a previous driver version. I also use the free edition called SQL Server Express locally on work laptop to facilitate my software development activity, and it is also easy to install, administer, and use. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Not being an open source database there are licensing costs associated with using Microsoft SQL Server depending on the features you need. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Microsoft SQL Server to provide the database management system that hosts the relational database required to run the applications I develop. I use the highly-available features such as Always On and Availability Groups to ensure a very high uptime in production for my applications (99.997%), and use the Express edition locally on my work laptop to facilitate local software development. I have used Microsoft SQL Server to provide the databases for my applications for the last 25 years, and it has only become more and more feature rich, robust, and security focused in that time. ### 29. Always my reliable and robust choice for data management **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Anurag Y. | Consultant, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I have been using it for past three years in my current organization for our client . I love the reliability even with the large dataset specially for our client base which holds thousand of data and i have to query for them and there is a daily migration which requires at least once to query a large part of it. It is also very user friendly with its shortcuts and simplified database administration **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Not much but I have to say it would b its licensing cost which can be quite high for our client . Also while i love the user friendliness it sometime feels a little slow and the learning curve is a little steep apart from that great tool. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are utilizing it for our client data storage and data holding. We process thousand of that data to supply to the Machine learning model for prediction and sometime to show in our monday.com UI for the business. Mostly we have it for our sales data and the existing product that the client deals with. It is such a great tool to have a quick look at what data need and what need to be processed and help the business visualize by querying and showcasing it in the monday UI. Also it easily integrate with our backend using the npm packages. ### 30. Seamless Microsoft Ecosystem Integration Makes Analytics and Cloud Migration Effortless **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 10, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Microsoft SQL Server’s strongest asset is its seamless integration with the Microsoft ecosystem, particularly Power BI, Excel, and Azure. This makes data visualization and cloud migration significantly more efficient than with fragmented stacks. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Resource intensity, platform lock-in, the cost. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server addresses the primary challenge of managing data at scale while ensuring it remains secure, consistent, and accessible. ### 31. Real Cloud Native and futuristic scalable Enterprise Database Product **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** RaviShankar S. | Senior Enterprise Cloud Architect, Information Technology and Services, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 21, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Microsoft SQl Server is really scalable, secured, Highly available Database Product for Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure. Fully Supported by Microsoft in Azure to host the Database in traditional Virtual server IaaS model, and lot of options in PaaS (Managed DB Instance, SQL Elastic Pool, SQL Serverless models) **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Renewal , purchase cost is very high for Enterprise Edition, Need more training to support 24/7 enterprise operations. Support timelines now takes some time to resolve issues. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Day to day workload handling in Supply chain Software Solutions, High availability, Enterprise level Encryption through TDE which is fully compliant as per the NIST,CIS,HIPAA regulatory standards for Information security. ### 32. Use products based on MSQL for 20 years **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tom A. | VP, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** MS-SQL has incredible performance. Logical and easy ways to view data. Most importantly, easy to connect to and interact with user facing products. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** The actual interface of MS-SQL itself can be a not intuitive at times. Global searches of data could be quicker and easier to access. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** MS-SQL is the central data hub for our core solutions. In addition to storing the data that drives our enterprise software, it allows for easy links to other software products so our customers can easily use the data outside of the system in a way that is customized to them without additional burden on our development resources. ### 33. God father of data base **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Soundararajan A. | Buyer, Renewables & Environment, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 27, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It can be integrated with Microsoft products, which makes it very useful. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** SQL Server is primarily integrated with other Microsoft products, which can be limiting if you need to work with tools outside the Microsoft ecosystem. Additionally, using it effectively often requires more training and skill. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** It has helped me a lot in creating dashboards for management MOR presentations, allowing me to work with large amounts of data in a much smarter way. ### 34. Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Shreeram R. | Senior Consultant, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 07, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It is one of the best databases which can be easily implemented on Windows platform and in terms of other competitors databases, it is least priced with all requried feautures available. It is easily integrated to most of the compatible applications. It is one of the best databases for daily usage. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** There is nothing to dislike about the product apart from the which lack in autonomous features. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** The MS SQL is well suited for any small organizations to the largest enterprise with all required features as well the cost efficient. It solves the purpose of all type of organizations with well suited tailored feaures and cost. ### 35. 9/10 recommended Sql for financial services **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Akshat S. | Credit Manager, Financial Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** One of the most amazing features of Microsoft SQL Server without any doubt is its enterprise-grade security and compliance features.​ For us at Sabkaloan.com, keeping customers' financial data safe is not only a nice-to-have feature; it is our legal and moral responsibility. Microsoft SQL Server offers a set of tools which ensure our peace of mind. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** On the one hand, Microsoft SQL Server is a great tool. However, my primary dislike for it is one simple but very influential business-related factor: the cost and complexity. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server is a means to the major challenges of data chaos and slow, risky decision-making.​ What I get is the power to make quick, sure, data-backed decisions that maintain both security and scalability. ### 36. SQL Server is great. Gets the job done, doesn't crash, and has been completely reliable for us **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 19, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I like the easy to understand user interface. Database hierarchy on the left, and any scripting or other windows on the right. It's easy to code stored procedures, see the layout of databases, and other information at my fingertips. I use it all the time in conjunction with SQL Management Studio. It was superbly easy to set up and use. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** I've never been a fan of the intricacies of database security - I leave that for the database administrators. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use it as the backbone for mission critical systems that need to stay up and running. All of our servers are on premise, which makes it easy to administer and not having to worry about internet or cloud lags. ### 37. Microsoft SQL Server, more than a RDBMS **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Miguel F. | Tech Lead - .NET Software Architect & Cloud Solutions Architect, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 05, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** The capabilities to manage not only relational data, but documents like XML or JSON. Great for DR, with nice RTO and RPO. Awesome for replication like read replicas with log shipping. Flexible for user administration and robust permission sets. Great integration with OS, Windows, obviously. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** I only dislike the prices and the integration with Linux, no capabilities to execute commands. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Keep relational data in a reliable state make it perfect for OLTP applications and give the ability to separate read replicas for OLAP purposes. Nice capabilities for ETL/ELT with polibase, making data warehousing/lake housing a easy reality. ### 38. Reliable, High-Performance Data Management with Seamless Integration **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rajan S. | Product Support Analyst II, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 01, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I like Microsoft SQL Server for its reliability, strong performance, easy integration with other Microsoft tools, and powerful features for managing and analyzing data **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** At times, it can feel a bit heavy, and the licensing costs may be quite high, particularly for smaller teams or projects. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server helps me store, manage, and analyze data efficiently, which improves reporting, speeds up decision-making, and keeps everything organized and accessible. ### 39. I regularly use this database for integration with Power BI and storing the data **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Pranay Kumar M. | Business Intelligence Analyst, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 18, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** The user-friendly, GUI, dedicated SQL dialect for more advanced queries. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** To see the output, we have to select the entire query and click execute. The syntax is not straight forward like MySQL. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is used to store large amount of data and information retrieval by using the SQL queries and I mainly used this to integrate with Power BI. ### 40. The best enterprise database engine in the market **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jorge Y. | Software developer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 26, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Everything. It is the easiest to use, the most powerfull in the market, it allow you manage the database, the users, etc. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** One of the worst thing about Microsoft SQL Server is that you need to pay to use it in all of their functions **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** We need a powerfull database server, and we think that Microsoft has the most powerful in the market. It allow you to apply differents roles to every user, so you can. You can secure your databases as much as you want. You can manage all of the features of the server ### 41. All-in-One Data Platform with Powerful Performance and Seamless Microsoft Integration **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer & Network Security | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 06, 2026 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It’s an all‑in‑one data platform. Performance tuning is powerful and surprisingly friendly.High availability options are mature.It plays nicely with the Microsoft ecosystem **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Licensing costs can be steep.Windows‑centric roots still show. High availability can be complex. Scaling out is harder than scaling up **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Storing and organizing large amounts of data. Ensuring data is safe, backed up, and always available. Integrating data from multiple systems ### 42. One of the best relational database engine ever **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mariano C. | Gerente TI, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 18, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It's a powerful Relational database engine, which improves every time with new useful features **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** SQL Server is expensive, especially the Enterprise edition, Linux versions exist now but aren’t as optimized **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** On premises database software for utilities, Complement apps for the current ERP ### 43. Excellent Database Manager **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rafael L. | Analista de infraestuctura, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 17, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Manage database, advantage of centralizing all the DBs of our systems **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** I haven't found anything not useful, I take advantage of the tool to the fullest known. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** so far in ruble in which we develop we have not had that big problem ### 44. SQL is very usefull with All versions **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Alexander Marra M. | Arquiteto de software, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 26, 2017 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** The Express version is flexible enought to attend a number of small companies, and can be use as BI tool storage for this companies also. The easy way to connect the database to another tool, like Excel, PowerBI or any kind of BI tool like Qlik View, Tableau etc. The version of Microsoft SQL Express is very complete and attend many sizes of business. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** The database is target of many attacks from it's SA account, this must came disabled by default and just after the instalation, some of 30 seconds, the attacks starts, with many requests per second, need to improve the firewall to prevent these attacks, or put the SQL Server inside of a VPN and local network to avoid these attacks. **Recommendations to others considering Microsoft SQL Server:** Pay attention to indexes, and types of relations, try to keep the KPI's well identified, with the dimensions and facts tables well directed and considering to use some procedures as part of solution to business layers. Some programs have to transfer large number of rows instead to take some filters before request the results and this is very usefull when you build web and mobile applications. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Many things are developed with Microsoft SQL, from simple database management to CRM and BI, many solutions are develop connecting SQL Express to Excel, Power BI, Tableau or Qlik View. The vast information on internet and collaborator are good also. ### 45. Excellent Tool for Effortless Query Solving **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** HARSH R. | Data Analyst, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 18, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** It is very useful for solving queries and is easy to use when working with queries. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Occasionally, I encounter some errors, but it's not clear to me what causes them. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** There is absolutely nothing wrong; I haven't encountered any problems at all. ### 46. Microsoft SQL Server - Very Reliable **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** MS SQL Server has been extremely reliable. The syntax ports well with other query based languages and I find myself using this framework for most or all my projects because of how much documentation and support there is online and how easy it is to integrate and implement solutions. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Certain advanced features can be complicated. However there is a lot of support and resources available. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Storing data for various software applications ### 47. Review of MS SQL Server **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer & Network Security | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 05, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** I like features of MS SQL Server as relational db system. We have build whole system on it. I would like to recommend option for exporting e-r diagram from tables. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Licensing costs could be hight in case you have huge resource consumption. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Our organization relies on SQL Server as the core database platform for managing our entire eshop system, and it has proven to be a secure, scalable, and high-performance solution for this mission-critical function. ### 48. Easy and Complete SQL Engine **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** - Easy to administrate - Compatible with Microsoft tools - Free and Paid versions - Multiple Engine versions - Very Powerful **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** - Sometimes as Windows dependent, you have to restart the service or reboot the OS where it is running **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** - Production Database - Databases Integrations - Multiple softwares using different Databases ### 49. SQL Server: A Pillar of Secure, Scalable Data Architecture **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kingshuk S. | Senior Security Architect, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** Robust with ease of use and integration with multiple applications. It is also ease to implement **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** Sometime fine tune of database is challenging with respect to application requirments **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Helps in managing complex data and provides security by design principles. The application has well defined security controls for compliance ### 50. Microsoft SQL Server: An Analytical Review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Pradeep Kumar S. | Technical Support Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 18, 2025 **What do you like best about Microsoft SQL Server?** High performance with smooth query optimization. **What do you dislike about Microsoft SQL Server?** offers excellent security features, keeping sensitive data safe. **What problems is Microsoft SQL Server solving and how is that benefiting you?** Microsoft SQL Server helps me manage large volumes of data efficiently, ensures data security, and provides powerful reporting features. This benefits me by saving time, improving decision-making, and ensuring data accuracy. ## Microsoft SQL Server Discussions - [how did you import a MySQL database?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-did-you-import-a-mysql-database) - 3 comments, 2 upvotes - [How can I work on the same query if the connection is lost (timeout) and then I reconnect?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/15675-how-can-i-work-on-the-same-query-if-the-connection-is-lost-timeout-and-then-i-reconnect) - 4 comments, 2 upvotes - [What is Microsoft SQL Server used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/microsoft-sql-server-what-is-microsoft-sql-server-used-for) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [Best features in SQL](https://www.g2.com/discussions/24528-best-features-in-sql) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [How to handle duplicate data from a database and a course on related databases](https://www.g2.com/discussions/como-manejar-datos-duplicados-de-base-de-datos-y-un-curso-sobre-base-relacionadas) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [View Microsoft SQL Server pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-sql-server/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=5§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-03+15%3A11%3A09+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=012a9cea-3aa5-46c7-bf50-9a05604edddd&secure%5Btoken%5D=5a8ac61c6cbf6c8482eff28b82672a62d1637a7bf86959f9ce109db08d3e0d49&format=llm_user) ## Microsoft SQL Server Integrations - 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Multi-User Environment **Support ** - Text Search - Data Types - Languages - Operating Systems **Integrations** - Hadoop Integration - Spark Integration **Security** - Data Encryption - User Access Control **Security** - Database Locking - Access Control - Encryption - Authentication **Platform** - Machine Scaling - Data Preparation - Spark Integration **Performance ** - Disaster Recovery - Data Concurrency - Workload Management - Advanced Indexing - Query Optimizer **Processing** - Cloud Processing - Workload Processing **Building Reports** - Data Transformation - Data Modeling - WYSIWYG Report Design - Integration APIs **Database Features** - Storage - Availability - Stability - Scalability - Security - Data Manipulation - Query Language **Platform** - Mobile User Support - Customization - User, Role, and Access Management - Internationalization - Sandbox / Test Environments - Performance and Reliability - Breadth of Partner Applications ## Top Microsoft SQL Server Alternatives - [Teradata Autonomous Knowledge Platform](https://www.g2.com/products/teradata-autonomous-knowledge-platform/reviews) - 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