Microsoft SQL Server vs Amazon Aurora

Microsoft SQL Server9.1Visit Amazon Aurora9.0Visit

Higher score Microsoft SQL Server #4 in Relational Databases 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit site

vs

Amazon Aurora #5 in Relational Databases 9.0/10 Paid ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit AWS Aurora

• Microsoft SQL Server fits best

  Microsoft-centered enterprise workloads

• Amazon Aurora fits best

  Scalable managed PostgreSQL or MySQL

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Side by side

Feature	Microsoft SQL Server 9.1/10 Visit ↗	Amazon Aurora 9.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.1	9.0
Ranking	#4 in Relational Databases	#5 in Relational Databases
Best for	Microsoft-centered enterprise workloads	Scalable managed PostgreSQL or MySQL
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	—	—
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Windows, Linux	Web
Support	Docs	Email, Live chat, Phone, Tickets, Community, Docs · 24/7
Integrations	7 integrations	9 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Microsoft SQL Server 3/4 · Amazon Aurora 4/4
Managed service	—	✓ (best)
High availability	✓	✓
Read replicas	✓	✓
JSON data support	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Both	Cloud
Backup retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Maximum connections	32767 connections	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Supports Windows, Linux, self-hosted, cloud, and hybrid deployments Combines JSON, replication, full-text search, and failover capabilities Includes Azure integrations, management tools, and Linux containers	PostgreSQL- and MySQL-compatible engines with serverless options Automatic scaling, failover, backups, and point-in-time recovery Up to 15 read replicas plus multi-Region database support
Cons	The paid model requires a licensing choice across multiple plans Licensing costs can vary by channel and reseller Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of narrow database projects	No permanent free plan Pricing varies by region, engine, capacity, storage, and I/O Cloud-based service with AWS ecosystem dependencies
Our verdict	Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system for organizations building and operating data-driven applications. Its Database Engine stores, processes, and secures data, while support for JSON data, JSON indexing,… Read the review →	Amazon Aurora is a fully managed, cloud-based relational database service from Amazon Web Services. It supports PostgreSQL- and MySQL-compatible engines, along with Aurora DSQL, a distributed SQL engine. Provisioned and serverless… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Microsoft SQL Server — where it wins

  • Supports Windows, Linux, self-hosted, cloud, and hybrid deployments
  • Combines JSON, replication, full-text search, and failover capabilities
  • Includes Azure integrations, management tools, and Linux containers

  Where it doesn't

  • The paid model requires a licensing choice across multiple plans
  • Licensing costs can vary by channel and reseller
  • Its broad feature set may exceed the needs of narrow database projects

• Amazon Aurora — where it wins

  • PostgreSQL- and MySQL-compatible engines with serverless options
  • Automatic scaling, failover, backups, and point-in-time recovery
  • Up to 15 read replicas plus multi-Region database support

  Where it doesn't

  • No permanent free plan
  • Pricing varies by region, engine, capacity, storage, and I/O
  • Cloud-based service with AWS ecosystem dependencies

• Microsoft SQL Server9.1/10 · Free plan

  A broad Microsoft database platform for enterprise and hybrid deployments.

  Visit siteFull verdict →
• Amazon Aurora9.0/10 · Paid

  A managed AWS database for scalable PostgreSQL, MySQL, and distributed SQL workloads.

  Visit AWS AuroraFull verdict →