For quiet some time Microsoft offered a SQL Server Developer Edition for a minimal price tag of around $50. On March 31, 2016 the SQL server blog announced that the SQL Server Developer Edition is free to download. You just need to join the Visual Studio Dev Essentials program. The dev essential program is free to join as well. This visual studio dev essentials program offers several other development tools Visual Studio Community Edition, Visual Studio Code, etc..
The developer edition of SQL Server has all the capabilities and functionalities of the enterprise edition. The only difference between enterprise edition and developer edition is the license. Based on the license agreement, developer edition and be used only for development and testing purpose. It should not be used for production.
If you are not familiar with visual studio dev essentials program, then follow the below steps to download the developer editions of SQL Server 2016 and 2014 for free. (NOTE: The steps to download SQL Server 2014 developer edition is given below separately.)
Steps To Download SQL Server Developer Edition Latest Version
- Go to https://www.visualstudio.com/dev-essentials/.
- Click the green Join Now button.
- It will take you to the online visual studio screen.
- If you have a Hotmail account or outlook.com account then use it to login to the online visual studio.
- Once logged in you will be in the Visual Studio Dev Essentials benefits baseboard.
- One among the tools listed there is the latest version of Microsoft SQL Server Developer Edition.
- Now, press the Download link. In the download screen choose the bit type (X86 or X64) and language and hit the download arrow to download the iso installation file. The iso file will be around 2.5 GB for 32 bit type and around 3 GB for 64 bit type. Based on your internet speed, the download may complete within few minutes or may take more than an hour.
- Installation steps for the downloaded developer edition is available here.
Steps To Download SQL Server 2016 Developer Edition
- Login to https://www.visualstudio.com/dev-essentials/.
- From the Visual Studio Dev Essentials benefits baseboard, press the Downloads link on the menu.
- Under the Servers, you can see the list of SQL Server Developer editions available for download.
- Press the link SQL Server 2016 with Service Pack 2 to go to the download results page.
- From the download results page select and click the edition to download the iso file and install the developer edition of SQL server 2016.
Steps To Download SQL Server 2014 Developer Edition
- Login to https://www.visualstudio.com/dev-essentials/.
- From the Visual Studio Dev Essentials benefits baseboard, press the Downloads link on the menu.
- Under the Servers, you can see the list of SQL Server Developer editions available for download.
- Press the link SQL Server 2014 with Service Pack 2 to go to the download results page.
- From the download results page select and click the edition to download the iso file and install the developer edition of SQL server 2014.
Downloading SQL Server 2012 Developer Edition
As of today (28-Jul-2017) Microsoft is allowing Visual Studio Dev Essentials subscription holders to download Developer editions of SQL server 2014 and 2016. For downloading SQL Server 2012 Developer edition, you need to have at least the subscription level of MSDN Platforms.
Don’t forget to read my article on free and discounted development tools and applications from Microsoft.
Thanks to Microsoft. Now I have the Developer Edition of 2016 & 2017 too.
SQL Server 2012 Developer edition doesn’t exits anymore its like gold now
Please are selling it for 544$ on ebay
and Microsoft offers no Direct Link for it , imagine that the Vendor \ manufacturer doesn’t provide it ???? That’s Microsoft my friend
What if we need SQL Server 2012 Developer Edition?
Hi, I was trying to download SQL Server 2014 Developer Edition for free, once logged in using my hotmail a/c, saying “Sorry, we couldn’t find any benefits for you.”, Unable to download. Please advise.