The Geeks Club
Vendor dashboard
Search
For vendors
AdvertiseTop spots, featured rows, home sponsor Get listedAdd a product we don't cover yet Claim a listingFree: verify the domain, then correct your page Vendor dashboardNumbers, orders and placements

Best Microsoft SQL Server Alternatives in 2026

Updated

20 platforms from database software ranked against Microsoft SQL Server on the same published basis.

  1. 1
    MySQL Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWin 9.5
    Microsoft SQL Server vs MySQL
  2. 2
    Azure SQL Database Free plan AndroidapiiOSLinuxMac Free9.2
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Azure SQL Database
  3. 3
    Amazon DynamoDB Free plan AndroidapiiOSLinuxMac Free9.1
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Amazon DynamoDB
  4. 4
    Firestore Free plan AndroidapiiOSWeb Free8.9
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Firestore
  5. 5
    Amazon RDS Free plan apiWeb Free8.7
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Amazon RDS
  6. 6
    SQLite Free plan AndroidapiiOSLinuxMac $12.50/mo8.7
    Microsoft SQL Server vs SQLite
  7. 7
    MarkLogic Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWebWin Free8.7
    Microsoft SQL Server vs MarkLogic
  8. 8
    InfluxDB Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb 8.7
    Microsoft SQL Server vs InfluxDB
  9. 9
    CockroachDB Cloud Free plan apiLinuxWeb $0.06/mo8.6
    Microsoft SQL Server vs CockroachDB Cloud
  10. 10
    Neo4j Free plan self-hosted $65/mo8.5
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Neo4j
  11. 11
    TiDB Cloud Free plan apiWeb 8.5
    Microsoft SQL Server vs TiDB Cloud
  12. 12
    Teradata VantageCloud Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb Free8.5
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Teradata VantageCloud
  13. 13
    InterSystems IRIS Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb Free8.4
    Microsoft SQL Server vs InterSystems IRIS
  14. 14
    Exasol Free plan apiLinuxMacself-hostedWeb $3.30/mo8.4
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Exasol
  15. 15
    Google Cloud Bigtable Free trial apiWeb $0.03/mo8.3
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Google Cloud Bigtable
  16. 16
    PostgreSQL Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWin Free8.2
    Microsoft SQL Server vs PostgreSQL
  17. 17
    MariaDB Server Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWin Free8.2
    Microsoft SQL Server vs MariaDB Server
  18. 18
    Google Cloud SQL Free trial apiLinuxMacWebWin $0.04/mo8.1
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Google Cloud SQL
  19. 19
    Apache Cassandra Free plan LinuxMacself-hostedWebWin Free8.1
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Apache Cassandra
  20. 20
    Google Cloud Spanner Free trial apiLinuxself-hostedWeb 8.0
    Microsoft SQL Server vs Google Cloud Spanner

Microsoft SQL Server alternatives compared

#PlatformScoreFree planFromRuns on
1MySQL9.5Free plan—API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
2Azure SQL Database9.2Free planFreeAndroid, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
3Amazon DynamoDB9.1Free planFreeAndroid, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
4Firestore8.9Free planFreeAndroid, API, iOS, Web
5Amazon RDS8.7Free planFreeAPI, Web
6SQLite8.7Free plan$12.50/moAndroid, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
7MarkLogic8.7Free planFreeAPI, Linux, self-hosted, Web, Windows
8InfluxDB8.7Free plan—API, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
9CockroachDB Cloud8.6Free plan$0.06/moAPI, Linux, Web
10Neo4j8.5Free plan$65/moself-hosted
11TiDB Cloud8.5Free plan—API, Web
12Teradata VantageCloud8.5Free planFreeAPI, Linux, self-hosted, Web
13InterSystems IRIS8.4Free planFreeAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
14Exasol8.4Free plan$3.30/moAPI, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web
15Google Cloud Bigtable8.3No$0.03/moAPI, Web
16PostgreSQL8.2Free planFreeLinux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
17MariaDB Server8.2Free planFreeLinux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows
18Google Cloud SQL8.1No$0.04/moAPI, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows
19Apache Cassandra8.1Free planFreeLinux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows
20Google Cloud Spanner8.0No—API, Linux, self-hosted, Web
Make your platform an alternative to Microsoft SQL Server

The sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled and never changes the order above.

See the price

Questions about Microsoft SQL Server alternatives

What is the best alternative to Microsoft SQL Server?

MySQL, number 1 in database software with a score of 9.5 out of 10. The others here: Azure SQL Database, Amazon DynamoDB, Firestore and 16 more.

What is the best free alternative to Microsoft SQL Server?

MySQL is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 17 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

How are these alternatives ranked?

Ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going: documentation depth, a free tier or trial, and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.