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Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials vs Toad for Oracle comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essent...
Ranking in Database Development and Management
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Toad for Oracle
Ranking in Database Development and Management
7th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials is 4.8%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Toad for Oracle is 2.8%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Toad for Oracle2.8%
Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials4.8%
Other92.4%
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

CS
Director, Enterprise Data Management at Glatfelter Insurance Group
SQL Search and change automation functionality help us manage our code repository and databases
The biggest problem with the Redgate SQL Toolbelt is just how heavy it is; it seems to take a lot of resources. It takes a lot of memory and a lot of processing power to run, and that tends to slow things down a bit. Making it a little more lightweight while still doing the same thing, as much as possible, is what we would like to see in the future. I've noticed that Microsoft SSMS runs much quicker without RedGate installed than it does with it installed. From bootup of the app to opening query windows and connections, SSMS is quicker without Redgate than with, by a significant margin. The other area for improvement is regarding licensing. Every month or two my SSMS loses it's redgate license key and I need to re-enter the key to continue using Red Gate, even though the license is annual.
Mark Stocks - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President, Director Enterprise Architecture at JE Dunn Construction
Uses trusted data to support financial forecasting and automate complex calculations through daily development workflows
The best features Toad for Oracle offers are the ability to access the database objects and see them in a very simplified manner. The simplified view helps me in my work as it makes troubleshooting easier. Toad for Oracle has positively impacted our organization because our financial forecasting data set is trusted throughout the company because of the ability for us to debug and analyze the data with Toad for Oracle. This trust in the data set has affected business decisions and efficiency by creating a completely separate data department because of the value that we saw with our data because of how we were able to organize and extract data from Oracle with Toad for Oracle.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is easy to track the reports, this is what is most valuable for me."
"The most valuable feature is SQL Search."
"A quite simple feature that I have not encountered elsewhere is the "Make Code" feature. I can easily export a complex SQL statement to a programming language. This is a great timesaver as I do not have to type in all of the escape/concatenation characters just to create a SQL statement in C# or C++."
"Toad has a lot of features that are very useful, fast, and well developed."
"Toad for Oracle has proven to be better than other tools since we have never experienced any crashes."
"The tool evaluates non-optimized queries and generates the queries in a way that is more optimal - in addition to giving us some good practices for code development."
"The most valuable feature of Toad for Oracle is the fashion browser and the Schema browser. It is very complete."
"One of the most valuable features of Toad for Oracle is its ability to manage sessions by killing those that are hung or blocking other sessions."
"Simply the best GUI software for administration is the most valuable aspect for me."
"I find Toad easy to use and I love the Workspace feature, which allows me to set up projects so that I can open SQL files applicable to what I am working on at any particular time."
 

Cons

"I would like to see the bandwidth increase allowing me to easily analyze more data."
"The biggest problem with the Redgate SQL Toolbelt is just how heavy it is; it seems to take a lot of resources."
"Improvement wise, for the user it should show the minimum features on the screen and not all the features. Toad has a lot of features, but most users will use only 5 or 10 based on their role. Nobody needs all the features, and they should provide the option to choose only the required features. Only minimum requirements should be enabled by default. When all the features are shown, the performance is not good; it loads slowly and has hundreds of popups and unnecessary questions."
"There could be a tool for automated SQL query functioning."
"It would be beneficial if Toad for Oracle could incorporate OEM features, as having monitoring capabilities in the same interface would simplify workload and management tasks."
"Scalability falls short for my organization because from a scalability perspective, the software sometimes seems bloated when installing it on a new machine, and it would be nice if we could reduce the amount of features we are actually installing and keep it streamlined for our current needs."
"I'd like reporting to be more available. If it was a feature that was already installed, more people would take advantage of it."
"There should also be a better "cancel query" option as sometimes one cancels a query, but then it still might run for a long time, and then one has to crash Toad in order to cancel the query."
"There may be an issue with processing limitations but this cannot be confirmed as a problem with the product or with the newest releases."
"Sometimes it works in some areas, but in others, it doesn't. Like when you copy, you find that it's blank and doesn't copy anything. So, there are some objects that do copy, and sometimes they don't."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is about $3,500 USD per individual to buy, and then it's about 20% per year for renewal."
"Our fees are paid on an annual basis."
"There are paid and free-for-use versions of the product."
"I would rate it six, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"The professional edition is about $1,000 AUD ($700 USD) and the developer version is about twice that much."
"Toad for Oracle has a relatively high cost compared to other similar tools."
"The product's pricing is just right because if it were slightly higher, it would not have been as widely adopted as it currently is in our organization."
"My advice is to try to use the three-year maintenance agreement if possible."
"The pricing is okay, it's reasonable."
"In my opinion, this solution is a little expensive, but I understand that good programs cost more money."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Toad for Oracle?
The licensing cost for Toad for Oracle is relatively high, with their license and DPA suite totaling around five thousand dollars.
What needs improvement with Toad for Oracle?
Toad for Oracle can be improved by working with Microsoft Fabric.
What is your primary use case for Toad for Oracle?
My main use case for Toad for Oracle is accessing data in Oracle and building PL/SQL database objects, packages, procedures, and functions. A quick specific example of how I use Toad for Oracle in ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Thinger.fi, Churchill College Univeristy of Cambridge, Margin Business Solutions Ltd., 4Penny.net, Sportinginsider.net, Lockheed Martin, Phillip Securities Pte Ltd, Nmbrs
intel, ebay, uber, mars, microsoft
Find out what your peers are saying about Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials vs. Toad for Oracle and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.