Free SQL comparison tool

Question

I have been using SQL Compare by Redgate at my company and was very satisfied with it. Are there any free comparison tools that are similar? Or what would be my best shot for synchronizing two SQL db's without a paid application

Toad is the only other tool I'm aware of that provides this, but its not free. — OMG Ponies, Aug 29 '09 at 23:04
go for http://opendbiff.codeplex.com/releases/view/72756 It is free and does the trick! — Mr W, May 29 '13 at 09:36

Jaimal Chohan · Answer 1 · 2009-08-29T23:41:45.723

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I had the same problem and wanted a free GUI base Schema comparer tool, what I found was Star Inix (http://www.starinix.com/sqlcompare02.htm). Obviously not as good as Redgates offering, but it does the job.

Also, with Redgate Sql Compare, once the trial period is over, if you enter the key as "i need more time" (without the quotes) you can extend the trial by a further 14 days.

edited Aug 29 '09 at 23:41

answered Aug 29 '09 at 23:34

Jaimal Chohan

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This is a brill free tool frin Starinix – Lee Englestone Nov 30 '09 at 12:09
Requires running SQL Server 2008 in backwards compatibility mode to account for ANSI character used in query (*= , =*) ...uninstalled in the end – musefan Mar 01 '12 at 09:29
Also works with other Redgate products (tested with ANTS Performance Profiler). – SuperOli Mar 05 '14 at 14:57
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Thanks for the "i need more time" tip! – Roy Tinker Dec 02 '14 at 20:40

score 10 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 24 '13 at 23:36

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Visual Studio (Premium & above I guess) has this feature built-in under the SQL menu.

edited Jun 24 '13 at 23:36

sheanineseven

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answered Feb 09 '12 at 17:03

Gokulnath

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score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 29 '09 at 23:41

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I’ve gone through this and couldn’t find anything comparable, free or otherwise. $395 is a very small price to pay for the value the tool brings and it will almost certainly pay for itself very quickly in productivity gains and risk minimisation.

answered Aug 29 '09 at 23:41

Troy Hunt

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alternatively, create a virtual machine (e.g. in Hyper-V) that you'd install the Red-gate software and delete after expiry to create a new one. This takes only about 10 minutes. Redgate supports sync using backups .bak. when comparing schema. – Chagbert Mar 04 '20 at 08:42

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 29 '09 at 23:43

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xSQL Free Bundle

Very similar to RedGate's SQL Compare and free.

answered Aug 29 '09 at 23:43

CMerat

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The limitations on this are that a) unlimited use with Sql Express editions only b) limited to 25 tables or 40 SP's or 40 Functions or 40 Views for any other version of Sql Server. – Jaimal Chohan Aug 29 '09 at 23:47
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Yes, sorry, forgot to mention that. Thank you for pointing it out! – CMerat Aug 30 '09 at 04:06

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 29 '09 at 23:17

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You can try using TableDiff , that came with SQL Server 2005.

Tablediff Utility

SQL Server 2005 TableDiff Utility

Bye.

answered Aug 29 '09 at 23:17

RRUZ

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Only problem with Tablediff is that there's no GUI with it. – Jaimal Chohan Aug 29 '09 at 23:35

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 17 '10 at 07:20

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Have a look at Mighty Comparer. It's currently free. A professional version is under development.

answered Jul 17 '10 at 07:20

Cristian B

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 30 '09 at 02:02

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I normally go for the hackish but surprisingly effective technique of downloading the sys_information tables to text files and diffing them with your favorite diff program (this way will even let you compare 3 schemas!).

answered Aug 30 '09 at 02:02

David Raznick

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this sounds interesting.. will definitely try! – kaivalya Aug 31 '09 at 03:29

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 30 '09 at 13:26

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You can use Database Comparer

Database Comparer is free for non-commercial use.

answered Aug 30 '09 at 13:26

Hugues Van Landeghem

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Free SQL comparison tool

8 Answers8

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