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SQL Server Developer Edition usage for local development environment

최종호 0 Reputation points
2025-10-30T22:05:53.89+00:00

Details Hello,

We are a corporate user of SQL Server Enterprise Edition for our production workloads. For local, non-production development work, our developers and citizen developers often install SQL Server Developer Edition on their individual Windows client PCs.

Typical usage scenarios include:

Feature prototyping and unit testing on a developer’s machine.

Local verification prior to deploying changes to Dev/Ops servers (including HA configuration).

Citizen developer experiments in a strictly non-production setup without end-user access.

According to Microsoft’s documentation, the Developer Edition is intended for “development and test in a non-production environment.” Our interpretation is that these local PC installations fit this description, since they are not connected to any production workloads and are not used for end-user services.

Question: Can you please clarify if this interpretation is correct from a best-practice standpoint? In particular, is using Developer Edition on local PCs for non-production development/testing considered the intended and acceptable usage pattern?

We would appreciate guidance or a reference to the official documentation that best describes this usage scenario.

Thank you.

SQL Server | Other
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  1. Azar 31,145 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-10-30T22:31:31.94+00:00

    Hi there 최종호

    Thanks for using qanda platform

    Yes — thats correct. Using SQL Server Developer Edition on local PCs for non-production development and testing is fully aligned with Microsoft’s intended use. It’s free and functionally equivalent to the Enterprise Edition but licensed only for development and test environments, not for production or serving real users.

    As long as these local instances aren’t connected to production data or used for live workloads, your described setup follows best practices.

    Microsoft SQL Server licensing guide

    If this helps kindly accept the answer thanks much.

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  2. Erland Sommarskog 127.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-10-31T22:56:24.61+00:00

    I agree with Azar, what you describe sounds as perfectly valid use of Developer Edition.

    However, beware that this is a technical forum, and you cannot get authoritative answers about legal matters here. If you would subject to a license audit, and the auditors would be a different opinion, your reference to this thread would carry very little weight.

    If you want an answer you can fully trust, you would need to contact your local Microsoft office.

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