Awesome SQL Server

Relational database management system from Microsoft, running on Windows, Linux, containers, and Azure.

Disclaimer: This list is maintained by the Beekeeper Studio team. Beekeeper Studio is an easy to use database manager for SQL Server and 12+ other databases. Our goal is to keep this list impartial. We'd love other outside maintainers to join the org to help make that happen.

Contents

• Database GUIs and Managers
• Add-ins and Extensions
• Command-line Tools
• Administration and Maintenance
• Monitoring and Performance
• Schema Migration and Version Control
• Testing
• Drivers and Client Libraries
• Local Development
• Sample Databases
• Learning Resources
• Community

Database GUIs and Managers

Desktop and web applications for browsing, querying, and managing SQL Server databases.

• Beekeeper Studio - Cross-platform SQL editor and database manager with an open source community edition and a commercial edition.
• DataGrip - JetBrains' commercial database IDE with code completion, refactoring, and version control integration.
• DBeaver - Free, open source, cross-platform universal database tool, with a commercial edition for extra features.
• dbForge Studio for SQL Server - Commercial Windows IDE with T-SQL debugging, schema and data comparison, and database design tools.
• DbGate - Open source, cross-platform database manager that runs as a desktop app or in the browser.
• DbVisualizer - Cross-platform universal database tool with free and commercial editions.
• HeidiSQL - Free, open source Windows client for SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQLite.
• LINQPad - Windows scratchpad for querying SQL Server with SQL, LINQ, or C#.
• Navicat for SQL Server - Commercial cross-platform GUI with data modeling, transfer, and synchronization tools.
• SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) - Microsoft's free, official Windows tool for managing and querying SQL Server.
• SQLPro for MSSQL - Commercial native SQL Server client for macOS, iOS, Android, and Windows.
• TablePlus - Native, cross-platform GUI for SQL Server and other databases, with a free tier.
• Toad for SQL Server - Quest's commercial Windows tool for development, administration, and performance tuning.

Add-ins and Extensions

Add-ins and extensions that bring SQL Server features into SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Visual Studio, VS Code, and Excel.

• dbForge SQL Complete - SSMS and Visual Studio add-in for code completion, formatting, and refactoring, with a free Express edition.
• SQL Prompt - Redgate's commercial SSMS and Visual Studio add-in for code completion, formatting, and refactoring.
• SQL Search - Free Redgate add-in for finding text and object references across databases from inside SSMS.
• SQL Server (mssql) for VS Code - Microsoft's official VS Code extension for querying and managing SQL Server and Azure SQL, and the recommended replacement for the retired Azure Data Studio.
• SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) - Visual Studio tooling for database projects, schema compare, and DACPAC deployment.
• SQL Shades - SSMS add-in that adds dark mode and other themes, branding overlays, and connected-server alerts.
• SQL Source Control - Redgate's commercial SSMS add-in that links databases to Git, Subversion, TFS, and other version control systems.
• SQL Spreads - Excel add-in for editing and updating SQL Server data directly from spreadsheets.
• SQLTools - Open source VS Code extension for browsing and querying many databases, including SQL Server through its MSSQL driver.
• SSMS Schema Folders - Open source SSMS add-in that groups Object Explorer items into folders by schema.
• VersionSQL - SSMS add-in that commits schema, security, Agent jobs, and static data to Git, Subversion, or TFVC.

Command-line Tools

• bcp - Bulk copy utility for importing and exporting large volumes of data.
• sqlcmd - Microsoft's cross-platform CLI for running T-SQL, which can also spin up local SQL Server containers with sqlcmd create mssql.
• sqlfluff - SQL linter and auto-formatter with a T-SQL dialect.
• SqlPackage - Cross-platform CLI for extracting, publishing, importing, and exporting DACPAC and BACPAC files.
• usql - Universal command-line client for SQL databases, including SQL Server.

Administration and Maintenance

• dbachecks - PowerShell module that validates SQL Server environments against configurable best-practice checks.
• dbatools - PowerShell module with hundreds of commands for automating SQL Server administration, migrations, and best practices.
• SQL Server Maintenance Solution - Ola Hallengren's free scripts for backups, integrity checks, and index and statistics maintenance.
• SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) - Microsoft's free tool for migrating Oracle, MySQL, DB2, SAP ASE, and Access databases to SQL Server.

Monitoring and Performance

• Darling Data scripts - Erik Darling's free stored procedures for performance triage, including sp_PressureDetector, sp_HumanEvents, and sp_QuickieStore.
• DBA Dash - Free, open source monitoring tool with performance dashboards, configuration tracking, and alerting.
• First Responder Kit - Brent Ozar's free health check and performance scripts, including sp_Blitz, sp_BlitzCache, and sp_BlitzIndex.
• Glenn Berry's Diagnostic Queries - Regularly updated diagnostic information queries for every supported SQL Server version.
• Paste The Plan - Free site for sharing and viewing execution plans.
• Plan Explorer - Free SolarWinds tool for analyzing and visualizing execution plans.
• sp_WhoIsActive - Adam Machanic's stored procedure for seeing what is running on a server right now.
• SQL Monitor - Redgate's commercial monitoring platform for SQL Server estates.
• SQL Sentry - SolarWinds' commercial performance monitoring tool for SQL Server.
• Statistics Parser - Web tool that turns STATISTICS IO and STATISTICS TIME output into readable tables.

Schema Migration and Version Control

• Bytebase - Database DevOps platform with schema migration workflows, SQL review, and a web-based SQL editor.
• DacFx - Microsoft's SDK-style SQL database projects and the DacFx library for building and deploying DACPACs cross-platform.
• DbUp - .NET library that tracks and runs SQL scripts to upgrade databases.
• Flyway - Version control and migrations for database schemas, with SQL Server support in the free Community edition.
• grate - Cross-platform, convention-based migration tool for SQL Server and other databases, and the successor to RoundhousE.
• Liquibase - Open source database change management with changelogs in SQL, XML, YAML, or JSON.

Testing

• SQLQueryStress - Lightweight load-testing tool for running a query from many concurrent threads.
• Testcontainers - Throwaway SQL Server containers for integration tests, with modules for .NET, Java, Go, Node.js, Python, and more.
• tSQLt - Unit testing framework for SQL Server, written in T-SQL.

Drivers and Client Libraries

Official and community drivers for connecting to SQL Server from your language of choice.

• FreeTDS - Open source implementation of the TDS protocol with ODBC and CT-Library interfaces, and the base for several other drivers.
• go-mssqldb - Microsoft-maintained pure Go driver for the database/sql package.
• Microsoft Drivers for PHP for SQL Server - Official SQLSRV and PDO_SQLSRV extensions for PHP.
• Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server - Official Type 4 JDBC driver for Java.
• Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server - Official ODBC driver for Windows, Linux, and macOS, used by many other language drivers.
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient - Official .NET data provider for SQL Server and Azure SQL.
• mssql-python - Microsoft's official Python driver for SQL Server and Azure SQL.
• node-mssql - Node.js client that adds connection pooling, prepared statements, and promises on top of tedious.
• pymssql - Simple Python DB-API driver built on FreeTDS.
• pyodbc - Python DB-API module for ODBC, and the most common way to reach SQL Server from Python.
• tedious - Pure JavaScript implementation of the TDS protocol for Node.js.
• Tiberius - Async, native TDS client for Rust.
• TinyTDS - Ruby driver built on FreeTDS, used by the Rails SQL Server adapter.

Local Development

• SQL Server container images - Official Linux container images for running SQL Server with Docker or Podman.
• SQL Server Developer Edition - Free, full-featured edition licensed for development and testing.
• SQL Server Express LocalDB - Lightweight, on-demand SQL Server instance for developers on Windows.

Sample Databases

• AdventureWorks - Microsoft's classic OLTP and data warehouse sample databases.
• Chinook - Sample digital media store database with scripts for SQL Server and other engines.
• Northwind and pubs - Scripts for the classic Northwind and pubs sample databases.
• SQL Server samples - Microsoft's official repository of sample databases, scripts, and applications.
• Stack Overflow database - Brent Ozar's SQL Server export of the Stack Overflow data dump, ideal for realistic performance testing.
• WideWorldImporters - Microsoft's newer sample database showcasing temporal tables, JSON, columnstore, and other modern features.

Learning Resources

• Brent Ozar Unlimited - Blog, free scripts, and training focused on SQL Server performance tuning.
• Darling Data blog - Erik Darling's articles on query tuning and SQL Server performance.
• Microsoft SQL Server Blog - Official product blog with release announcements and feature deep dives.
• MSSQLTips - Tips and tutorials on SQL Server administration, development, and business intelligence.
• PASS Data Community Summit - Annual conference for the Microsoft data platform community.
• Simple Talk - Redgate's technical articles on SQL Server development and administration.
• SQL Server documentation - Official Microsoft documentation for the database engine, T-SQL, and tools.
• SQL Server Execution Plans - Grant Fritchey's free book on reading and tuning execution plans.
• SQLBits - Large SQL Server and Microsoft data platform conference with free session recordings.
• SQLServerCentral - Community site with articles, forums, and the Stairway tutorial series.
• SQLskills - Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp's blogs, whitepapers, and training on SQL Server internals.
• Use The Index, Luke - Guide to SQL indexing and tuning with SQL Server-specific notes.

Community

• Database Administrators Stack Exchange - Q&A site for database professionals, with an active sql-server tag.
• r/SQLServer - Subreddit for SQL Server news and discussion.
• SQL Server Community Slack - Slack workspace with channels for general help, dbatools, and other SQL Server topics.
• Stack Overflow - Questions tagged sql-server on Stack Overflow.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read the contribution guidelines first.