SQL Server Pricing

HS
Works at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Cost is a major derivative for any organization. It has a reasonable cost value, and its cloud support is also better than others. Comparatively, Oracle can do the same things or is even better in certain areas, but it is expensive. The cost along with the support are the plus factors for SQL Server.

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PJ
Professional Services Manager at Business Intelligence DA

SQL Server SE is popular in Romania because of the price.

It doesn't do everything but for the price, it's fine.

The price for the Standard Edition is approximately $3,700 USD per core. Once you include technical support, SQL Server is cheaper than PostgreSQL and MySQL.

It is relevant to consider that the query optimizer works differently between the Standard Edition and the Enterprise Edition. The Standard Edition is cheaper but the Enterprise Edition has better performance. This is something that Microsoft had confirmed when we switched from 2008EE to 2014SE.

Another thing to consider is that some applications require a certain edition of the solution. Power BI Mobile, for example, will only run with the Enterprise Edition.

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MJ
Senior Database Administrator at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

The licensing cost varies widely, depending upon what methodology you employ. It could be very cheap, for example, it could be less than $2,000. Alternatively, it can go up to well over $100,000.

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Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Azizul Haque - PeerSpot reviewer
AVP, IT Division at NCC BANK LIMITED

We are using licensed software for our environment. We have the Enterprise license, and we have a standard additional license.

As compared to Oracle Database, SQL Server is less expensive. For mid-sized organizations, SQL Server is completely all right, but people say it can't support large organizations with more than 2,000 users.

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HB
Domain architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

The licenses are really expensive. Their licensing model should be more simplistic.

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IA
System analyst at Ministry of Interior

SQL Server is an expensive solution. Their pricing structure and licensing options are not budget-friendly, so I believe it is an essential factor to consider when choosing the right product.

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NC
System Design Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The SQL Server pricing model is based on CPU cores that your database server utilises.

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MH
System Administrator at ARTIc

The price of the solution is very expensive. If I went with the cloud version of SQL a license would cost me approximately 11,000 Riyals per month.

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AM
Database Architect at Huron Consulting

It is expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Since we are a cloud-based company, there is AWS pricing on top of the SQL Server pricing. The Enterprise Edition can typically sell from around $1000 dollars a month, which is not cheap. Then, there is an additional one-time Windows cost, based on the code, which can go anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 for the license.

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SE
IT Analysis at Kirkby (Tyres) Ltd

The SQL server is affordable. I rate the pricing a five out of ten. 

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MM
Group CEO at Mmusi Group

It is annual.

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AK
Sr. Supervisor - Enterprises Application DBA at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

CPU Core-based Licensing & Windows Licensing costs are additional overheads compare to open source databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL.

Managed SQL Server Database Service in Azure is lagging with many features like Linked Server, DB Mail.

SQL Server deployment in the Cloud does not seem to be cost-effective with respect to the Licensing cost and average Life cycle of 5 years (I reiterate, this is in my opinion). 

If you take Postgre SQL and MySQL, they provide almost all the same features even though they are both open source databases.

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RN
President at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

This client has money, so I never hear any complaints. It seems reasonable to me. I think the biggest problem that Microsoft had back in the early 2000s was that the pricing of SQL was a nightmare. You could call five Microsoft people at Microsoft, and you'd get five different prices. Microsoft has a problem. Well, they have lots of problems. They characterize themselves as perfect.

From 40 years ago, I already knew well in advance of the clients that there is a security hole. I'm looking at Business Central, and somebody who has a global super admin of the tenant can get into the client's accounting system if they have full rights to their 365 email system. That's a big security gap. Their IT company shouldn't be in their financial system. Why would that be? I came up with the idea after talking to five different Microsoft people to just buy another tenant that they don't have access to and they said, "Oh, that works."

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PL
Manager Global Identity & Access Management at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

SQL Server is expensive if you use the advanced SQL version. If you use the standard version, it's not expensive, because it's included in Windows, in Microsoft. It's very expensive if you use the advanced version. We're using both. For IBM, we're using the advanced version, but then we use the basic SQL Server for the other platforms.

You just pay for the SQL Server license. There's no additional cost as everything's already included.

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BL
Certified Adjunct Faculty, School of Engineering and Computing at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

I, unfortunately, do not handle licensing, so I don't know what the costs are for the product.

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JM
BI Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For a brief period, approximately one year before 2018, I had experience working with the open-source version of SQL Server. During that time, I found SQL Server to be the preferred choice, in my opinion.

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FR
CEO Owner at ALESON ITC

In a standard package, you need to buy two core packs. If you need four core packs the price is around € 8,000. There are more options in the cloud where fees are around € 60 a month. The cost is scaled and if you're deploying in the cloud you need to buy a machine infrastructure as a service. We only sell the license across the cross solution provider (CSP) program. If you have less than 25 users, you can buy an SQL standard per server license where the cost is around €1,200 approximately.

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Ali Yazıcı - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Service Manager at Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank

We pay a yearly license to Microsoft. I can't speak of the exact cost, however.

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MP
IT Cybersecurity and Compliance Coordinator at Plaenge

The cost associated with SQL Servers is on the higher side.

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Prashant Baste - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Solution Architect at Team Computers

This solution is moderately expensive. 

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Ahmed-Ramy - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at TMentors

The price could be less.

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MA
Senior DBA & IT Consultant at MA Consulting

While the price of the solution is comparatively cheaper, people are paying to Microsoft in any event for other things that they're using.

Although the licensing cost could be cheaper, this depends, as there is nobody who only uses the database with Microsoft. Every company has Windows, Office, Active Directory and all the security features of Microsoft. This means that, overall, when one buys these licenses together, he also gets the database. The focus is not on the price of the database, but what is actually being paid to Microsoft.

The licensing price could be better, more user-friendly. Things should be moved from the enterprise to the standard edition.

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RN
Manager at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

The enterprise-level license agreement is very complicated. It's complex, not only with SQL server but with a number of products.

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Raphael Haroun  Ikyagh - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at Letshego

We pay a yearly licensing fee.

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AR
Works at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

I don't need a license for it as I will be migrating to Office 365.

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AM
VP Global Information Technology at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees

There is a need to pay for the license for SQL Server. We have an enterprise license, which we consider to be fine. 

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Alvaro Callupe Arias - PeerSpot reviewer
Key Account Manager at Sumteccorp

The product’s price depends on the specific server requirements.

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TL
SQL Database Administrator at Aurora Mental Health Center

The pricing is pretty decent. It's less expensive than Oracle. 

While the solution started out really reasonable, it's gotten a little bit more pricey, as Microsoft keeps changing how they want to license it.

Whether you're using it in the cloud or on-premise changes the costs involved. A lot of times it might be more cost-effective to do it in the cloud. Microsoft includes a lot of the licensing in the cloud.

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Tushar Rahatekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Systems Analyst at a maritime company with 10,001+ employees

This is a very cheap product.

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TN
System engineer at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

I cannot comment on the price because I find that the organization already has a license when I arrived. I have not had a sneak peek at the price. When you join an organization, they tell you we are using the 2018 version and that someone purchased it. I don't know who purchased it, I'm not privy to that kind of information.

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Vishal Khare - PeerSpot reviewer
IT manager at Electrolux Home Products

We are on an annual enterprise license for the solution and the cost of the license could be reduced.

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RU
Senior Solutions Architect at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

The solution requires authorization in either the form of perpetual licensing or subscription-based licenses for two years. If a perpetual license version is purchased then customers have it to the end of life, whereas a subscription-based called server with Software Assurance, has to be renewed every two years. 

The areas that need improvement are with regards to the commercial aspect of the solution, the licensing cost could be reduced in order to help customers to adopt it.

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SM
Global Head ICT (CITP & MIE) at The Aga Khan Academies

It comes with the bundle package that we have. We have Microsoft Volume Licensing, so we don't have to pay for it separately. It is a part of the package.

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Prashant Baste - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Solution Architect at Team Computers

The cost isn't overly expensive. It's very reasonable. Our customers are happy with the price. It's in a good range.

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Kevin Honde - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Solution Architect at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe

Its price is fine. You have to buy the license and support.

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Rafael Keller - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Pluris Midia

This is an expensive product, especially when you need two servers, or for enterprise solutions. We pay approximately $12,000 USD per month for both the server and the license.

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SA
Applications Business Intelligence Analyst at a aerospace/defense firm with 10,001+ employees

For the most part, what you see is what you get with Microsoft’s licensing website. I sat through many hours of negotiations with many database and application vendors. Some application vendors try negotiating a better deal based on their licensed volume, but only twice have I seen Microsoft cater to lower licensing and it was because they wanted to make long-term wins with the customer knowing they had the possibility of gaining market share.

That said, Microsoft is still usually cheaper than Oracle who will sometimes look cheaper to start with but add the possibility of higher long term rates. Asking for a discount can never hurt.

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BL
Owner at 2 Bit

The solution does come at a cost.

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FZ
Principal Database And Cloud Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

It costs a lot.

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DG
Information Systems Manager at a aerospace/defense firm with 51-200 employees

It is expensive, especially when you have open-source products that are just about as functional and they're free. They might want to consider re-evaluating their pricing.

We purchased it in retail. It was somewhere in the neighborhood of 9,000. There is just the standard licensing fee. If they migrate this product the way they're trying to do everything else, eventually, it is going to be subscription-based, which is going to suck, but that's the way the industry is going, so it is what it is.

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Mohamed Abozied - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at Alsafy

You can pay an annual or monthly licensing fee in order to use the solution. 

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Ariful Ambia - PeerSpot reviewer
Executive Director at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

To scale the solution there are additional costs.

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Karol Bura - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at Drukarnia Interak sp. z o.o.

We pay a license fee, it could always be cheaper.

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US
Team Lead, Process Improvement at Fidelity Bank Plc

We pay a monthly subscription fee. 

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PT
Database Administration Team Leader at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

I don't know the exact prices because my focus is essentially technical and not on the bills. A few years ago, they changed the billing policy for the Enterprise Edition, and it became less attractive. But I believe they are still cheaper than Oracle. SQL Server isn't cheap, but it's not expensive either. 

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ChristineSpence - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Technology

I rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten.

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Karoly Krokovay - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Informula Ltd

There is a license required to use the solution and I am satisfied.

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AS
Business Intelligence Manager at a consumer goods company with 10,001+ employees

Licensing fees increase depending on size and performance. If you want higher performance, you should go for a different course.

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SK
Group DWH and BI Senior Manager at Virgin Mobile Middle East and Africa

There is a license required for the use of SQL Server and we are on an annual subscription.

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OK
Solution Architect at KIAN company

There is a license required for this solution. One of the problems is for smaller businesses to purchases a license because it is expensive for a lot of them to afford.

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Gajanan Shalgar - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at OMFYS Technologies India Pvt.Ltd

The usability of the free version is limited. They also have some guidelines on how to use the paid ones. You still have to check your IT requirements after purchasing it. We are using a licensed one right now, which has more functionality than the free version.

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LA
Manager Digital Technologies at a real estate/law firm with 51-200 employees

SQL pricing is slightly high compared to where it was before. That said, compared to other products like Oracle, they are still cheap. It's not overly expensive in comparison to others.

The final price you can expect all depends on your requirements. A standard version of SQL is always cheaper than an enterprise. If you're going to go on a cluster, it's particularly expensive. However, when it comes to the value and what is provided, that is also important.

It all depends on what you need. I cannot just blindly say that it's expensive or cheap as it all depends on your requirement. Comparatively, SQL is cheaper than other products like Oracle. Oracle is really expensive compared to SQL. 

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Craig Kona - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Information Officer at SYNOVA CONSULTANCT

The price of SQL Server could be reduced, the license is expensive. We have an annual subscription.

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Sundaresan Subramanyan - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder and Managing Director at Analytic Brains Technologies Private Limited

I am not aware of the cost because our clients take care of them, but I think there are enterprise licenses. If you go for Azure Cloud databases, then you just can pay as you go.

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GS
Managing Partner at Bizz Advisers SRL

The price could always be lower. 

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RK
Senior General Manager at Worly Plumbing Supply, Inc.

SQL Server is an expensive solution.

On a scale from 1 to 10, when one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a 9 out of 10.

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IG
Chief ICT Officer at Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union Ltd

I would rate the tool's pricing a six out of ten. It is not extremely cheap but also it's not the most expensive product. 

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Mudasir Shafi - PeerSpot reviewer
Testing Lead at Enstoa

There is a subscription that needs to be purchased to use the solution.

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Ashif  Shaikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Database Administrator at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

It is expensive in terms of licensing costs and pricing. If you want to scale SQL Server, it is very expensive.

We probably have to pay extra for technical support. We also have to pay for the license of Windows on which the SQL Server resides, which is an extra cost.

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Alaa T Alhorani - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Consultant (Enterprise Architect) at Devoteam

I can't speak to the pricing. I don't have any information on that.

It's my understanding that we pay for licensing on a yearly basis. 

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RV
2de Solution Engineer - storage & compute at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

We're paying too much for licensing at this time. They need to work on the pricing. They could be cheaper, however, it's also difficult to run the licenses in the right way.

We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis. 

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MS
Head of Technical Support at a real estate/law firm with 51-200 employees

There is a license required for servers and for the POS we use the free version. The free version allows you to have tables and a total database size of approximately 10 GB, which is enough for our requirements.

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AhmedElbadry - PeerSpot reviewer
NMS Service Automation & RPA Technical Lead at Vodafone

We do not currently pay a licensing fee in order to use this product.

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DI
Lead Technical Instructor at codehub

Our customers do pay license fees for the MS SQL Server but the Rabbit is free, as it is open-source software.

Some who pay for these prefer in-house, on-premises support, while others take a cloud-based approach. 

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Ryan Dave Brigino - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at Es'hailSat

I don't have any details on the licensing in terms of any details or costs. It's not an aspect of the solution I directly deal with.

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MB
BI Developer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

We're looking at alternative solutions because we think Microsoft's licensing costs have been expensive and multidimensional cubes have been overtaken by other technologies such as in-memory databases and products like Snowflake.

We're looking for a solution that allows us to pay by usage rather than pay by the number of users. We don't want to pay for hardware capacity that we rarely use. I'm looking at several products, including Snowflake, that bill by how much we use the product. I'm not sure if Microsoft is on board with that yet. I was also looking at Qlik — they do a commercial model that is paid by the amount of time. I think paying per usage is a rising trend at the moment.

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ST
Director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

The cost is high and because it's an expensive product, we are in the process of moving towards open-source solutions.

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NY
Consultant at a tech company with self employed

We've used it as a development tool, and it's very cheap as a development tool. Besides, someone else has paid for it for my use, so it's a question of whether the cost suits the end user. The solution has a good midrange price for the applications in which we've used it. Oracle's pricing would raise more eyebrows, but SQL Server's pricing has proven satisfactory for our market range.

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HT
System Engineer at CMC CSI saigon

The licenses are purchased annually.

The license fee is very low.

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JJ
Business Solutions Architect at a real estate/law firm with 501-1,000 employees

With recent releases, the Standard Edition (cheaper) SKU has some of the earlier version Enterprise features. SQL Express has some limitations.

The Azure Platform as a Service option remains relatively expensive, at least in South Africa, compared to on-premises, but it is worth exploring.

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NS
IT manager at IRPC PCL

The licensing is reasonable. It's not too expensive. We are charged on a yearly basis, however, I don't know the exact amount we are charged. I'm not a part of the billing and payments department.

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it_user422262 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO/CTO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Do the research and get the correct licensing model for your given purpose. A lot of people gravitate toward the Open Source databases because they don't have an upfront cost.

I find that what you don't pay upfront is what you have to invest in development and maintenance time on implementation. On far too many occasions, I have spent weeks writing code for features that SQL Server already has built in.

Either pay for the licensing cost or pay multiple times that for the labor involved in creating features, from scratch, that are native to products like SQL Server and Oracle.

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EO
Senior Systems Engineer at Dimension Data

You need to pay for the license. It most probably has per-core licensing.

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Richard Vivian - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at KOLOK SA

Some of the licensing are very expensive, such as the Enterprise license. 

The Express version is free. There are a lot of licensing options.

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Serban Stancu - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Director/ Project Manager / Consultant at SC Iceberg Data Intelligence SR

SQL Server has the best licensing price.

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Muhammad_Irfan - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Administrator at ACMC

For licensing, we pay yearly. The licensing is very expensive, and it should be cheaper. 

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AL
Senior Service Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

We didn't pay anything for it as it was provided for our client by the provider. I cannot say about the enterprise licenses or anything. When we began the work and we needed it for our own machines, I prefer the solutions which are available, of course, as open-source or are free. And Microsoft had this express version of their database which we can utilize as well. In that sense, it is okay, however, of course, in general, I don't know.

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MF
Information Technology Manager at OrchidaSoft

Some of our clients purchase the license and others do not; they use Express SQL Server.

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BM
Senior Manager - RPA & Transition at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

We have an organizational license.

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Meindert Van Der Galiën - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Software Developer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees

The solution is very affordable. It can be used free of charge.

There are payment packages for SQL based on dollars for any level of additions. They offer enterprise, express, and production additions that are available as well as community additions and student additions, which are completely free.

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MN
IT Officer at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees

Although it comes with a cost, using the most recent version is highly advisable, since it would guarantee a measure of bug fixes and provide some stability. The pricing is expensive, though, this being the sole issue. 

We chose not to make use of support, as this would have incurred a licensing fee. 

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JM
SQL Server Senior Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

There is a license to use this solution. However, the model is not easy to understand. There is a guide you have to read about all the information on how it works. If you read this documentation, you can understand how it works. We are paying for our SQL Servers by CPU cores with an enterprise license.

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MO
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees

The enterprise version of the solution is very expensive and most companies would likely find that they wouldn't be able to afford it. 

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YT
Information Security Manager at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees

I believe the licensing to be on an annual basis. In 2019 we purchased a three year license. 

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FA
IT Assistant at Hotel 2 Fevrier

The licensing involves a one-time fee.

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HP
Computer engineering student at a educational organization with 501-1,000 employees

You do need to pay for a license in order to use the product.

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KG
Associate Manager at a consultancy with 501-1,000 employees

There are no annual licensing fees, you pay when you use the product. 

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HV
Infrastructure and Networks at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

We purchased our license and the pricing is fine for us. 

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SP
General Manager/MVP at Yotta Infrastructure Solutions LLP

SQL Server is a cost-effective solution for a small database. 

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НЕ
Senior SQL DBA at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

This is a downside of enterprise Microsoft products. Currently, almost all of my machines are in Azure and I think it is the best way of licensing now (VM+software).

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BG
Systems Analyst/DBA at Vecima Networks

Pricing and licensing is based on a per core and/or per-processor license. Try to keep these low, but keep it above four. (Four is the minimum number of cores.) If you are working mostly with OLTP, make sure your single thread CPU speeds are high.

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SA
IT Director at DAR AL ARKAN

When comparing the Standard Edition to the Enterprise, it is expensive but the performance and features meet with the ROI and TCO. Thus, overall, it minimizes the redundant servers, multiple backup copies, the risk of non-availability of the latest copy at the disaster recovery.

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Veerender Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Owner at Software Technology

We are on a monthly subscription and the price could improve. However, the price has worked out well in some deployments. The problem is you never know what kind of services have been installed and you have to be in touch with many people, such as which servers are active or which are not. I did face a couple of issues in terms of subscriptions and the pricing model. They have improved over time.

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EM
Enterprise Solutions Architect at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees

It requires the purchase of a license. Our company's products all have licenses.

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ID
IT Manager at ducart

The licensing is on an annual basis. 

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AM
Sr. DBA/Developer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

I'm not the person that deals with billing and payments, so I don't know what the cost of the solution is, or if it is monthly or yearly billing. 

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it_user79482 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Developer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees

My advice is quite straightforward. If you know the number of users who really and truly need access to the Server then it is a no-brainer. If you do not know, then get the basic package and minimum licenses and start from there. Needless to say, users can develop/use data structures outside and then deploy onto the Server.

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PC
Independent Consultant at Unaikui

You receive other products, like free usage, depending on the number of product shares.

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IH
Advisory Software Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Synapse is a bit costly. If I compare it with different databases, I think it's a reasonable price. If I'm talking about licensing of the Oracle, it seems that normal organizations have it and some smaller organizations can also afford it, which is a good thing.

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KJ
Deputy Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis.

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PR
Technical Specialist at a media company with 10,001+ employees

In terms of pricing, I just downloaded it and started using it. I don't have a lot of information on licensing. I can't speak to the costs.

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SJ
Chief Technology Officer & Vice President, Delivery at a recruiting/HR firm with 1-10 employees

It is expensive.

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KopanoRamaphoi - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Rpc Data

There is a charge for this product if you are using it in production. For development, there is no cost. The pricing from Microsoft is quite expensive compared to Oracle.

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MM
Head of IT, CTO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

It's cheaper than Oracle.

I am fine with the pricing, but pricing is an area that can always be improved.

We are Microsoft D-level partners. Pricing is not an issue for us, because of the outreach of our mother company.

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MS
Vice President, Product Engineering at Logitix

The enterprise version of the solution needs to be priced more competitively.

We have a couple of models. We lease through Azure monthly, which is for the Standard version. We have had to purchase the Enterprise version to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars, which is just ridiculous.

On top of that, there aren't really any other knock-on costs.

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MA
Owner at BNS

The price could be cheaper.

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RL
Technical Department Manager at Direcbusiness Technologies, Inc.

We didn't have any licensing costs for SQL Server.

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Ferhat Alkan - PeerSpot reviewer
Kurucu, Bilgisayar Programcısı at Optimus Yazılım

For Turkey, the licensing costs are too high. Previously, independent software vendors like us would buy the license from Microsoft and resell to our customers.
For vendors it was half the retail price, but that's no longer possible. Sometimes enterprise companies buying in bulk can get licenses at a better price, but we don't have that and it's impractical for us to sell this solution. 

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VA
Data Analyst at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

The price of SQL Server is great. In my company, SQL Server is part of the Microsoft Suite, we don't have to pay for any additional license costs, it's quite cost-effective for us.

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Al Fath Nuur Rochman - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder at a logistics company with 1-10 employees

Pricing for this product is very reasonable.

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FN
Senior Database Administrator at ITGStore

I am only a technician and responsible for the installation, so I cannot comment on the licensing, although there are others in my company who are better qualified to do so. 

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SR
Director -Data Architecture and Engineering

If you are looking for a small setup and do not want an open-source solution or invest too much money in your database then SQL Server is a very good choice.

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MC
Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

There is no licensing cost for SQL Server.

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MP
CEO at SkyNet

Pricing is a bit on the higher side. It could be reduced.

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it_user715902 - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO and Founder at a tech services company

Unfortunately, SQL Server licensing is a very complex topic. I advise people to consult with a licensing expert.

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PN
Data Analyst at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
it_user290769 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Architect with 51-200 employees

I don’t concentrate on this issue, but rather the necessary features and the version required.

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TU
Managing Director at D3

The price of SQL Server could be better in the African market. The licensing model needs to be improved, it is confusing.

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IC
ICT Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The solution can get expensive. You do need to pay a licensing fee in order to use it. I can't speak to the exact costs. There are different subscription types and the subscription a company needs depends on the deployment they have in mind.

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OB
Operations Director at ALTERSIS Performance

Customers do have to pay to use the solution. They tend to pay on a yearly basis. 

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DB
Sr Tech Business Analyst, Group Data Projects & Ventures at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

While there are costs involved in using the product, I'm not a part of the billing or payments team. I can't speak to how much the solution costs or how much our organization pays. I do not know if it's monthly or yearly and how long our contract is for, if we have one.

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it_user158343 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Architect at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

No issues with pricing and licensing for SS 2016 Dev Ed, as it is free of charge, as mentioned above, the thorny issue with pricing and licensing is with customers. We do our best to design DW solutions that can cover reqs from our customers within the capabilities of SS 2016 Standard Ed.

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it_user290733 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Consultant & IT Project Manager Assistant with 10,001+ employees

It’s okay as compared to the features that it has.

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it_user158343 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Architect at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

We have no issues with pricing and licensing for SQL Server 2016 Developer Edition, as it is free of charge. The thorny issue is with pricing and licensing with customers.

We do our best to design data warehouse solutions that can cover requirements from our customers within the capabilities of SQL Server 2016 Standard Edition.

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SB
Admin at IEC (Electoral Commission of South Africa)

Subscriptions are available on a yearly basis.

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MK
Senior Digital Services Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Any kind of information related to costs or licensing is beyond my scope. I don't deal with that aspect of the solution. I do not know if licensing is paid monthly or yearly.

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SW
GF at Innopact GmbH

The solution is expensive. The pricing is different and not really standardized. If you're using it on Azure you pay on your workloads. If you have a separate dedicated instance, you pay for the course. It's different, according to the situation, however, in either case, it's expensive.

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KV
Data Architect at ACPAS Loan Management Software

You do need to pay for licensing in order to use the solution. It is a little bit expensive, however, it's not the most expensive option on the market. It's cheaper than the competition, however, as I mentioned, it's still pretty pricey.

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KG
Lead Data Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Pricing is reasonable for small organizations, but the scaling increases the price.

For larger organizations that would be using enterprise solutions, it contains some hidden costs.

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PS
Programmer Analyst at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
磊刘
DBA,data architectuire at LG CNS Co.

Migration local database into cloud

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it_user796899 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Database and Application Administrator with 10,001+ employees

It has the easiest licensing.

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HG
Technical Content Writer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

We pay a yearly subscription fee. 

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MO
Marketo Consultant at Webtech software servies

There is a license required for this solution and we pay monthly. The price is reasonable compared to other solutions.

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AK
System Architect, SCRUM Product Owner at a tech company with 10,001+ employees

The price of the solution is fine.

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SF
CEO at netison

We are a reseller of Microsoft. We also signed the SPLA agreement, which stands for Services Provider License Agreement. So we are able to use Microsoft products in our data center in order to provide cloud services to our customers.

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it_user408555 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical lead/Senior embedded software engineer at a wireless company with 51-200 employees

I am not a direct purchaser, so I don’t know.

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DK
Senior Systems Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees

Its licensing is yearly. There are no additional costs. There is only the subscription license.

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SY
CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The licensing is a bit expensive. We'd like them to be more flexible in terms of costs.

We pay a yearly licensing fee.

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PS
Project Manager at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees

For smaller companies, they find this solution expensive.

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YA
Chief of Information Technology at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees

The price of the solution could be reduced, it is expensive.

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RS
Business Analytics Manager at a transportation company with 201-500 employees

The solution doesn't cost as much as Oracle. Oracle is more expensive. That's always been the complaint with Oracle. They're very good, however, they're the most expensive out there and that's how they're losing business right now. Their big jump in the cloud happened way too late in the game, and everybody just jumped on the cloud due to high costs. If you were to compare pricing, SQL Server is much cheaper.

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it_user272976 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The price has been going higher and higher. The market is quite price sensitive.

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it_user718458 - PeerSpot reviewer
Corporate Data and BI Lead - Database Administrator at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees

It is not very expensive and is suitable for an international company, like what I am working with. Free licenses are suitable for small companies, too.

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it_user284160 - PeerSpot reviewer
Freelance at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The price is pretty high, buy it's worth getting the license.

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EK
Sr Lead Data & Information Architect at a pharma/biotech company with 5,001-10,000 employees

We pay per second of usage, but there are different offerings of the license.

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DS
Technical Director at a security firm with 51-200 employees

We did a one-time payment. Its price, in general, can be reduced.

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EN
Head of Data Analytics at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

This is a very affordable solution, which is why it's used so widely in the market. I think one of the strongest points of SQL Server is the reasonable cost.

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RS
Software Developer at OATI

The setup cost is high, but it will return every penny.

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DM
Chief of Engineering at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees

A licence might be worth the price to simplify management and speed up searches.

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JI
System Analyst and Team Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

SQL Server is under a license from Microsoft.

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OY
Specialist Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I cannot answer that question concerning pricing and licensing because I'm just a technical staff member. However, we are just a customer of Microsoft and some of our clients say SQL Server is very high in price.

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it_user369171 - PeerSpot reviewer
Brazil IT Coordinator at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees

In my point of view, the MS SQL is the most inexpensive database commercial solution. If do you need to build a consistent ERP for example, with a medium to hard capability, and don't have much budget to spend it, this is your solution.

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FK
Managing Partner at Veribir Ltd

For our purpose, we are not required to have a license for what we are using it for.

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Anteneh Asnake - PeerSpot reviewer
Modern Data Center and Cloud Engineer II at IE Network Solutions PLC

There is a license required for this solution.

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CM
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

The solution could be priced more competitively. We'd, of course, like it to be lower. Microsoft can sometimes be expensive.

Each customer needs their own license.

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IF
CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The solution is on a pay-per-use pricing model.

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it_user493200 - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales/System Architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

according you need

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it_user125703 - PeerSpot reviewer
Management Trainee for Training at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Go for SQL and compare it with pricing and stability with other Microsoft products.

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it_user359604 - PeerSpot reviewer
Web Content Editor at a consumer goods company with 501-1,000 employees

It's average to purchase.

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WL
Senior Programmer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The solution certainly comes at a cost, however, for me, it's an acceptable cost. I find it acceptable due to the fact that it would be free if I use MySQL on-premise, however, then it would be hard to hire people to maintain it. It's a give and take. That said, the license cost is very very high. I'm afraid if I use it on a larger scale it will cost a lot.

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it_user280197 - PeerSpot reviewer
BI Solution Architect at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

The Enterprise license includes features that enrich the product experience as well as performance and scalability options. Choose this over the standard license where possible.

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SP
Chief Information Officer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

The price of the solution could be cheaper.

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MG
CEO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

It is something we have been using for a lot of years. If we're paying, it should be reasonable.

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it_user540858 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Technician / Support Supervisor at a transportation company with 501-1,000 employees

Plan ahead, and make sure do not pay for something you are not going to fully use.

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it_user135978 - PeerSpot reviewer
Developer at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
Impossible to say. We have about hundred SQL servers. View full review »
SA
Chief Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

There is an annual license and it is priced reasonably.

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it_user285990 - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Operations Manager at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees

Chose your database based on traffic type and desired functionality not on initial cost.

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CL
Data Analyst at a tech company with 51-200 employees

It's a bit expensive.

The licensing is expensive.

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Buyer's Guide
SQL Server
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about SQL Server. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.