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DBMS > Google Cloud Spanner vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. PostgreSQL

System Properties Comparison Google Cloud Spanner vs. Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB vs. PostgreSQL

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Editorial information provided by DB-Engines
NameGoogle Cloud Spanner  Xexclude from comparisonMicrosoft Azure Cosmos DB infoformer name was Azure DocumentDB  Xexclude from comparisonPostgreSQL  Xexclude from comparison
DescriptionA horizontally scalable, globally consistent, relational database service. It is the externalization of the core Google database that runs the biggest aspects of Google, like Ads and Google Play.Globally distributed, horizontally scalable, multi-model database serviceWidely used open source RDBMS infoDeveloped as objectoriented DBMS (Postgres), gradually enhanced with 'standards' like SQL
Primary database modelRelational DBMSDocument store
Graph DBMS
Key-value store
Wide column store
Relational DBMS infowith object oriented extensions, e.g.: user defined types/functions and inheritance. Handling of key/value pairs with hstore module.
Secondary database modelsSpatial DBMSDocument store
Graph DBMS infowith Apache Age
Spatial DBMS
Vector DBMS infowith pgvector extension
DB-Engines Ranking infomeasures the popularity of database management systemsranking trend
Trend Chart
Score2.83
Rank#91  Overall
#50  Relational DBMS
Score22.13
Rank#27  Overall
#4  Document stores
#2  Graph DBMS
#3  Key-value stores
#3  Wide column stores
Score659.62
Rank#4  Overall
#4  Relational DBMS
Websitecloud.google.com/­spannerazure.microsoft.com/­services/­cosmos-dbwww.postgresql.org
Technical documentationcloud.google.com/­spanner/­docslearn.microsoft.com/­azure/­cosmos-dbwww.postgresql.org/­docs
DeveloperGoogleMicrosoftPostgreSQL Global Development Group infowww.postgresql.org/­developer
Initial release201720141989 info1989: Postgres, 1996: PostgreSQL
Current release16.4, August 2024
License infoCommercial or Open SourcecommercialcommercialOpen Source infoBSD
Cloud-based only infoOnly available as a cloud serviceyesyesno
DBaaS offerings (sponsored links) infoDatabase as a Service

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PostgreSQL Flex @ STACKIT offers managed PostgreSQL Instances with adjustable CPU, RAM, storage amount and speed and several extensions available, in enterprise grade to perfectly match all application requirements. All 100% GDPR-compliant.
Implementation languageC
Server operating systemshostedhostedFreeBSD
HP-UX
Linux
NetBSD
OpenBSD
OS X
Solaris
Unix
Windows
Data schemeyesschema-freeyes
Typing infopredefined data types such as float or dateyesyes infoJSON typesyes
XML support infoSome form of processing data in XML format, e.g. support for XML data structures, and/or support for XPath, XQuery or XSLT.noyes infospecific XML-type available, but no XML query functionality.
Secondary indexesyesyes infoAll properties auto-indexed by defaultyes
SQL infoSupport of SQLyes infoQuery statements complying to ANSI 2011SQL-like query languageyes infostandard with numerous extensions
APIs and other access methodsgRPC (using protocol buffers) API
JDBC infoAt present, JDBC supports read-only queries. No support for DDL or DML statements.
RESTful HTTP API
DocumentDB API
Graph API (Gremlin)
MongoDB API
RESTful HTTP API
Table API
ADO.NET
JDBC
native C library
ODBC
streaming API for large objects
Supported programming languagesGo
Java
JavaScript (Node.js)
Python
.Net
C#
Java
JavaScript
JavaScript (Node.js)
MongoDB client drivers written for various programming languages
Python
.Net
C
C++
Delphi
Java infoJDBC
JavaScript (Node.js)
Perl
PHP
Python
Tcl
Server-side scripts infoStored proceduresnoJavaScriptuser defined functions inforealized in proprietary language PL/pgSQL or with common languages like Perl, Python, Tcl etc.
TriggersnoJavaScriptyes
Partitioning methods infoMethods for storing different data on different nodesShardingSharding infoImplicit feature of the cloud servicepartitioning by range, list and (since PostgreSQL 11) by hash
Replication methods infoMethods for redundantly storing data on multiple nodesMulti-source replication with 3 replicas for regional instances.yes infoImplicit feature of the cloud serviceSource-replica replication infoother methods possible by using 3rd party extensions
MapReduce infoOffers an API for user-defined Map/Reduce methodsyes infousing Google Cloud Dataflowwith Hadoop integration infoIntegration with Hadoop/HDInsight on Azure*no
Consistency concepts infoMethods to ensure consistency in a distributed systemImmediate ConsistencyBounded Staleness
Consistent Prefix
Eventual Consistency
Immediate Consistency infoConsistency level configurable on request level
Session Consistency
Immediate Consistency
Foreign keys infoReferential integrityyes infoby using interleaved tables, this features focuses more on performance improvements than on referential integritynoyes
Transaction concepts infoSupport to ensure data integrity after non-atomic manipulations of dataACID infoStrict serializable isolationMulti-item ACID transactions with snapshot isolation within a partitionACID
Concurrency infoSupport for concurrent manipulation of datayesyesyes
Durability infoSupport for making data persistentyesyesyes
In-memory capabilities infoIs there an option to define some or all structures to be held in-memory only.nono
User concepts infoAccess controlAccess rights for users, groups and roles based on Google Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM)Access rights can be defined down to the item levelfine grained access rights according to SQL-standard

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More resources
Google Cloud SpannerMicrosoft Azure Cosmos DB infoformer name was Azure DocumentDBPostgreSQL
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Recent citations in the news

Google Cloud Spanner gets dual-region configuration option
23 July 2024, InfoWorld

New features make Google's Spanner a database for AI
1 August 2024, TechTarget

Google Cloud Introduces Geo-Partitioning for Spanner: Reduced Latency and Cost Optimization
24 July 2024, InfoQ.com

Google Cloud expands gen AI power for database and data analytics tools
1 August 2024, VentureBeat

Google Cloud beefs up database services for generative AI workloads
2 October 2024, SiliconANGLE News

provided by Google News

Start your AI journey with Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB—compete for $10K
9 May 2024, azure.microsoft.com

Microsoft Announces General Availability of Data API Builder for Azure Cosmos DB
6 July 2024, InfoQ.com

How to make the most of Azure Cosmos DB’s free tier
9 July 2024, InfoWorld

Share.Market redefines the investment experience with Microsoft Azure
13 September 2024, microsoft.com

Microsoft Build 2024: Cosmos DB for NoSQL gets vector search
21 May 2024, InfoWorld

provided by Google News

PostgreSQL Vulnerability Exploited Alongside BeyondTrust Zero-Day in Targeted Attacks
14 February 2025, The Hacker News

Critical PostgreSQL bug tied to zero-day attack on US Treasury
14 February 2025, The Register

PostgreSQL flaw exploited as zero-day in BeyondTrust breach
14 February 2025, BleepingComputer

Rapid7 Flags New PostgreSQL Zero-Day Connected to BeyondTrust Exploitation
13 February 2025, SecurityWeek

PostgreSQL patches SQLi vulnerability likely exploited in BeyondTrust attacks
14 February 2025, CSO Online

provided by Google News



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