I’m running a web application that’s growing fast and I need to understand the pricing differences between MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server for handling massive amounts of data.
Right now I’m using SQL Server Express for my .NET applications but I’m worried about costs when I need to upgrade. My database will have millions of records with complex queries and lots of table relationships.
From what I’ve heard, MySQL might be much cheaper for this kind of setup. Has anyone done a real cost analysis between these two options when dealing with high-traffic websites that need serious database performance?
Having migrated from SQL Server Standard to MySQL Enterprise for a high-volume e-commerce platform two years ago, the cost savings were substantial but came with hidden expenses. SQL Server’s licensing model becomes extremely expensive once you exceed the Express limitations, especially with multiple cores and high memory requirements. We were looking at roughly $15,000 annually for Standard edition with the CALs we needed. MySQL Enterprise cost us about $5,000 yearly, but we had to invest significantly in additional monitoring tools and spent more on database administration expertise since our team was primarily SQL Server trained. The performance difference wasn’t dramatic for our workload, though MySQL handled our read-heavy operations slightly better. One major consideration is that if you’re already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem with .NET applications, staying with SQL Server reduces integration complexity and development time, which has real monetary value.