SQLlySQL Server & Azure SQL client for Mac, Windows and Linux
SQLly started life as a SQL Server workbench, and it shows: T-SQL IntelliSense, real execution plans, Query Store insights, SQL Agent, Extended Events and Microsoft Entra sign-in for Azure SQL - in a native app that runs on a Mac or a Linux box as happily as on Windows.
- Connects over
- TDS, SQLly's own native driver
- Default port
- 1433
- Sign-in
- SQL login, or Microsoft Entra (browser or device code)
- Also covers
- Azure SQL Database
What SQLly does for SQL Server
SQL Server was SQLly’s first engine, so it has the deepest toolset: everything the other engines get, plus the SQL Server-only pieces like SQL Agent, Extended Events and the guided designers.
Azure SQL with Microsoft Entra
Sign in with Entra through the browser or a device code - no service-principal secret just to get IntelliSense. SQLly lists the Azure SQL servers your account can see, and when Azure’s firewall blocks you it offers to add your IP (or a range you choose) using your own Entra permissions.
Azure SQL βPlans that explain themselves
Actual plans come from SET STATISTICS XML and estimated ones from SET SHOWPLAN_XML. Both open as a ranked list of plain-language findings, an operator tree and a diagram - and you can open a saved .sqlplan too.
Query Store, SQL Agent, Extended Events
Query Insights reads Query Store, SQL Agent shows jobs, history, schedules, alerts and operators and scripts every change for you to review, and Extended Events is built in. Include Statistics wraps a run in SET STATISTICS TIME, IO when you want the numbers inline.
Procedure Mode
When a script starts with a procedure definition, the Proc toggle adds a parameter strip. Run deploys the routine - switching CREATE and ALTER for you - then calls it with your values, and an optional Rollback checkbox undoes the whole cycle.
Read-only connections, read-only AI
A read-only connection refuses xp_cmdshell, sp_configure, sp_OACreate, OPENROWSET and OPENDATASOURCE, even written in brackets. Queries composed by the AI drawer, the MCP server or the command line run in a rolled-back transaction behind a statement screen.
Rollback wrap done properly
Turn on the auto-rollback setting and your batch runs as SET XACT_ABORT ON; BEGIN TRANSACTION; β¦; ROLLBACK TRANSACTION;, so a mid-batch error cannot leave half a change behind.
Connect to SQL Server or Azure SQL
- Download SQLly for macOS, Windows or Linux from the download page and open it.
- Create a connection and choose SQL Server, or Azure SQL Database for a managed Azure database.
- Enter the server - the port defaults to 1433 - or paste an ADO.NET-style connection string, a JDBC
jdbc:sqlserver://URL or asqlserver://URL and let SQLly fill in the fields. A password inside the string goes straight to your OS keychain. - Pick how to sign in: a SQL login (or a saved account whose password lives in your keychain), or Microsoft Entra by browser or device code. With Entra you can pick an Azure SQL server from the discovered list.
- Test, save and connect. Tag the connection with its environment so a Production server looks unmistakably like one, and browse databases, schemas and objects in the explorer.
Already have your servers in DataGrip, DBeaver, TablePlus or Navicat? Import them in one step - SQLly asks for each password the first time you connect instead of reading it from the other tool’s file.
Every SQLly tool on SQL Server
This is the same engine matrix the app uses to enable or disable its menus, so what you read here is what you get. Where a tool doesn’t apply to SQL Server, the app says why - and so do we.
| Tool | SQL Server |
|---|---|
| Explorer, IntelliSense and hover cards | Yes |
| Edit rows in the results grid | Yes |
| Estimated execution plans | Yes SET SHOWPLAN_XML. |
| Actual (executed) plans | Yes SET STATISTICS XML. |
| Activity Monitor | Yes |
| Query Insights | Yes Query Store. |
| Server Dashboard | Yes |
| Disk Usage and Object Browser | Yes |
| Maintenance menu | Yes DBCC CHECKDB, UPDATE STATISTICS, index rebuild and reorganize. |
| Schema Compare and Schema History | Yes |
| Data Compare | Yes |
| Data Transfer | Yes |
| Test Data Generator | Yes |
| Table Structure Editor | Yes |
| Index Analyzer | Yes |
| Security editor (users, roles, grants) | Yes Logins and users. |
| Backup / Restore | Yes |
| Create and drop database dialogs | Yes |
| Procedure Mode | Yes |
| SQL Agent, Extended Events and guided designers | Yes SQL Agent is SQL Server only; Azure SQL Database has none. |
| SSH tunnels, proxies and Kubernetes port-forward | Yes |
| Read-only connections | Yes |
| Auto-rollback safety wrap | Yes |
Hosted and compatible engines
These are choices in SQLly’s connection editor in their own right. Each one sets the right port and encryption default, and a short note under the connection options says what differs from plain SQL Server.
- Azure SQL Database
Questions about SQL Server in SQLly
Can I use SQLly as an SSMS alternative on a Mac?
Yes. SQLly runs natively on macOS (a signed and notarized Apple Silicon build) as well as Windows and Linux, and connects to SQL Server and Azure SQL with its own built-in driver, so there is no Windows virtual machine, ODBC driver or Java runtime to install.
Does SQLly support Microsoft Entra ID sign-in for Azure SQL?
Yes. SQL Server and Azure SQL connections can sign in with Microsoft Entra through the browser or a device code. SQLly can also list the Azure SQL servers your account can see, and offer to add your IP to a server's firewall when Azure blocks the connection.
Which SQL Server admin tools does SQLly include?
Activity Monitor, Server Dashboard, Query Insights over Query Store, SQL Agent (on SQL Server; Azure SQL Database has no Agent), Extended Events, Backup / Restore, Index Analyzer, the Security editor for logins and users, Schema and Data Compare, Disk Usage and the guided designers. Anything destructive opens as SQL for you to read before it runs.
Read more
In the docs
Other databases
Bring your SQL Server home to the pig
SQLly is free to start on macOS, Windows and Linux, with no account required.