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JetBrains IDEs vs dbForge Studio for SQL Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

dbForge Studio for SQL Server
Ranking in IDE
9th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
JetBrains IDEs
Ranking in IDE
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the IDE category, the mindshare of dbForge Studio for SQL Server is 5.0%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of JetBrains IDEs is 7.9%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IDE Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
JetBrains IDEs7.9%
dbForge Studio for SQL Server5.0%
Other87.1%
IDE
 

Featured Reviews

AM
Head BI SBU at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Easy to use, quick data usage, and a helpful knowledge base
The only issue that I have is that it depends on hardware resources, it takes a lot, that is the only set back with the solution. What we are using is fine for now. I believe that the newer versions 2016 or 2018 SQL have improved a lot and have all of the features available. It would be useful to have some form of self-service capabilities or some form an AI to provide a summary and to be able to tell you what has happened. Also, the inclusion of some integration tools would be helpful. In the next release, I would like to see some form of artificial intelligence with some form of summaries telling you what has happened without having to get into a complex query to get that information.
Souhardyya Biswas - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Long-term coding has benefited from intuitive UI and tools but now needs lighter performance
I am using the code completion feature in IntelliJ, and it helps me with my development processes. I use advanced debugging tools. The advanced debugging tools are useful for resolving code issues. The integration with version controls is seamless. GitHub is what I use. For my professional role, I need to use GitHub Enterprise, and the way it is set up in my enterprise, it does not allow linking it with IntelliJ. That is where I am stuck using the CLI. GitHub itself has a very robust CLI, so I have no complaints there. For personal use, GitHub integrates really well with IntelliJ. The UI is pretty good and very intuitive. I actually use the new UI which IntelliJ provides, and that is very intuitive and good.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It's quite easy to install and use from a local machine or laptop, as well as on a server."
"I like the ease of use and quick data usage."
"The features that I find are the most valuable are easy querying, screen objects, relational diagram creation, and simplicity."
"If you do SQL for a living you need a robust productivity tool."
"The solution is very scalable; if you set up a very large database, billions of records or so, if you have enough memory and enough disk space, it's quite easy to do."
"Good support for refactoring."
"Fast, and I never had a crash."
"From the very beginning to the deepest thing I could possibly want to develop, I believe I could do it all using JetBrains IDEs."
"Having the complete development environment in Linux in the same way as in Windows is already the best."
"It seems to me as one of the best IDEs in the market, they are always releasing new versions with positive improvements, and in my opinion, I recommend it in its entirety."
"The best features JetBrains IDEs offer include the many tools which are available inside the tool and how it makes you a faster Java developer by providing the right tools and code hinting."
"The best features offered by JetBrains IDEs include a super attractive set of language-specific tools including debuggers, symbol monitors, and the extensions that come with it, which helps me get a much more in-depth view of my code rather than relying on print or log statements."
"The UI is pretty good and very intuitive."
 

Cons

"I once had a problem stopping a long running query, not sure whose fault was, mine, the server or something else."
"The only issue that I have is that it depends on hardware resources, it takes a lot, that is the only set back with the solution."
"The lock files and login are two features we've had issues with. As far as I can see, there's no way to switch off the login in SQL Servers. If there could be a way to switch off the login, for transactions, or in operations, or tables, that'd be great."
"The lock files and login are two features we've had issues with. As far as I can see, there's no way to switch off the login in SQL Servers."
"The only issue that I have is that it depends on hardware resources, it takes a lot, that is the only set back with the solution."
"Sometimes, plugins (from third parties) are not updated."
"I have noticed that when I switch to less powerful machines, IntelliJ seems to use up the RAM and the machine gets really slow and really hot quite quickly, which is not the case with Visual Studio."
"One of the most important things to improve is the consumption of resources, mainly memory."
"Sometimes, plugins (from third parties) are not updated."
"One of the main issues with JetBrains IDEs is that it is very heavy, taking a lot of time to load and using a lot of memory."
"One thing I think could be improved in JetBrains IDEs is the integration with ChatGPT, which I feel could be deeper."
"I see as a disadvantage the high prices of the license purchase that is almost $ 500 per year since this limits the use of IDE and especially for those developers who work on their own since it requires a large investment."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Because it's 2012 version, it's a one-off enterprise license that we have never had to upgrade."
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893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Wholesaler/Distributor
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for JetBrains IDEs?
I am aware of the pricing and licensing of JetBrains IDEs, which I believe is around ninety-nine dollars for a year. I find that to be a very reasonable rate.
What needs improvement with JetBrains IDEs?
One thing I think could be improved in JetBrains IDEs is the integration with ChatGPT, which I feel could be deeper. Some of it is a bit sketchy; it would be great to be able to follow the same thr...
What is your primary use case for JetBrains IDEs?
I use JetBrains IDEs for building applications with Python as the backend. I use JetBrains IDEs as my IDE for really everything, including for database management. I connect through my database the...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Boeing, Sony, Honda, Oracle, BMW, Samsung
Citi, Siemens, Salesforce, Twitter, HP, New York Times, Pintrest, Airbnb, Expedia, Samsung, Volkswagen, Wikipedia, NASA
Find out what your peers are saying about JetBrains IDEs vs. dbForge Studio for SQL Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.