Differences between SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server

SQL Database and SQL Managed Instance are PaaS offerings from the Azure SQL family and therefore some of their features differ from the on-premises SQL Server. Some of the important features that differ are as follows:

Backup and restore

SQL Database

Conventional database backup and restore statements aren't supported on SQL Database. Backups are automatically scheduled and start within a few minutes of the database being provisioned. Backups are consistent, transaction-wise, which means that you can do a point-in-time restore.

There is no additional cost for backup storage until the amount stored goes beyond 100% of the database's size.

You can reduce the backup retention period to manage backup storage costs. You can also use the long-term retention period feature to store backups in a separate Azure blob container for a much lower cost for up to 10 years.

Apart from automatic backups...