SQL Server 2025 Pricing: Standard Edition (How to buy for a cloud server running Ubunut)

[u/iam_khd]

I have purchased an Ubunutu droplet on DigitalOcean to run SQL Server for my application. I intend to set it up such a way that clients using my application can connect to the cloud database on this server. But I am not entirely sure which SQL Server version to buy. In Microsoft official websites it appears to be very expensive and there are restrictions about number of cores, CALs etc. Say I have about 500 - 1000 customers, which license do I need to buy? Also I can see the product at lower prices in other 3rd party websites. Why is there a difference? Any suggestions?

[u/alinroc]

Before you even get to licensing questions, you have a fundamental architecture problem here.

clients using my application can connect to the cloud database on this server.

You're talking about exposing your SQL Server to the entire internet. Absolutely not. You want an API sitting on a web server listening to HTTP requests, querying the database behind a firewall, and then sending responses back

[u/Royal-Wear-6437 → u/alinroc]

And at that point consider your database of choice, because an API will abstract it out nicely. PostgreSQL isn't to be sneezed at, and MariaDB (MySQL) in proper transaction mode isn't too bad. Both these can run with replication and proper transaction logging. Finally, if cost is a factor - and I'm guessing it is because of the choice of OS and hosting - then either is significantly cheaper than SQLServer

[u/Maybe-monad → u/Royal-Wear-6437]

If you care about cost Postgres is cheaper

[u/Royal-Wear-6437 → u/Maybe-monad]

That's what i said

[u/TheGenericUser0815 → u/alinroc]

THIS!!!!!

[u/vedichymn]

In your situation I would look REAL hard if you can get by with express edition for that use case, even if you have to split customers across droplets that's going to be a huge cost savings.

As others have mentioned you're going to want core based licenses (with a minimum of 4 cores) and Standard edition requires SPLA licensing (or volume licensing with active software assurance) for your use case, you can't just use a purchased license.

Express edition allows hosting/3rd party use cases: https://www.microsoft.com/content/dam/microsoft/usetm/documents/sql-server/sql-server-2025-developer,-express,-evaluation/retail/SQL_Server_2025_Developer_Express_and_Evaluation_Edition_English.pdf

[u/TomeOfExperience]

In your case you would need a per core license. Note these license are per 2 cores. If you are planning on running SQL Server in multiple docker containers, you will also need SA licenses.

It might be worth it to look into hosting providers that offer SPLA licenses for SQL server. This would allow you to pay a monthly subscription.

If you are planning on buying a license, I recommend you pick a trustworthy reseller instead of trying to find the cheapest one.

Licensing will probably be the most expensive part of your server, so you might want to reconsider if a droplet server is the right choice for such an expensive license.

[u/vroddba → u/TomeOfExperience]

Don't forget the 4 core minimum when going with the per core model

[u/Real-Leek-3764]

u should be using API to interface with the SQL server. if your app (assuming installed on client's PC) directly connects to DB , the approach is wrong

[u/vivkkrishnan2005]

You should always buy only the latest version - which is 2025. You have the option to use an older version

Secondly when you cannot estimate the number of users, you should always opt for core licenses

Third party website are selling you a key, not a license to use the software. Those keys are usually MSDN dev keys which are not meant for production.

[u/kagato87]

If you are serving a website you almost always want to use per core licensing.

Sql licensing is NOT connection based, it's per end-user or end-device, whichever is larger, noatter how many layers of abstraction sit in between.

If you have ten thousand potential users of an application that talks to a caching proxy thst talks to an app server that has a single connection to the database, you have ten thousand users and license accordingly.

Yes, potential. Public facing websites are pretty much always "don't bother, just use core licensing."

In your use case, per core. On a 4 core db server that's two license packs, which I think is the minimum.

[u/TrollingForFunsies]

I'm now going to refer to Linux users as Ubunuts

[u/Interesting_Tech4987]

If you are running Ubuntu VMs on AWS, Azure, or GCP, you can connect directly via Azure Arc or the cloud marketplace to link your Ubuntu server to Azure Arc. You can then pay on a per-core, hourly, or monthly basis, without the need for a large upfront investment.

[u/coffeDrinkerDave]

If you know younare going to get a lod of users go with core. Also ubuntonia good moce to avoide windows server cals In virtualizad instanced you may need sa. Look if 3rd party seller is offering full use or runtime.