Relational Databases

Azure SQL Database vs IBM Db2

Compare Azure SQL Database and IBM Db2 side-by-side. See feature differences and pricing in the Relational Databases category.

Azure SQL Database

by Microsoft

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Pricing: Free offer for up to 10 databases; Hyperscale from $266.684 a month for 2 vCores, pay as you go; other tiers billed by the hour, the vCore-second or the day.

Azure SQL Database is Microsoft's relational cloud database service for Transact-SQL apps, run as a platform service with vCore, serverless and DTU options.

13 /18 features Full profile

IBM Db2

by IBM

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Pricing: Free SaaS tier (200 MB, 5 connections) and free Community download (4 cores, 16 GB); SaaS Performance from $630 a month, billed hourly; Standard and Advanced editions by quote.

IBM Db2 is IBM's relational database for transaction systems and operational analytics, sold as self-managed editions and as a managed service on IBM Cloud.

9 /18 features Full profile

Feature Comparison

Relational Databases features side-by-side

Feature	Azure SQL Database 13/18 features	IBM Db2 9/18 features
ACID transactions with row-level locking Multi-statement transactions commit or roll back atomically while concurrent writers lock individual rows, not whole tables.	Yes	No
Declarative table partitioning Large tables split by range, list or hash key, with the planner pruning partitions that a query cannot touch.	Yes	No
Native JSON column type with indexing A binary JSON type that can be queried by path and indexed, rather than JSON stored as plain text.	Yes	No
Built-in full-text search indexes Text columns indexed for ranked keyword and phrase search without deploying a separate search engine.	Yes	Yes
Streaming physical replication to standbys Hot standby replicas receive the write-ahead log continuously and can serve read-only queries.	Yes	Yes
Logical replication of selected tables Row changes published per table or schema to subscribers, including subscribers on a different major version.	No	No
Synchronous multi-replica commit A write is acknowledged only after one or more standbys confirm it, so a failover loses no committed data.	Yes	Yes
Automatic failover to a standby The engine or its bundled cluster manager detects a failed primary and promotes a replica without an operator.	Yes	Yes
Point-in-time recovery from archived logs Restore the database to any moment between backups by replaying archived transaction logs.	Yes	Yes
Online schema changes without table locks Columns can be added and indexes rebuilt while the table stays readable and writable.	Yes	No
Columnstore indexes for analytics Column-oriented storage on selected tables or indexes to speed aggregate queries over large row counts.	Yes	Yes
Row-level security policies Per-row read and write predicates that the engine enforces for each database role.	Yes	Yes
Transparent data encryption at rest Data files and logs encrypted on disk by the engine itself, with keys held outside the data directory.	Yes	Yes
Stored procedures in multiple languages Server-side procedures written in SQL plus at least one general-purpose language such as Python or Java.	No	No
Extension or plugin architecture Third-party extensions load new data types, index methods or functions into the engine without a fork.	No	No
Query store or plan history Execution plans and their statistics retained over time so regressions can be found and a plan pinned.	Yes	No
In-place major version upgrade tooling A supported tool upgrades the data directory across major versions without a full dump and reload.	No	Yes
Open source core under a permissive license The engine's source is public and the community edition can run in production with no license fee.	No	No
Overall Rating	No reviews yet	No reviews yet

Azure SQL Database 13/18 features

ACID transactions with row-level locking: Yes
Declarative table partitioning: Yes
Native JSON column type with indexing: Yes
Built-in full-text search indexes: Yes
Streaming physical replication to standbys: Yes
Logical replication of selected tables: No
Synchronous multi-replica commit: Yes
Automatic failover to a standby: Yes
Point-in-time recovery from archived logs: Yes
Online schema changes without table locks: Yes
Columnstore indexes for analytics: Yes
Row-level security policies: Yes
Transparent data encryption at rest: Yes
Stored procedures in multiple languages: No
Extension or plugin architecture: No
Query store or plan history: Yes
In-place major version upgrade tooling: No
Open source core under a permissive license: No

No reviews yet

IBM Db2 9/18 features

ACID transactions with row-level locking: No
Declarative table partitioning: No
Native JSON column type with indexing: No
Built-in full-text search indexes: Yes
Streaming physical replication to standbys: Yes
Logical replication of selected tables: No
Synchronous multi-replica commit: Yes
Automatic failover to a standby: Yes
Point-in-time recovery from archived logs: Yes
Online schema changes without table locks: No
Columnstore indexes for analytics: Yes
Row-level security policies: Yes
Transparent data encryption at rest: Yes
Stored procedures in multiple languages: No
Extension or plugin architecture: No
Query store or plan history: No
In-place major version upgrade tooling: Yes
Open source core under a permissive license: No

No reviews yet

Pricing

Azure SQL Database

Free offer for up to 10 databases; Hyperscale from $266.684 a month for 2 vCores, pay as you go; other tiers billed by the hour, the vCore-second or the day.

See all plans

IBM Db2

Free SaaS tier (200 MB, 5 connections) and free Community download (4 cores, 16 GB); SaaS Performance from $630 a month, billed hourly; Standard and Advanced editions by quote.

See all plans

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