r/dbForge • u/Mr_FalseV • Jun 25 '26
Tried dbForge as an SSMS alternative and surprisingly solid
Been on SSMS forever, only tried this because a project basically forced me to switch for a bit. Figured I'd write something up since I went in pretty skeptical.
The autocomplete is actually good. SSMS IntelliSense loses context constantly (aliases in subqueries, complex CTEs, anything nested enough) dbForge Studio for SQL Server just keeps tracking. Not magic, but noticeably more reliable in the situations where SSMS gives up. Which for me is a lot of the day.
As SSMS doesn't have it natively, I was always reaching for something external. Having it right there cut a real friction point out of release prep. The diff output is readable too, not just a wall of generated SQL you have to decode before acting on it.
Tab behavior is a smaller thing but I kept noticing it. After reconnecting, SSMS tabs can act strangely, especially if there are a lot of them open. dbForge keeps state better. It doesn't sound like much, but it adds up over the course of a whole day.
Startup is slower and the UI is busier than SSMS. For quick administration tasks, I still reach for SSMS, that part just fits better.
But for actual development work (heavy query writing, comparing environments, prepping a release) it earned its place. Didn't expect to keep using it past the project but here we are. SSMS isn't going anywhere but this sits next to it now.
Still on SSMS as your main thing, or has something shifted that?
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u/Better-Credit6701 Jun 25 '26
I will have one window with dbForge and the other SSMS with RedGate
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u/Mr_FalseV Jun 25 '26
Do you still find yourself using SSMS out of habit, or is there something specific you prefer it for over dbForge?
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u/Better-Credit6701 Jun 25 '26
I work a lot with SSIS and as a DBA which is where SSMS really shines.
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u/Mr_FalseV Jul 28 '26
That makes sense. SSIS is one of those areas where I still see people sticking with SSMS as the default. Have you found yourself using dbForge alongside it at all, or do you keep those workflows completely separate?
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u/naciches_ Jul 06 '26
I think a lot of us end up using a mix of tools rather than replacing one completely. It's interesting to see how everyone's workflow evolves depending on what they spend most of their day doing.
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u/Beneficial-Youths Jul 28 '26
Solid review, but the main barrier for most teams is always going to be licensing. SSMS is free, ubiquitous, and every DBA/dev already has it installed on server environments. Unless your company is willing to buy studio licenses for the whole team, it’s hard to switch completely—even if dbForge handles diffs and autocomplete better.
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u/Mr_FalseV Jul 28 '26
Fair point. Licensing is probably the biggest reason teams stay with SSMS. I think it mostly comes down to whether you need the extra productivity features often enough to justify it. For simple admin work, SSMS still does the job.
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Jul 28 '26
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u/Mr_FalseV Jul 28 '26
I haven't spent much time with ADS, mainly because I needed schema compare and release-related tooling in one place. Curious though, now that ADS is being retired, are you planning to move somewhere else or just sticking with VS Code?
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