Best approaches for UPSERT operations in SQL Server database

Data and Databases
1

I’m working with a database table that has this basic structure: UserData(ID, field1, field2, field3).

I frequently need to perform operations where I either modify an existing row or create a new one if no matching record is found. The logic I’m trying to implement looks something like this:

IF (record with ID exists)
  execute UPDATE statement
ELSE
  execute INSERT statement

I’ve been doing this manually with separate queries but I’m wondering if there are more efficient methods available in SQL Server. What would be the most optimal way to handle this type of conditional insert/update scenario from a performance standpoint? Are there any built-in SQL Server features or specific syntax patterns that work better than others for this use case?

2

yea, totally agree w/ using MERGE! it’s way more efficient than doing IF/ELSE. the syntax u mentioned is spot on. saves time and makes ur code cleaner. give it a shot!

3

interesting points! quick question - what’s the volume like? hundreds or thousands of operations per minute? have u tried INSERT…ON DUPLICATE or is that MySQL-only? also wondering how table size impacts these approaches.

4

MERGE is the standard approach, but I’ve found stored procedures with conditional logic often perform better when you’ve got high concurrency. After years of database optimization, I usually try an UPDATE with OUTPUT clause first to capture affected rows, then run an INSERT only if nothing got modified. This cuts down lock contention compared to MERGE, especially on tables with heavy read/write activity. The big win is avoiding MERGE’s internal row matching overhead when you already know the specific ID you’re targeting. You’ll need to performance test in your environment to see which method works best for your workload.