MS SQL Server 2025 Licensing FAQ (unofficial)

What's new in SQL Server 2025?

SQL Server 2025 introduces several licensing-related changes and updates, including:

• Two new developer editions - Enterprise Developer Edition and Standard Developer Edition - are now available for development and testing purposes.
• Standard Edition capacity limits increase to 32 cores and 256 GB of buffer-pool memory per instance.
• Web Edition is discontinued.
• Power BI Report Server is now included with paid SQL Server 2025 Standard and Enterprise editions, rather than requiring the Enterprise + Software Assurance entitlement that applied to earlier SQL Server versions.

Important: Check the SQL Server 2025 Product Terms and the licensing program agreement applicable to your purchase for the actual licensing rights.

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What editions are available with SQL Server 2025?

SQL Server 2025 is offered in the following editions:

• Enterprise Edition includes all features and capabilities of SQL Server and is suitable for mission critical applications and data warehousing requiring in-memory performance, security, and high availability.
• Standard Edition provides core database capabilities for mid-tier applications. It provides many of the core database features of Enterprise edition, but with limitations on scalability and high availability. It is limited to lesser of 4 sockets or 32 cores and 256 GB buffer-pool memory per instance.
• Enterprise Developer Edition is a free fully functioning version of SQL Enterprise Edition licensed for development, test, and demonstration purposes only. There's no time limit for this edition and no paid license is required, but it can't be used for production.
• Standard Developer Edition includes all the functionality of Standard Edition. There's no time limit for this edition and no paid license is required, but is licensed for use as a development and test system, not as a production server.
• Evaluation Edition is a fully functional trial version of SQL Server 2025 Enterprise Edition that automatically expires after 180 days. This edition doesn't require a paid license but can't be used for production.
• Express Edition is a freely downloadable and distributable edition suitable for entry level databases. Express edition doesn't require a paid license and can be used in production. SQL Server Express can be seamlessly upgraded to other higher end editions of SQL Server. It has limited scalability and compute capacity - lesser of 1 socket or 4 cores, 1410 MB buffer pool per instance, and 50GB maximum relational database size. SQL Server Express LocalDB is a lightweight version of Express edition that has all its programmability features, runs in user mode and has a fast, zero-configuration installation and a short list of prerequisites.
• Web Edition is not available for 2025, however SQL Server 2022 Web edition may be available under the Microsoft Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA).

For more information check the following:
Editions and supported features of SQL Server 2025

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What licensing options are available for SQL Server 2025?

There are two main license models that apply to SQL server:

• Per Core;
• Server + CAL.

Newly acquired SQL Server Enterprise Edition licenses support only the Per Core model. Core licenses are sold in packs of two. That is, one SKU, called 2 core pack, contains two core licenses.

SQL Server Standard Edition can be licensed either under the Per Core model or under the Server + CAL model. CAL stands for Client Access License.

SQL Server Enterprise Developer Edition, Standard Developer Edition, and Express Edition do not require a paid license.

SQL Server licenses are platform agnostic and permit deployment and use on Windows or Linux systems.

SQL Server can be licensed in one of the following ways:

• Perpetual licenses - available through a number of MS licensing agreements and programs as Core, Server, and CAL licenses with or without Software Assurance (SA). SA offers a number of additional rights and benefits briefly outlined below. The license itself does not expire. SA, on the other hand, must be renewed to remain active.
• Subscription licenses - valid only for the subscription term. Subscription licenses include Software Assurance or SA-equivalent rights.
• Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) or on-demand cloud offerings. With SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc, customers have the option of purchasing SQL Server using a pay-as-you-go model instead of purchasing licenses. The PAYG model provides per-hour consumption-type billing for on-premise or hosted SQL Server instances and requires Azure subscription and installation of the Azure Connected Machine agent and the Azure Extension for SQL Server. Customers may also choose SQL Server offerings from cloud service providers, such as GCP, AWS, Azure, etc. SQL Server Enterprise and Standard Editions are often available either as VM images with preinstalled SQL Server software (for example, SQL Server on Azure VM) or as managed SQL instances/databases (e.g., Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance). The cloud service charges for such VMs and services include the cost of SQL licenses.

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What is Software Assurance?

Software Assurance (SA) is a software support offering available through the Volume Licensing programs. SA is purchased together with the base license and must be renewed on a periodic basis to remain active. Software Subscription licenses acquired under a Microsoft Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE) or Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) provide the same SA rights and benefits during the term of the Subscription as licenses with SA coverage. Software Assurance Benefits are not available to Microsoft Customer Agreement or Microsoft Cloud Agreement customers.

SQL Server SA benefits include:

• 24x7 Problem Resolution Support.
• New Version Rights. Customers are entitled for a free upgrade to a new version of the software when it becomes available.
• License Mobility Across Server Farms allows reassignment of SQL Server licenses within a server farm more than once every 90 days.
• License Mobility Through Software Assurance permits reassignment of SQL Server licenses to shared servers hosted on Microsoft Azure Services or with qualified License Mobility through Software Assurance Partners. Note: Subscription licenses purchased through Microsoft Customer Agreement (MCA) do not include License Mobility through SA.
• Flexible Virtualization Benefit allows assignment of subscription licenses or licenses with Software Assurance to Authorized Outsourcers' servers (shared or dedicated) under the Outsourcing Software Management conditions.
• Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server is an Azure-specific benefit that enables customers to use SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance or subscription licenses to pay a reduced rate (base rate) on
  • Azure SQL Database vCore-based options such as managed instance, vCore-based single database, and vCore-based elastic pool;
  • SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machines (including, but not limited to, Azure Dedicated Host);
  • SQL Server Integration Services.
• Option to license by virtual machine allows to license SQL Server 2025 by virtual machine (by licensing all virtual cores assigned to a VM) and move licenses with the virtual machine to another server in the same server farm at any time.
• Unlimited Virtualization (applicable to SQL Server Enterprise Edition under the core licensing model only) permits customers to run any number of SQL Server Enterprise Edition instances in an unlimited number of VMs on a fully licensed server with active SA coverage.
• Unlimited Containers (applicable to SQL Server Standard and Enterprise Editions under the core licensing model only) allows customers to run any number of containers in a VM licensed under the Option to license by virtual machine.
• Fail-Over Rights. For each primary SQL server covered with active SA, customers are entitled to:
  • One fail-over operating system environment (OSE) for any purpose, including high availability, on any server (subject to Outsourcing Software Management clause);
  • One fail-over OSE for disaster recovery purposes on any server (subject to Outsourcing Software Management clause);
  • One fail-over OSE for disaster recovery purposes on Microsoft Azure servers subject to the Ratio of Qualified Licenses to Azure vCores as defined in the Azure Hybrid Benefit terms for SQL Server.

Note:
With SQL Server 2025, customers using Enterprise or Standard editions (even without active Software Assurance) are permitted to run Power BI Report Server without purchasing additional licenses. For versions of SQL Server Enterprise Edition released prior to 2025, Power BI Report Server use rights apply only to Enterprise Edition Core Licenses with active SA.

For the complete list of Software Assurance benefits check the following pages:
Software Assurance
Software Assurance Product Terms
Microsoft Azure Product Terms

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What is Azure Hybrid Benefit?

SQL Server licenses with Software Assurance and software subscription licenses include Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB) - a licensing offering that grants customers the ability to allocate their SQL Server licenses to:

• Azure SQL Database (vCore-based purchasing model only);
• Azure SQL Managed Instance;
• SQL Server on Azure VM;
• SQL Server Integration Services.

Azure Hybrid Benefit also applies to Azure Dedicated Host but doesn't apply to the Azure SQL DTU-based purchasing model or the serverless compute tier of Azure SQL Database.

The number of vCores that can be used on Azure for each SQL Server Core license (Ratio of Qualified Licenses to Azure vCores) depends on the tier of Azure SQL services and SQL Server edition. For example:

• 1 core of SQL Server Standard Edition gives
  • 1 vCPU of SQL Server Standard Virtual Machines, or
  • 1 vCore of SQL Managed Instance enabled by Azure Arc - General Purpose, or
  • 1 vCore of Azure SQL Database (Elastic Pool and Single Database)/Azure SQL Managed Instance - General Purpose, or
  • 1 vCore of Azure Data Factory SQL Server Integration Services (Standard).
• 4 cores of SQL Server Standard Edition give
  • 1 vCPU of SQL Server Enterprise Virtual Machines, or
  • 1 vCore of SQL Managed Instance enabled by Azure Arc - Business Critical, or
  • 1 vCore of Azure SQL Database (Elastic Pool and Single Database)/Azure SQL Managed Instance - Business Critical , or
  • 1 vCore of Azure Data Factory SQL Server Integration Services (Enterprise).
• 1 core of SQL Server Enterprise Edition gives
  • 1 vCPU of SQL Server Enterprise Virtual Machines, or
  • 4 vCPUs of SQL Server Standard Virtual Machines, or
  • 4 vCores of SQL Managed Instance enabled by Azure Arc - General Purpose, or
  • 1 vCore of SQL Managed Instance enabled by Azure Arc - Business Critical, or
  • 4 vCores of Azure SQL Database (Elastic Pool and Single Database)/Azure SQL Managed Instance - General Purpose, or
  • 1 vCore of Azure SQL Database (Elastic Pool and Single Database)/Azure SQL Managed Instance - Business Critical, or
  • 1 vCore of Azure Data Factory SQL Server Integration Services (Enterprise), or
  • 4 vCores of Azure Data Factory SQL Server Integration Services (Standard).

Additionally, AHB provides 180 days of dual-use rights (on-premises or third-party cloud, and in Azure) to allow for data migration.

When using SQL Server on Azure under Azure Hybrid Benefit rights, customers should indicate such use through the Azure portal or with the Azure command line APIs.

For more information about Azure Hybrid Benefit, check the following pages:
Microsoft Azure Product Terms.
Azure Hybrid Benefit - SQL virtual machine in Azure
Azure Hybrid Benefit - Azure SQL Database & SQL Managed Instance

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What is Azure Arc, and how does SQL Server Pay-As-You-Go licensing work?

Azure Arc is a Microsoft management platform that allows on-premises, hosted, and cloud-based servers to be connected to Azure and managed through a single control plane. Azure Arc can inventory, monitor, patch, and manage SQL Server instances regardless of where they are running.

For SQL Server, Azure Arc also provides a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) licensing option. Instead of purchasing perpetual SQL Server licenses upfront, users can connect their SQL Server instances to Azure Arc and pay an hourly subscription fee based on the number of licensed cores being used, making it well suited for temporary environments, development and testing, seasonal workloads, etc. Azure Arc directly supports only the core-based licensing methods for both SQL Server Standard and Enterprise editions. Server + CAL licensing is not available through Azure Arc PAYG.

Key Azure Arc benefits include:

• No upfront license purchase - SQL Server licensing costs become an operational expense billed through an Azure subscription.
• Flexible scaling - Add or remove SQL Server instances without purchasing additional perpetual licenses.
• Hybrid and multi-cloud support - Works with on-premises servers, hosted environments, VMware, Hyper-V, and public clouds.
• Software Assurance-equivalent benefits - SQL Server PAYG includes many of the rights normally associated with licenses covered by active Software Assurance or qualifying subscription licenses.

Azure Arc requires the Azure Connected Machine agent to be installed on the physical or virtual machine. The Azure Extension for SQL Server is then installed to connect the SQL Server instances to Azure Arc and to report SQL Server usage to Azure for billing purposes. Charges apply only while the SQL Server instance is running and reporting usage through Azure Arc. Servers must periodically maintain connectivity with Azure to remain compliant with the PAYG licensing model.

Note:
Azure Arc pay-as-you-go licensing does not change the underlying SQL Server licensing rules. Minimum licensing requirements, edition restrictions, virtualization rights, and other SQL Server licensing terms continue to apply.

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How to license a SQL server under the Per Core license model?

Under the Per Core license model, each server running SQL Server or any of its components must be assigned an appropriate number of core licenses. The number of required licenses can be determined either by the total number of physical CPU cores on the server, or based on the number of virtual cores allocated to individual VMs running SQL Server software.

Note: The option to license SQL Server 2025 by virtual cores allocated to a virtual machine is only available for subscription licenses or licenses with Software Assurance.

With the Per Core model, client access licenses (CALs) are not required and there is no limit to the number of connecting users or devices.

Licensing by physical core

To license SQL Server Enterprise Edition or SQL Server Standard Edition software by physical cores, all physical cores on the server must be licensed with the respective SQL Server Core licenses. A minimum of four core licenses is required for each physical processor on the server.

For example:

• a server with two 8-core CPUs needs 2 x 8 = 16 core licenses or 8 two-core packs;
• a server with one CPU with two cores (if you still can find one like that) requires 4 core licenses (to satisfy the requirement of a minimum of four core licenses per processor).

If all physical cores on a server are licensed with SQL Server Enterprise Edition Core licenses, customers can run SQL Server software in a number of operating system environments (physical and/or virtual) equal to the number of core licenses assigned to the server. In such configuration there are no restrictions on the number of virtual cores (vCPUs) that can be allocated to each OSE/VM. Also, there is no limit to the number of SQL instances running on a licensed server.

Additional SQL Server Enterprise Edition Core licenses can be assigned to a fully licensed server to increase the maximum number of VMs (virtual OSEs) permitted to run SQL Server software. Each additional core license allows deployment of SQL Server software in one additional VM.

Maximum virtualization can be achieved via the Software Assurance Unlimited Virtualization benefit. Customers are permitted to run any number of instances of SQL Server software in an unlimited number of VMs on a server with all physical cores fully licensed with SQL Server Enterprise Edition Core subscription licenses or licenses with Software Assurance.

If all physical cores on a server are licensed with SQL Server Standard Edition Core licenses, customers can run any number of SQL instances only in the physical OSE on the licensed server.

Licensing by individual VM

To license an individual VM with SQL Server Enterprise Edition or SQL Server Standard Edition Core licenses, all virtual cores (v-cores, virtual processors, virtual CPUs) allocated to the VM must be licensed with the corresponding SQL Server Core subscription licenses or licenses with Software Assurance, subject to a minimum of four core licenses per VM.

For example:

• a VM configured with 6 vCPU requires 6 core licenses or 3 two-core packs;
• a VM with 2 vCPU assigned requires 4 core licenses (to satisfy the requirement of a minimum of four core licenses per VM).

Additional core licenses are required if any of the virtual cores in a VM is mapped to more than one hardware thread.

There is no limit to the number of SQL instances running in a licensed VM.

For more information about the SQL Server Per Core license model see the Microsoft SQL Server 2025 licensing guidance.

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How to license a SQL server using the Server + CAL license model?

The Server + CAL license model is applicable to SQL Server Standard Edition only.

Note: The right to use SQL Server in a virtual machine under the Server + CAL license model does not require subscription licenses or licenses with Software Assurance.

In order to license SQL Server Standard Edition software under the Server + CAL license model, customers need to purchase a Server license for each operating system environment (physical server or VM) and a client access license (CAL) for each user (User CAL) and/or device (Device CAL) accessing SQL server or any of its components. A Device CAL is required for every device not operated by humans. For human operated devices, such as PCs, mobile phones, hand-held terminals, User CALs or Device CALs can be used. A single CAL permits access to any number of licensed SQL servers of the same or earlier version.

SQL Server CALs are required for all users or devices that input data into, query, or view data from a SQL Server database either directly or indirectly (through a pooling device, an intermediary system or product, a web-based application, etc.). Such technique of aggregating or pooling connections to a SQL server is defined as "multiplexing". Multiplexing does not reduce the number of CALs required. To learn more about multiplexing and its impact on SQL Server licensing see the Multiplexing Overview doc. In situations where users or devices can not be accurately counted the Per Core license model should be used.

CALs are not required for access by another licensed SQL servers. CALs allow access to server software running on customer's servers only.

If a SQL server/VM is licensed with a subscription license or a license with active Software Assurance, then all CALs used to access the server must also be acquired as subscription licenses or have active Software Assurance.

When licensing VMs under the Server + CAL license model, the number of virtual or physical cores has no affect on the number of Server licenses required. For each Server license, customers may run any number of SQL instances in only one operating system environment (physical or virtual).

More details about the Server + CAL license model can be found in the Microsoft SQL Server 2025 Licensing guide.

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How to license a container running SQL Server software?

All rules and conditions applicable to VMs under the Per Core and Server + CAL license models are applicable to containers with the following considerations:

• a container is considered to be a virtual OSE/VM;
• the physical or virtual cores available to that container are considered to be hardware threads.

The Product Terms document defines a hardware thread as either a physical core or a hyper-thread in a physical processor. When licensing a container under the Per Core license model, customers must assign a Core license for each hardware thread mapped to the container, subject to a minimum of four licenses per container.

Customers may also take advantage of the SA Unlimited Containers benefit by licensing a VM (virtual OSE) by virtual core with Enterprise or Standard Core subscription licenses or licenses with active Software Assurance (Option to license by virtual machine). Such configuration allows to run any number of instances of SQL Server software in any number of containers in a licensed VM. When electing this benefit, a container is not considered to be a VM/virtual OSE.

Additional information about licensing SQL Server in containers, including examples of different licensing scenarios can be found in the Microsoft SQL Server 2025 Licensing guide.

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How to license different SQL Server software components?

Any VM or operating system environment (OSE) running any of the licensed SQL Server components must be fully licensed. A single SQL licenses cannot be separated to license individual SQL Server components installed on different VMs/OSEs.

The list of licensed components includes:

• SQL Server Database Engine (DB),
• Master Data Services (MDS),
• Analysis Services (AS),
• Integration Services (IS),
• Reporting Services (RS),
• Data Quality Services (DQS),
• Machine Learning Services.

Management tools and other software identified as Additional Software in the Product Terms can be generally distributed and run on any number of devices for use with a licensed instance of SQL Server software.

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What is License Mobility?

Before exploring license mobility benefits, let's first review a few important definitions from the Product Terms:

• Listed Providers include entities identified by Microsoft at https://aka.ms/ListedProviders. At the time of writing the list includes Alibaba, Amazon, Google, Microsoft. This designation affects all services offered by Listed Providers (for example, VMware Cloud on AWS).
• Authorized Outsourcer means any third party service provider that is not a Listed Provider and is not using Listed Provider as a Data Center Provider as part of the outsourcing service.
• License Mobility through Software Assurance Partner (also referred as Authorized Mobility Partner) means an entity authorized by Microsoft to host customers' software on shared servers (Authorized Mobility Partners list).
• Server Farm means a single data center or two data centers, each physically located either in time zones not more than four hours apart, or within the EU or EFTA. A data center can be moved from one Server Farm to another, but not on a short-term basis. (EU is European Union; EFTA is European Free Trade Association).

Without Software Assurance (SA) coverage the following outsourcing software management and license assignment/reassignment rules apply:

• Unless explicitly permitted by the Product Terms, customer is not allowed to use or access software on devices that are under the management or control of a third party.
• Customer may use licensed copies of the software on devices that are under the day-to-day management and control of Authorized Outsourcers, provided all such devices are fully dedicated to customer's use.
• Customer may reassign a license to another server, but not less than 90 days since the last reassignment of that same license, unless the reassignment is due to permanent hardware failure or loss.

With Software Assurance customers can take advantage of the following mobility-related benefits:

• License Mobility Across Server Farms,
• License Mobility through Software Assurance,
• Flexible Virtualization,
• Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server.

License Mobility Across Server Farms

With License Mobility Across Server Farms customers can reassign SQL Server licenses to different servers within a Server Farm as often as needed. Customers may also reassign these licenses from one Server Farm to another, but not on a short-term basis (i.e., not within 90 days of the last assignment).

License Mobility through Software Assurance

With License Mobility through Software Assurance customers can reassign SQL Server licenses to shared servers only with Microsoft Azure Services or qualified License Mobility through Software Assurance Partner. The License Mobility Verification Form must be completed and submitted with each License Mobility through Software Assurance Partner providing shared servers.

License Mobility through Software Assurance rights also apply to Listed Providers' dedicated servers/hosts, with the same terms and conditions.

Customers may move SQL Server licenses from shared servers back to on-premise servers or to another party's shared servers, but not on a short term basis (not within 90 days of the last assignment). Customers are also permitted to move licensed VMs/OSEs from shared servers in one Server Farm to shared servers in another Server Farm, but not on a short-term basis (not within 90 days of the last assignment).

For each SQL Server Core license with active SA coverage, customers can use one virtual core in a VM/OSE deployed on a shared server infrastructure, subject to a minimum of 4 core licenses per VM/OSE.

For each Server license (under Server + CAL license model) with active SA coverage, customers can deploy one VM (OSE) on a shared server infrastructure. In this scenario SQL Server CALs must have active SA coverage as well.

Note: Unlimited Virtualization rights and Unlimited Containers rights do not apply when using Licensing Mobility. License Mobility is available with Software Assurance only.

For more information see the License Mobility through Microsoft Software Assurance Guide.

Flexible Virtualization

With Flexible Virtualization customers with subscription licenses or licenses with active SA may use licensed copies of the software on dedicated and/or shared servers that are under the day-to-day management and control of Authorized Outsourcers.

The Flexible Virtualization Benefit is different from License Mobility through Software Assurance in that it does not require customers to use only Authorized Mobility Partners and permits deployment to shared servers from any Authorized Outsourcer. Furthermore, customers are not required to fill out the License Mobility Verification Form.

For more details see the Flexible Virtualization Benefit Licensing Guide.

Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server

With the Azure Hybrid Benefit for SQL Server customers may move SQL Server subscription Core licenses or Core licenses with active SA to Azure and consume the following Azure SQL Services at a discount (comparing to standard pay-as-you-go rates):

• vCPU-based service tiers of Azure SQL Database (excluding serverless),
• Azure SQL Managed Instance,
• SQL Server in Azure Virtual Machines,
• SQL Server Integration Services.

Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB) for SQL Server differs from license mobility in the following key areas:

• It is applicable only to Microsoft Azure services;
• AHB provides economic benefits for moving highly virtualized workloads to Azure.SQL services;
• It also provides 180 days of dual-use rights (on-premises or third-party cloud, and in Azure) to allow for data migration.

For more details see What is Azure Hybrid Benefit? above.

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How much do SQL Server licenses cost?

As per the SQL Server 2025 pricing document, the approximate costs for different license types are as follows (in US$):

• Enterprise Edition Core (2-core pack) - $15,123
• Standard Edition Core (2-core pack) - $3,945
• Standard Edition Server - $989
• Standard Edition CAL - $230

Core licenses are sold in packs of two. That is, one SKU, called 2 core pack, contains two core licenses. The yearly Software Assurance cost can be estimated at 25% of the base license cost.

In addition, the following no-cost SQL Server 2025 options are available:

• SQL Server Enterprise Developer Edition - a fully functional Enterprise Edition licensed solely for development, testing, and demonstration purposes.
• SQL Server Standard Developer Edition - a fully functional Standard Edition licensed solely for development, testing, and demonstration purposes.
• SQL Server Express Edition - a free version of SQL Server with limited features and functionality.
• SQL Server Evaluation Edition - a time-limited (180 days) version of SQL Server for evaluation purposes.

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See also:
MS SQL Server Standard Edition Licensing Calculator
MS SQL Server Enterprise Edition Licensing Calculator
MS Windows Server Licensing Calculator
MS Windows Server Licensing FAQ