Pricing for SQL Server 2008 Editions

The chart below lists prices for all seven SQL Server editions. Prices are U.S. Open Business, the highest price a customer would typically pay in volume licensing. Also listed is the maximum number of processors and amount of RAM the edition can exploit, as well as the maximum database size it can support.

Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise Editions offer customers a choice between two licensing models. In the server-Client Access License (CAL) model, an organization purchases a server license for each server running SQL Server and a CAL for each client user or device. In the per-processor model, the organization typically purchases a license for each physical processor chip residing on the motherboard. (Processor cores in a multicore processor are not counted separately.)

Developer Edition is licensed on a per-developer basis; each Developer Edition license allows one developer to install and run as many copies of the software as needed for development purposes only. These instances of SQL Server can be accessed by others in the organization for purposes of end-user testing or demonstration only.