# Microsoft SQL Server vs TiDB

**Leader by Vioscale score:** TiDB

| Attribute | Microsoft SQL Server | TiDB |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 22.6 (7% (low)) | 59.5 (61% (medium)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | SQL Server 2025 is a commercial database platform that enables organizations to store, query, and analyze data while incorporating built-in AI capabilities. It supports multiple programming languages and deployment options ranging from on-premises installations to cloud-based managed services. | An open-source distributed SQL database trusted by innovators to power transactional, AI, and other modern applications. |
| features.capabilities | `{"sql_model":"full_sql","geo_spatial":"native","json_document":true,"license_class":"proprietary","acid_transactions":"full"}` | `{"sql_model":"full_sql","license_class":"permissive","horizontal_scale":"distributed_native","acid_transactions":"full","wire_compatibility":"mysql"}` |
| integrations.count | 3 | 4 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"LangChain"},{"name":"Semantic Kernel"},{"name":"Entity Framework Core"}]` | `[{"name":"Cursor"},{"name":"JDBC"},{"name":"mysql-connector-python"},{"name":"MySQL"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | - | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | - | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"TiDB Cloud Starter"},{"free":false,"name":"TiDB Cloud Dedicated","contactSales":true}],"freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.pingcap.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T16:48:29.248Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | - | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | no |
| reliability.sla_pct | - | 99.99 |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |

## Capabilities (Relational Databases)

| Capability | Microsoft SQL Server | TiDB |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| SQL model | Full SQL | Full SQL |
| **Transactions** |  |  |
| ACID transactions | Full | Full |
| Highest isolation level | - | - |
| **Consistency** |  |  |
| Consistency | - | - |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Horizontal scale | - | Natively distributed |
| **Replication** |  |  |
| Replication | - | - |
| **Availability** |  |  |
| Automatic failover / HA | - | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | - | - |
| Serverless / scale-to-zero | - | - |
| **Compatibility** |  |  |
| Wire compatibility | - | MySQL protocol |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Extensions / plugins / UDFs | - | - |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Licence class | Proprietary | Permissive OSS |
| **Data types** |  |  |
| JSON / document support | ✓ | - |
| Geo / spatial | Native | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:56:11.899Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*