Did you know that there are a number of excellent SQL Server tools that are completely free? Some are built and maintained by the SQL community, others are offered by companies to give you a taste of their main product, and some are simply free by design. Either way, having the right set of tools at your fingertips is key to a productive day and helps us support our clients to the highest and most efficient standards.
In this post, I’ve shared a selection of some of my favourite tools, where to find them, and a summary of how they may help you.
Links to each tool and its supporting documentation are included. If you need any help with setup or configuration, please do ask, and we can explore how best to support you.
Free SQL Server Tools
SQL Server Maintenance Solution by Ola Hallengren (and community)
Ola’s solution is an award-winning script set for SQL Server Backup, Integrity Check, and Index and Statistics Maintenance in SQL Server. The solution is used by many organisations around the world, recommended by every MVP I know, installed on nearly all our clients’ environments, and completely free.
The community actively maintains the solution in the Git repository (https://github.com/olahallengren/sql-server-maintenance-solution), with Ola controlling the release cycle to ensure it works with all applicable versions of SQL Server.
Once set up, you’ll generally not need to attend to this solution; it’s one where different elements run on different schedules, some multiple times a day. That’s part of the solution’s beauty; everything is scheduled and runs extremely intelligently. Maintenance results can be set to log to a command log table, which allows for simple and rapid investigation of any issues or to help tune index maintenance.
All the instructions and configuration options are on Ola’s website, including how to integrate with other backup solutions. We often tweak the configurations slightly to match environmental considerations or clients’ needs; specifically, when scheduling, backing up to cloud storage, and ensuring statistics are maintained. The level of customisation and configuration available is wonderful.
If you’re using this or going to try it out, which we highly recommend, have a look at some of our other blog posts and presentation:
Troubleshooting Ola Hallengren’s Maintenance Solution
SQLBits 2022 session – Field Testing Ola Hallengren’s Maintenance Solution
Field Testing Ola Hallengren’s Maintenance Solution
sp_whoisactive by Adam Mechanic (and community)
This is a tool I assume everyone working with SQL Server will have heard of and be using, but that’s because I was lucky enough to discover it so long ago and have used it ever since. For those less familiar, in a nutshell, it’s a stored procedure to tell you what’s actively running on the instance at the time and show comprehensive monitoring information such as spid, elapse time, CPU usage, I/O, tempdb usage, wait info, blocking etc.
There is a range of parameters that can be passed to gather extra data, such as execution plans, or to filter and sort the results. Most of the time, we use it to obtain a very fast and lightweight view of what’s happening on the instance. Always be mindful of running anything on a busy system though, as even this procedure can cause issues if complex parameter sets are passed and tempdb contention is very high.
When it comes to looking at blocking, this tool is so useful and additional information, such as the blockers, calling applications, execution plans etc can all be reviewed and worked on so our clients can avoid repeat issues.
The stored procedure can be executed with no parameters, making it incredibly easy to get started. But that’s just the beginning, in fact there’s far too much for me to explain here, have a search and dive into the wealth of information about; more importantly, have a try, official documentation here: http://whoisactive.com/docs/
SQL Sentry Plan Explorer by SolarWinds
This tool is another one I highly recommend. When analysing or explaining execution plans, or working on any aspect of performance tuning, this is my go-to tool. It’s incredibly easy to use and has lots of built-in tools to help understand and tune queries.
Plan Explorer’s approach to displaying plans helps target pain points, and the more compact layout allows more information to be shared with ease; sharing snippets of execution plans with our clients is a great way to explain suggestions and to evidence the benefit of a change.
SQL Server Diagnostic Queries by Glen Berry
If I need to know anything about a SQL Instance, from 2005 to the latest version, Azure SQL Managed Instances or Azure SQL Databases, I head to this set of scripts.
Some scripts run at the instance level, others at the database level (target dependent). I use a number of these queries extremely regularly and others frequently as needed. If our monitor alerts us to an issue, these can be used to assist in understanding the bigger picture and help diagnose any issues on client systems rapidly.
I’ve been using the scripts for years, so they have become second nature for me. If you’ve not used them before, they may take a little time to get used to, but once familiar, they are extremely useful.
First Responder Kit – Brent Ozar
Originally created by Brent and his team, this set of scripts is now on Git Hub and developed by the community; in fact Coeo’s own Thomas Rushton wrote CheckID 76 collation mismatch.
Having used and relied on some of the key scripts, such as sp_Blitz, since they were first created, due to the amount of monitoring we generally have in place at Coeo, the main script I use from the set is sp_BlitzIndex. In my mind, this is the simplest and fastest way to get a complete view of index and usage information, including missing indexes, statistics data, compression and columnstore information.
The First Responder Kit is another set of key tools we use to assist in diagnostics, architecture, and tuning of our clients’ systems.
Dbatools.io – Chrissy LeMaire (and community)
To describe this PowerShell module, a quote is probably best:
“dbatools is a free PowerShell module with nearly 700 commands that replace manual SQL Server administration with powerful and fun automation.”
We use this module to simplify many elements of our scripting tasks. There are too many examples to list, but if you like automation and PowerShell, I’d highly recommend becoming familiar with this module.
Some of the key participants in the project have also written a supporting book, which is available from various sources: ‘Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches’.
Dbachecks – dbatools team
I’m new to the dbachecks module, but knowing it’s been written by the core team who run the development of dbatools, I’m confident it’ll add value for many users.
The module supports all versions of SQL from 2000 onwards, including SQL on Linux. If you’re looking for a simple way to run some of your daily checks, then consider this.
Ssmsboost – Solutions Crew GmbH
This is a great little plug-in for Management Studio that offers several tools to customise, simplify, export and generally speed up using SSMS. It even provides tools to give additional protection through the use of colours and execution prevention. Ssmsboost comes as a paid edition and a free community edition.
I’ve used the community edition extensively over the years, and it’s certainly provided wonderful value. One of the features I love is the ability to highlight an object in a query window and click to go straight to that object in object explorer, a definite time saver on many levels.
Check out the website for a full list of all it can do, and click on the downloads page for links to training videos.
SQL Search – Redgate
A tool that does what it says, an SSMS plug-in that helps search for objects, data or code within SQL Server. This is another tool I’ve used for years, and we have deployed it to many of the instances we support.
We use it to speed up the way we work with the many different systems we take care of. Rapidly finding objects or Agent jobs that relate to code snippets, across multiple databases, while even using Booleans and wildcards, is such a benefit for our clients. As free tools go, this is certainly a great one.
Redgate has several free products and tools, as well as free ebooks. They do a great deal of work in the SQL community. If you’ve not visited their site or tried their products, I’d recommend you do.
Sql complete – devart.com
Sql Complete is a coding, validation, formatting, refactoring, debugging and analysis tool for SSMS and Visual Studio.
Although the amount of development work I do now is reduced, being able to format clients’ code consistently, making it easier to read and understand, is incredibly important and helps our productivity.
This tool has been around for a good while, and various downloads are available. The express edition is free, it has limited features and functionality, but when combined with some of the other tools mentioned, you’ll no doubt have a comprehensive set of tools to ease your workday.
SQL Server Developer Edition – Microsoft
Not so much a SQL Server tool but a SQL Server Edition that is free for development purposes. Traditionally, providing all the features of SQL Server Enterprise edition, this product used to cost £50 per developer. Thankfully, it’s been free for a while now and with the 2025 release comes the additional option of a version that is limited to Standard Edition features; a great move, no more wondering if your development will work with Standard Edition when you can build on it from the outset.
There’s no need to go into all the features here, Microsoft have it all covered in their Editions and supported features of SQL Server 2025 page. Download and enjoy testing all the different variants available.
A word of warning
The scripts provided by the various parties above are generally provided without any warranty. Always ensure you’re familiar with the script, read through the code and test in safe areas before running anything against production.
Summary
The SQL community, along with the companies that write tools for data professionals, is fantastic. The list of free tools above is the one I’ve enjoyed over the years and continue to use today. Have a try of some of the SSMS plugins, download some of the scripts I mentioned, read through the code, test and learn the benefits of the information provided. Once you’re happy with what these free tools do, start using them and watch your productivity improve.
If you’d like to know more about how we support our clients, other tools we use, our Best Practice Assessment, or even just a bit more information on the above tools, please feel free to contact us.