

Tryon said that one of the things he likes about SQL Developer over Toad is that Oracle is letting the user community develop plug-ins. The freeware license is available for up to five users within an organization and expires every 60 days, while commercial versions of Toad range from $870 to about $4900 per seat, according to Quest Software's Web site.

But the Toad Freeware license comes with restrictions. Toad for Oracle is offered in both freeware and commercial versions. "I find that very similar to, but the cost is right," said Chris Tryon, a Project Raptor beta tester and manager of programming at Hatch Mott MacDonald, an engineering consulting firm based in Milburn, New Jersey. Oracle said the tool is available free of charge without restriction. The Toad program has a nice plug-in for performance tuning, whereas with the Oracle tool you have to switch over to Grid Control or their application server.ĭatabase administratorProgressive Medical Inc.ĭatabase professionals said that while Toad for Oracle software is more mature and offers more features, it's hard to ignore the price for SQL Developer.
