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Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials vs. Visual Studio App Center (discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials

    Score9.6 out of 10
    N/ARedgate's SQL Toolbelt Essentials includes industry-standard tools for SQL Server development & deployment, enabling users to include SQL Server databases in agile processes and enabilng developers to embed robust and scalable development practices.

    $1,209

    per year per user (1-4 users)

    Visual Studio App Center (discontinued)

    Score6.9 out of 10
    N/AVisual Studio App Center was a solution used to build, test, release, and monitor mobile and desktop apps, as well as to continuously monitor real-time performance. The product was discontinued in March 2025, and is no longer available.

    $40

    per month per build concurrency

    Pricing
    Redgate SQL Toolbelt EssentialsVisual Studio App Center (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Builds
    $40
    per month per build concurrency
    Standard Test Plan
    $99
    per month per build concurrency
    Enterprise Test Plan
    $499
    per month per build concurrency
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Redgate SQL Toolbelt EssentialsVisual Studio App Center (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Redgate SQL Toolbelt EssentialsVisual Studio App Center (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Redgate
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Redgate SQL Toolbelt EssentialsVisual Studio App Center (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Azure DevOps
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Oracle SQL Developer
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Azure DevOps Server
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Redgate SQL Toolbelt EssentialsVisual Studio App Center (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (14 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.6
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Redgate SQL Toolbelt EssentialsVisual Studio App Center (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Redgate
    We use SQL Compare to troubleshoot performance problems quite a bit since our data model is more like a template and not everything is 100% in sync and customization occurs between different client databases. We continually get pulled into performance issues and the developers will say Client A is performing different than Client B, why? Using SQL Compare, we usually find that one client was tuned and had indexes altered or added that weren't deployed to all clients or other objects weren't deployed correctly during the release. On the other hand, since our data model practices allow client databases to drift I tried to create a new golden image by trying to compare multiple databases based on the same data model and found it to be a very difficult process to complete using SQL Compare. SQL Compare gave me too much information and doesn't allow enough filtering to eliminate a lot of the noise.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Honestly, it's an all around solution that needs some enhancements. Need to build an app, check! Need to test that app, check! Need to debug that app, check! Visual Studio App Center is a well rounded platform for multiple types of builds and services.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Redgate
    • Simple and easy comparison of database schemas and data. Differences can be copied or synced from one database to another with a click of a button.
    • You can save "projects" so that you can easily rerun a previous comparison whenever you need to.
    • It has a very simple, easy to learn interface. I've never needed to read any documentation or watch any tutorials in order to figure out how to do something.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • It supplies the right native integration for test cases both IOS and Android
    • Constant device updates means you are working with the right builds to support product use cases
    • Excels in automated test cases that are easy to implement, monitor, and digest results
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Redgate
    • Pricing.... I wish there was an inexpensive developer version I could buy for myself.
    • Portability.... I would like to use it from a flash drive so I can use it where ever I am asked to work.
    • Unbundled.... This may be available already but I dont' recall I can buy it cheaply as a stand-alone product. Its only part of the bundle - cost effectively.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Webview support was lacking
    • User management seems a bit disconnected from the standard Microsoft ecosystem. Almost feels like you are managing local users and sharing access more than an enterprise solution
    • Price could be better
    • Buggy on some of the latest versions of windows
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Redgate
    It's a good tool to have, but becomes expensive to buy a user license for each developer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Redgate
    They have a great community website where you can search for answers but are also very responsive when it comes to direct support.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Redgate
    I've used Visual Studio Database Projects for this type of work in the past with some success, but Redgate SQL Compare is faster, more transparent, and simply easier to use. Faster is self explanatory. More transparent, means that it's much easier to set up your desired options for schema change deployment scripts. Easier to use, It's really dead simple. Start a project, connect your source, connect destination, click compare.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    The biggest benefit is in integrations and plug-ins, as well as the fact that it's not open source. I know open source is popular, but we have all been on the downside of open source and waiting for things to be voted up or a contribution to fix an issue. This alone makes VSAC a nice solution! Plus, it comes with a complete IDE integration of services, documentation, and is light weight
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Redgate
    • Makes deployment fairly simple. Cutting our deployment time down.
    • With the SDK, we can customize our deployment process very quickly and easily.
    • History is not great, it does create scripts you can go back and see but it would be nice to have a quicker version view by object to save time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Cut down on time to delivery enhancements and overall builds to users
    • Helps test new proposed releases with ease
    • Cuts down on local build issues as it does do a good job with local development environments as well
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots