Should I use Azure Data Studio or SSMS?

Neither comparison holds any more. Azure Data Studio retired on 28 February 2026 and receives no updates or security fixes, so it is not a live option. The real choice is between SQL Server Management Studio for administration on Windows and Visual Studio Code with the MSSQL extension for development, which is what Microsoft recommends.

Is Azure Data Studio still supported?

No. It retired on 28 February 2026 and no longer receives updates or security fixes. An installed copy still runs, but it is unpatched software holding database credentials, which is the reason to move rather than a theoretical concern.

What is the difference between SSMS and VS Code with the MSSQL extension?

SSMS is the full administration tool: SQL Server Agent, Maintenance Plans, server-level configuration, and it runs only on Windows. The MSSQL extension is development-focused, with query execution, IntelliSense, Schema Compare, Schema Designer, database operations and Copilot integration, and it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Can I run SSMS on a Mac?

No. SSMS 22 supports only 64-bit Windows 11 and Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025, and requires an x64 processor. On a Mac you would need a Windows virtual machine, or a client that runs natively on macOS and connects to SQL Server over the network.

Do my Azure Data Studio queries and projects still work?

Yes. Microsoft states that queries, scripts and SQL database projects open in Visual Studio Code without conversion, using the MSSQL extension and the SQL Database Projects extension.

Why did Microsoft retire Azure Data Studio?

Consolidation. Microsoft's stated reason is that retiring it lets the team focus investment on fewer, more capable tools, specifically Visual Studio Code and SQL Server Management Studio.

← Alternatives

Azure Data Studio vs SSMS: the comparison has changed

By Kevin Piacentini, Software Engineer & Founder of FluentDB·Updated August 6, 2026

If you are comparing these two, start with the thing that changes the answer: Azure Data Studio retired on 28 February 2026 and no longer receives updates or security fixes.

So this is not a choice between two tools any more. It is a question about what replaced one of them, which turns out to depend on whether you are doing administration or development, and on which operating system you are sitting at.

What the choice used to be

For several years the split was clean, and it is worth restating because it explains what happened next.

SSMS was the heavyweight: complete SQL Server administration, Agent jobs, Maintenance Plans, server configuration, Windows only. Azure Data Studio was the modern, lighter, cross-platform option built on the same foundations as VS Code, aimed at people who wrote queries rather than managed servers, and notably the only Microsoft option on macOS and Linux.

Most teams ran both. That duplication is precisely what Microsoft decided to end.

What actually replaced it

Microsoft's recommended path is Visual Studio Code with the MSSQL extension, and it is a more serious tool than the phrase "an extension" suggests:

text

Query execution and IntelliSense
Schema Compare        compare and sync between databases, DACPACs, projects
Schema Designer       with GitHub Copilot integration
Database operations   create, back up, restore, rename, drop, object search
Query Profiler        real-time activity via Extended Events
DACPAC / BACPAC       deploy, extract, import, export
SQL Notebooks         Jupyter-based, for runbooks and procedures

Your existing work moves without conversion: queries, scripts and SQL database projects open directly. And like Azure Data Studio, VS Code runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, so the cross-platform property that made ADS valuable is preserved.

For SQL Server Agent and general administration, Microsoft is explicit that SSMS remains the supported home. So the two-tool split did not disappear, it moved: SSMS for administration, VS Code for development.

Where SSMS stands now

SSMS is the surviving heavyweight and it did not change. The current release is SSMS 22, installed through the Visual Studio Installer, and it supports 64-bit Windows 11 and Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025 on an x64 processor. It is free.

If your work is Agent jobs, Maintenance Plans, availability groups or server-level configuration, SSMS is not optional and nothing here replaces it. That was true before the retirement and it is still true.

The group this leaves stranded: Mac users

Here is the wrinkle Microsoft's guidance does not spell out, because it is written from a Windows point of view.

Azure Data Studio was the Microsoft answer on macOS. Its replacement, VS Code with the MSSQL extension, also runs on macOS, so development work is covered. But the administrative fallback is SSMS, and SSMS has no macOS version at all.

So a Mac user who did administrative work in Azure Data Studio is being pointed at a tool they cannot install. The practical answers are a Windows virtual machine for the tasks that genuinely need SSMS, and something native for everything else.

What to do, by situation

What to use instead of Azure Data Studio, by situation
You are	Use
A SQL Server DBA on Windows	SSMS, as before
A developer on Windows	VS Code with the MSSQL extension
A developer on macOS or Linux	VS Code with the MSSQL extension
On macOS, and you want an app rather than an editor	A native Mac client
Doing Agent jobs on a Mac	A Windows VM running SSMS
Still running Azure Data Studio	Anything else. It is unpatched.

Whichever row you are in, the one thing not to do is stay on Azure Data Studio because it still opens. A database client stores credentials for the systems you care about most, and it stopped receiving security fixes in February.

We wrote a fuller migration guide for the retirement, including the MySQL gap Microsoft has not filled, and a comparison with SSMS itself if you are weighing a native Mac client against the VM route.