PostgreSQL Vs MSSQL

 

General Overview
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Developer	PostgreSQL Global Development Group	Microsoft
License	Open-source (PostgreSQL License)	Commercial (Microsoft proprietary)
Platform	Cross-platform (Linux, Windows, macOS)	Primarily Windows, but now supports Linux
Target Use	Best for OLTP, OLAP, and Hybrid Workloads	Best for Enterprise OLTP & BI Workloads
Cost	Free	Paid (Various Editions: Enterprise, Standard, Express, Developer)
Installation and Configuration
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Installation	Simple (Can be installed via package managers like apt, yum, etc.)	Requires GUI-based installer and licensing setup
Default Port	5432	1433
Configuration	Configurable via postgresql.conf, pg_hba.conf	Managed through SSMS (GUI) and sp_configure
Database Structure
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Database Engine	Object-Relational Database	Relational Database
Schema Support	Yes (Multiple schemas per database)	Yes (Database-wide schema support)
Data Storage	MVCC (Multiversion Concurrency Control)	Page-based storage with Locking
Tablespaces	Yes	Yes
Security Features
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Authentication	MD5, SCRAM-SHA-256, LDAP, PAM, SSL, Kerberos	Windows Authentication, SQL Authentication, Azure AD
Role-Based Access	Yes	Yes
Row-Level Security	Yes (Implemented via Policies)	Yes (Implemented via Security Policies)
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)	No (Requires third-party tools)	Yes (Built-in TDE)
Backup and Recovery
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Backup Types	Logical (pg_dump), Physical (pg_basebackup)	Full, Differential, Transaction Log backups
Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)	Yes (WAL Archiving)	Yes (Transaction Log)
Replication for HA	Streaming Replication, Logical Replication, Slony-I	Always On Availability Groups, Log Shipping, Replication
Performance and Optimization
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Query Optimization	Cost-based optimizer (Planner)	Cost-based optimizer
Indexes Supported	B-Tree, Hash, GIN, GiST, BRIN	Clustered, Non-Clustered, Columnstore
Parallel Query Execution	Yes (Parallel sequential scans, index scans, aggregations)	Yes (Parallel query execution supported)
Partitioning	Declarative Partitioning	Table Partitioning (Function-based)
Materialized Views	Yes (Refreshable)	Yes (Requires Manual Refresh)
High Availability and Replication
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Replication Support	Streaming Replication, Logical Replication	Transaction Replication, Merge Replication, Snapshot Replication
Clustering	Pgpool-II, Patroni	Always On Failover Cluster
Failover Mechanism	Manual or automatic via third-party tools (Patroni)	Always On Availability Groups
Monitoring and Maintenance
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Monitoring Tools	pg_stat_statements, pgAdmin, pgBadger	SQL Server Profiler, Extended Events, Performance Monitor
Database Health Check	pg_stat_activity, pg_locks, pg_stat_bgwriter	sp_who, sp_who2, sys.dm_exec_requests
Auto Maintenance	Autovacuum for dead tuple cleanup	Automatic Statistics Update
Integration and Extensions
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Procedural Languages	PL/pgSQL, PL/Python, PL/Perl, PL/Tcl	T-SQL
JSON Support	Yes (Native JSONB Storage)	Yes (JSON Data Type)
Full-Text Search	Yes (Built-in Full-Text Search)	Yes (Integrated FTS)
NoSQL Features	Supports JSON, XML, Hstore	Supports JSON, XML
Integration with Big Data	FDW (Foreign Data Wrappers) for Hadoop, MongoDB	PolyBase for Hadoop, Azure Synapse
Licensing and Cost
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Free Version	Completely free	Express Edition (Free but limited)
Enterprise Features	Available for free	Requires Enterprise Edition (Paid)
Support	Community Support, Paid Support via Third Parties	Microsoft Premier Support
Cloud and DevOps Integration
Feature	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Cloud Availability	Available on AWS RDS, GCP, Azure, DigitalOcean	Available on Azure, AWS RDS
Kubernetes Support	Yes (CloudNativePG, Patroni)	Yes (Azure Kubernetes Service)
CI/CD Integration	GitHub Actions, Jenkins	Azure DevOps, SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)
Use Cases
Use Case	PostgreSQL	SQL Server (MSSQL)
Web Applications	Yes (Open-source, Flexible)	Yes (Enterprise-ready)
Banking & Finance	Yes (ACID-Compliant)	Yes (High Performance & Compliance)
Big Data & Analytics	Yes (Foreign Data Wrappers)	Yes (PolyBase, Columnstore Indexes)
Data Warehousing	Yes	Yes (Best with Integration Services)

Which One to Choose?

Choose PostgreSQL if:

You need a free, open-source, and flexible database.

You work in a Linux-heavy or cloud-native environment.

You need advanced JSON, NoSQL, and GIS features.

You want custom extensions and procedural language support.

Choose SQL Server (MSSQL) if:

You need enterprise-level support and performance.

You work in a Microsoft ecosystem (Azure, Windows Server, .NET).

You require seamless integration with SSIS, SSAS, and Power BI.

You need better GUI-based tools like SSMS for administration.