Features comparison: Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance
Applies to: 
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance share a common code base with the latest stable version of SQL Server. Most of the standard SQL language, query processing, and database management features are identical. The features that are common between SQL Server and SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance are:
- Language features - Control of flow language keywords, Cursors, Data types, DML statements, Predicates, Sequence numbers, Stored procedures, and Variables.
- Database features - Automatic tuning (plan forcing), Change tracking, Database collation, Contained databases, Contained users, Data compression, Database configuration settings, Online index operations, Partitioning, and Temporal tables.
- Security features - Application roles, Dynamic data masking, Row Level Security, and Advanced Threat Protection (see getting started guides for SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance.)
- Multi-model capabilities - Graph processing, JSON data, OPENXML, Spatial, OPENJSON, and XML indexes. For more information, see Multi-model capabilities of Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance.
Azure manages your databases and guarantees their high-availability. Some features that might affect high-availability or can't be used in PaaS world have limited functionalities in SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance. These features are described in the tables below.
If you need more details about the differences, you can find them in the separate pages:
Features of SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance
The following table lists the major features of SQL Server and provides information about whether the feature is partially or fully supported in Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance, with a link to more information about the feature.
| Feature | Azure SQL Database | Azure SQL Managed Instance |
|---|---|---|
| Database compatibility | 100 - 160 | 100 - 160 |
| Always Encrypted | Yes, see Cert store and Key vault | Yes, see Cert store and Key vault |
| Always On Availability Groups | 99.99-99.995% availability is guaranteed for every database. Disaster recovery is discussed in Overview of business continuity with Azure SQL Database. | 99.99.% availability is guaranteed for every database and can't be managed by user. Disaster recovery is discussed in Overview of business continuity with Azure SQL Database. Use failover groups to configure a secondary SQL Managed Instance in another region. SQL Server instances and SQL Database can't be used as secondaries for SQL Managed Instance. |
| Attach a database | No | No |
| Auditing | Yes, see Auditing | Yes, see Auditing, with some differences |
| Microsoft Entra authentication (formerly Azure Active Directory) | Yes, for database-level users. Server-level logins are in preview. | Yes. Both database-level users and server-level logins. |
| BACKUP command | No, only system-initiated automatic backups, see Automated backups in Azure SQL Database | Yes, user initiated copy-only backups to Azure Blob storage (automatic system backups can't be initiated by user), see Backup differences and Automated backups in Azure SQL Managed Instance. |
| Built-in functions | Most, see individual functions | Yes, see Stored procedures, functions, triggers differences |
| BULK INSERT statement | Yes, but just from Azure Blob storage as a source. | Yes, but just from Azure Blob Storage as a source, see differences. |
| Certificates and asymmetric keys | Yes, without access to file system for BACKUP and CREATE operations. |
Yes, without access to file system for BACKUP and CREATE operations, see certificate differences. |
| Change data capture - CDC | Yes, for S3 tier and above. Basic, S0, S1, S2 aren't supported. | Yes |
| Collation - server/instance | Yes, the default database collation is SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. The database collation can be set on database creation and can't be updated. Specify a collation for data (COLLATE) and a catalog collation for system metadata and object identifiers (CATALOG_COLLATION). In Azure SQL Database, there's no server collation. |
Yes, can be set when the instance is created and can't be updated later. |
| Columnstore indexes | Yes - Premium tier, Standard tier - S3 and above, General Purpose tier, Business Critical, and Hyperscale tiers. | Yes |
| Common language runtime - CLR | No | Yes, but without access to file system in CREATE ASSEMBLY statement, see CLR differences |
| Credentials | Yes, but only database scoped credentials. | Yes, but only Azure Key Vault and SHARED ACCESS SIGNATURE are supported, see details |
| Cross-database/three-part name queries | No, see Elastic queries | Yes |
| Cross-database transactions | No | Yes, within the instance. See Linked server differences for cross-instance queries. |
| Database mail - DbMail | No | Yes |
| Database mirroring (deprecated) | No | No |
| Database mirroring in Microsoft Fabric | Yes, in preview | No |
| Database snapshots | No | No |
| Database virtualization | No | Yes |
| DBCC statements | Most, see individual statements | Yes, see DBCC differences |
| DDL statements | Most, see individual statements | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| DDL triggers | Database only | Yes |
| Distributed partition views | No | Yes |
| Distributed transactions - MS DTC | No, see Elastic transactions | Yes, DTC for Azure SQL Managed Instance, and Elastic transactions |
| DML triggers | Most, see individual statements | Yes |
| DMVs | Most, see individual DMVs | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| Elastic query | Yes, with required RDBMS type (preview) | No, use native cross-DB queries and Linked Server |
| Event notifications | No, see Alerts | No |
| Expressions | Yes | Yes |
| Extended events (XEvent) | Some, see Extended Events in Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance | Yes, see Extended events differences. |
| Extended stored procedures | No | No |
| Files and file groups | Primary file group only | Yes. File paths are automatically assigned and the file location can't be specified in ALTER DATABASE ADD FILE. |
| Filestream | No | No, see SQL managed instances features. |
| Full-text search (FTS) | Yes, but non-Microsoft filters and word breakers aren't supported | Yes, but non-Microsoft filters and word breakers aren't supported |
| Functions | Most, see individual functions | Yes, see Stored procedures, functions, triggers differences |
| In-memory optimization | Yes in Premium and Business Critical service tiers. Limited support for non-persistent In-Memory OLTP objects such as memory-optimized table variables in Hyperscale service tier. |
Yes in Business Critical service tier. |
| Language elements | Most, see individual elements | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| Ledger | Yes | Yes |
| Link feature | No | Yes (preview for DR) |
| Linked servers | No, see Elastic query | Yes. Only to SQL Server and SQL Database without distributed transactions. |
| Linked servers that read from files (CSV, Excel) | No. Use BULK INSERT or OPENROWSET as an alternative for CSV format. | No. Use BULK INSERT or OPENROWSET as an alternative for CSV format. Track these requests on SQL Managed Instance feedback item |
| Log shipping | Availability through redundancy is included with every database. Disaster recovery is discussed in Overview of business continuity. | Natively built in as a part of Azure Data Migration Service (DMS) migration process. Natively built for custom data migration projects as an external Log Replay Service. Not available as High availability solution, because other Availability through redundancy methods are included with every database and it isn't recommended to use Log-shipping as HA alternative. Disaster recovery is discussed in Overview of business continuity. Not available as a replication mechanism between databases - use secondary replicas on Business Critical tier, failover groups, or transactional replication as the alternatives. |
| Logins and users | Yes, but CREATE LOGIN and ALTER LOGIN statements are limited. Windows logins are not supported. Microsoft Entra logins are in preview. EXECUTE AS LOGIN isn't supported - use EXECUTE AS USER. |
Yes, with some differences. See Windows Authentication for Azure SQL Managed Instance - the process requires Active Directory synchronization to Microsoft Entra ID. |
| Maintenance window selection | Yes | Yes |
| Configure advance notifications for planned maintenance events | Yes | Yes, in preview |
| Minimal logging in bulk import | No, only Full Recovery model is supported. | No, only Full Recovery model is supported. |
| Modifying system data | No | Yes |
| OLE Automation | No | No |
| OPENDATASOURCE | No | Yes, only to SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server. See T-SQL differences |
| OPENQUERY | No | Yes, only to SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server. See T-SQL differences |
| OPENROWSET | Yes, only to import from Azure Blob storage. | Yes, only to SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server, and to import from Azure Blob storage. See T-SQL differences |
| Operators | Most, see individual operators | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| Polybase | No. You can query data in the files placed on Azure Blob Storage using OPENROWSET function or use an external table that references a serverless SQL pool in Synapse Analytics. |
Yes, for Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) and Azure Blob Storage as data source. See Data virtualization with Azure SQL Managed Instance for more details. |
| Query Notifications | No | Yes |
| Query Store | Yes | Yes |
| Query Store for secondary replicas | No, the Query Store for secondary replicas feature isn't available for Azure SQL Database. Currently, the Query Store on the secondary replica contains information about workloads from the primary replica. | No, the Query Store for secondary replicas feature isn't available for Azure SQL Managed Instance. Currently, the Query Store on the secondary replica contains information about workloads from the primary replica. |
| Machine Learning Services (Formerly R Services) | No | Yes, see Machine Learning Services in Azure SQL Managed Instance |
| Recovery models | Only Full Recovery that guarantees high availability is supported. Simple and Bulk Logged recovery models aren't available. | Only Full Recovery that guarantees high availability is supported. Simple and Bulk Logged recovery models aren't available. |
| Resource governor | No | Yes |
| RESTORE statements | No | Yes, with mandatory FROM URL options for the backups files placed on Azure Blob Storage. See Restore differences |
| Restore database from backup | From automated backups only, see Restore a database from a backup | From automated backups, see Restore a database from a backup and from full backups placed on Azure Blob Storage, see Backup differences |
| Restore database to SQL Server | No. Use BACPAC or BCP instead of native restore. | Yes, only to SQL Server 2022 from instances that have the SQL Server 2022 update policy. For more information, review Restore a database to SQL Server 2022 from Azure SQL Managed Instance. Otherwise, use BACPAC, BCP, or Transactional replication. |
| Semantic search | No | No |
| Service Broker | No | Yes. See Service Broker differences |
| Server configuration settings | No | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| Set statements | Most, see individual statements | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| SQL Server Agent | No, see Elastic jobs | Yes, see SQL Server Agent differences |
| SQL Server Auditing | No, see Auditing for Azure SQL Database | Yes, see Auditing differences |
| Synapse Link for SQL | Yes | No |
| System stored functions | Most, see individual functions | Yes, see Stored procedures, functions, triggers differences |
| System stored procedures | Some, see individual stored procedures | Yes, see Stored procedures, functions, triggers differences |
| System tables | Some, see individual tables | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| System catalog views | Some, see individual views | Yes, see T-SQL differences |
| TempDB | Yes. 32-GB size per core for every database. | Yes. 24-GB size per vCore for entire GP tier and limited by instance size on BC tier |
| Temporary tables | Local and database-scoped global temporary tables | Local and instance-scoped global temporary tables |
| Time zone choice | No | Yes, see Time zones, and it must be configured when the SQL Managed Instance is created. |
| Trace flags | No | Yes, but only limited set of global trace flags. See DBCC differences |
| Transactional replication | Yes, Transactional and snapshot replication subscriber only | Yes, see limitations of replication in SQL Managed Instance. |
| Transparent data encryption (TDE) | Yes, see TDE for Azure SQL | Yes, see TDE for Azure SQL |
| Windows authentication | No | Yes, see Windows Authentication for Microsoft Entra principals |
| Windows Server Failover Clustering | No. Other techniques that provide high availability are included with every database. Disaster recovery is discussed in Overview of business continuity with Azure SQL Database. | No. Other techniques that provide high availability are included with every database. Disaster recovery is discussed in Overview of business continuity with Azure SQL Database. |
Note
Some Azure SQL Managed Instance feature availability depends on the configured instance update policy.
Platform capabilities
The Azure platform provides a number of PaaS capabilities that are added as an additional value to the standard database features. There are a number of external services that can be used with Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance.
| Platform feature | Azure SQL Database | Azure SQL Managed Instance |
|---|---|---|
| Active geo-replication | Yes, see Active geo-replication - all service tiers. | No, see failover groups as an alternative. |
| Auto-scale | Yes, but only in serverless model. In the non-serverless model, the change of service tier (change of vCore, storage, or DTU) is fast and online. The service tier change requires minimal or no downtime. | No, you need to choose reserved compute and storage. The change of service tier (vCore or max storage) is online and requires minimal or no downtime. |
| Automatic backups | Yes, see automated backups in Azure SQL Database. Full backups are taken every 7 days, differential 12 hours, and log backups every 5-10 min. | Yes, see automated backups in Azure SQL Managed Instance. Full backups are taken every 7 days, differential 12 hours, and log backups every 5-10 min. |
| Automatic tuning (indexes) | Yes, see Automatic tuning | No |
| Availability Zones | Yes | Yes, in preview, currently for the Business Critical tier only |
| Azure Resource Health | Yes | Yes |
| Short-term backup retention | Yes, see short-term retention. 7 days default, max 35 days. | Yes, see short-term retention. 1-35 days, 7 days default. |
| Azure Database Migration Service (DMS) | Yes | Yes |
| Data Migration Service (DMA) | Yes | No |
| Elastic jobs | Yes, see Elastic jobs | No. Use SQL Agent or Azure Automation. |
| Failover groups | Yes, see failover groups - all service tiers. | Yes, see failover groups. |
| File system access | No. Use BULK INSERT or OPENROWSET to access and load data from Azure Blob Storage as an alternative. | No. Use BULK INSERT or OPENROWSET to access and load data from Azure Blob Storage as an alternative. |
| Geo-restore | Yes, see Geo-restore | Yes, see Geo-restore |
| Long-term retention (LTR) | Yes, see long-term retention, keep automatically taken backups up to 10 years. | Yes, see long-term retention, keep automatically taken backups up to 10 years. |
| Pause/resume | Yes, in serverless model | Yes, with Stop / start preview |
| Policy-based management | No | No |
| Public IP address | Yes. The access can be restricted using firewall or service endpoints. | Yes. Needs to be explicitly enabled and port 3342 must be enabled in NSG rules. Public IP can be disabled if needed. See Public endpoint for more details. |
| Point in time database restore | Yes, see Point-in-time restore | Yes, see Point-in-time restore |
| Resource pools | Yes, as Elastic pools | Yes. A single instance of SQL Managed Instance can have multiple databases that share the same pool of resources. In addition, you can deploy multiple instances of SQL Managed Instance in instance pools (preview) that can share the resources. |
| Scaling up or down (online) | Yes, you can either change DTU or reserved vCores or max storage with the minimal downtime. | Yes, you can change reserved vCores or max storage with the minimal downtime. |
| SQL Alias | No, use DNS Alias | No, use Cliconfg to set up alias on the client machines. |
| Database watcher (preview) | Yes | Yes |
| SQL Data Sync | Yes, but SQL Data Sync will be retired in 2027. Instead, see SQL Data Sync retirement: Migrate to alternative solutions. | No, use transactional replication. |
| SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) | No, Azure Analysis Services is a separate Azure cloud service. | No, Azure Analysis Services is a separate Azure cloud service. |
| SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) | Yes, with a managed SSIS in Azure Data Factory (ADF) environment, where packages are stored in SSISDB hosted by Azure SQL Database and executed on Azure SSIS Integration Runtime (IR), see Create Azure-SSIS IR in ADF. To compare the SSIS features in SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance, see Compare SQL Database to SQL Managed Instance. |
Yes, with a managed SSIS in Azure Data Factory (ADF) environment, where packages are stored in SSISDB hosted by SQL Managed Instance and executed on Azure SSIS Integration Runtime (IR), see Create Azure-SSIS IR in ADF. To compare the SSIS features in SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance, see Compare SQL Database to SQL Managed Instance. |
| SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) | No - see Power BI | No - use Power BI paginated reports instead or host SSRS on an Azure VM. While SQL Managed Instance can't run SSRS as a service, it can host SSRS catalog databases for a reporting server installed on Azure Virtual Machine, using SQL Server authentication. |
| Query Performance Insight | Yes | No. Use built-in reports in SQL Server Management Studio and Azure Data Studio. |
| VNet | Partial, it enables restricted access using VNet Endpoints | Yes, SQL Managed Instance is injected in the VNet. |
| VNet Service endpoint | Yes, see virtual network service endpoints. | Yes, see service endpoint policies. |
| VNet Global peering | Yes, using Private IP and service endpoints | Yes, using Virtual network peering. |
| Private connectivity | Yes, using Private Link | Yes, using VNet-local endpoint or private endpoint |
Resource limits
The following table compares the maximum resource limits available for Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance:
| Category | Azure SQL Database | Azure SQL Managed Instance |
|---|---|---|
| Compute size | Up to 128 vCores | Up to 128 vCores |
| Storage size | 1 GB - 128 TB | 16 TB |
| Tempdb size | 32 GB per vCore, up to 2,560 GB | Up to 4 TB - limited by reserved storage size |
| Log write throughput | Up to 100mb/sec | 4.5 MB/s per vCore (max 192 MB/s) |
| Availability | Default SLA 99.995% SLA with zone redundancy |
Default SLA |
| Backups | A choice of locally redundant (LRS), zone-redundant (ZRS), or geo-redundant (GRS) storage 1-35 days (7 days by default) retention, with up to 10 years of long-term retention available |
A choice of locally redundant (LRS), zone-redundant (ZRS), geo-redundant (GRS) or geo-zone-redundant (GZRS) storage 1-35 days (7 days by default) retention, with up to 10 years of long-term retention available |
| Read-only replicas | Read scale with 1-4 high availability replicas or 1-30 named replicas 0 - 4 geo-replicas |
1 built-in high availability replica is readable 0 - 1 geo-replicas using failover groups |
| Discount models | Reserved instances Azure Hybrid Benefit (not available on dev/test subscriptions) Enterprise and Pay-As-You-Go Dev/Test offer subscriptions |
Reserved instances Azure Hybrid Benefit (not available on dev/test subscriptions) Enterprise and Pay-As-You-Go Dev/Test offer subscriptions |
To learn more about resource limits for Azure SQL Database, review:
- Logical server
- In the vCore model: single databases, elastic pools
- In the DTU model: single databases, elastic pools
To learn more about resource limits for Azure SQL Managed Instance, review: Resource limits.
Tools
Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance support various data tools that can help you manage your data.
Migration methods
You can use different migration methods to move your data between SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Managed Instance. Some methods are Online and picking-up all changes that are made on the source while you're running migration, while in Offline methods you need to stop your workload that is modifying data on the source while the migration is in progress.
| Source | Azure SQL Database | Azure SQL Managed Instance |
|---|---|---|
| SQL Server (on-premises, AzureVM, Amazon RDS) | Online: Transactional Replication Offline: Data Migration Service (DMS), BACPAC file (import), BCP |
Online: Managed Instance link, Log Replay Service, Azure Data Migration Service (DMS), Transactional Replication Offline: Azure Database Migration Service, Native backup/restore, BACPAC file (import), BCP, Snapshot replication |
| Single database | Offline: BACPAC file (import), BCP | Offline: BACPAC file (import), BCP |
| SQL Managed Instance | Online: Transactional Replication Offline: BACPAC file (import), BCP, Snapshot replication |
Online: Database copy/move preview, Transactional Replication Offline: Cross-instance point-in-time restore (Azure PowerShell or Azure CLI), Native backup/restore, BACPAC file (import), BCP, Snapshot replication |
Related content
Microsoft continues to add features to Azure SQL Database. Visit the Service Updates webpage for Azure for the newest updates using these filters:
- Filtered to Azure SQL Database.
- Filtered to General Availability (GA) announcements for SQL Database features.
For more information about Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance, see: