Code completion is a popular and valuable technique for programmers who want to write clear, accurate, and reliable code without spending too much time. Usually, code completion helps save time on day-to-day coding tasks by providing contextual suggestions for code in the SQL editor. Thus, you can focus on what you do best instead of typing. There are lots of code completion tools out there. Today we will do a short review and features comparison of dbForge SQL Complete and SSMSBoost. All this will help you decide what the best completion tool is. Overview of the SSMSBoost Add-in for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) Developers of the SSMSBoost call it an add-in for SSMS with extended SSMS features. They pitch it as a tool to help developers perform daily tasks and avoid loss in their code. This software makes it easy to manage your preferred server connections, switch between your preferred and recent connections, set up connection colors for each connection, create alert messages for essential connections, etc. SSMSBoost simplifies the work with SQL objects, such as the ‘Go to Definition’ feature, object scripting, object name management, and object location in Object Explorer. Autoreplacements let developers accelerate commands or snippets that they input. This tool supports all versions of SSMS, such as 18, 17, 2016, 2014, 2012, and 2008 SP2. Overview of the dbForge SQL Complete add-in for SSMS When considering alternatives to SSMS, dbForge SQL Complete may be the most valuable and functional. And this is not surprising because it is a full-featured and advanced IntelliSense-style SQL autocompletion add-in for and . Visual Studio SSMS Code refactoring, completion, and SQL formatting opportunities help write stable and error-free SQL code faster. This allows them to augment their productivity leaps and bounds better. dbForge SQL Complete offers many valuable features, including context-based code completion, object suggestions, code refactoring, SQL snippets, grid aggregates, history execution, navigation between blocks, etc. The object and variable renaming capabilities can greatly improve the code readability. SQL developers can use various formatting options to format the code as desired. Below, you'll see a comparison of the features each tool ( ) provides. It will help you decide what tools to choose to reach your goals. dbForge SQL Complete v6.12 and SSMSBoost v3.12 Feature dbForge SQL Complete SSMSBoost Compatibility SQL Server support 2000-2022 2000-2019 Azure SQL support Yes Yes SSMS integration Yes Yes Visual Studio integration Yes No Improve code quality Find invalid objects Yes No Generate CRUD Yes No Generate the CREATE/ALTER script for server objects Yes Yes Renaming objects, variables, and aliases Yes No T-SQL Debugger Yes No Work safe with document environment and database Various options for executing statements Yes No Execution warnings Yes Yes Execution notifications Yes Yes Transaction Reminder Yes Yes Tabs coloring Yes Yes Custom SSMS main window title Yes Yes Execution history of SQL statements Yes Yes Important Database alert No Yes Tabs management Yes Yes Quick Connection Switch No Yes Documents sessions Yes Yes Recently closed documents Yes No Operate with data in SSMS data grid Results Grid Data Visualizers Yes Yes Copy Data As from SSMS grid to XML, CSV, HTML, JSON, Excel Yes Yes Copy Data As from SSMS grid to File Yes No Copy Results Grid Headers (Column Names + Types) Yes Yes Find Columns in Results Grid No Yes Grid Aggregates Yes Yes Find in Results Grid Yes Yes Generate Script As from SSMS data grid Yes Yes Boost coding productivity Context-sensitive suggestion of objects names and keywords Yes No Object information Yes No Parameter information Yes No SQL snippets Yes Yes “Go to definition” for database objects Yes Yes Highlight occurrences of an identifier Yes No Highlight BEGIN/END and CASE/END Yes Yes Highlight BEGIN TRY/END TRY and BEGIN CATCH/END CATCH Yes No Highlight COLUMNS and VALUES in an INSERT statement Yes Yes Navigation between queries Yes No Navigation between brackets Yes Yes Named regions Yes Yes Vertical guidelines No Yes Navigation between COLUMNS and VALUES in an INSERT statement Yes Yes Navigation between BEGIN TRY/END TRY and BEGIN CATCH/END CATCH Yes No Navigation between BEGIN/END and CASE/END Yes Yes SQL Editor contents history No Yes Document Outline window Yes No Unify SQL standards SQL formatting Yes Yes Multiple predefined formatting profiles Yes No Keeping original format for a piece of code Yes Yes Formatting Profile Quick Select Yes No Command-line interface Yes No Settings Import/Export Settings Wizard Yes No Manage keyboard shortcuts No Yes Quick search for options Yes Yes Releases The very first release v1.0 (Nov 19, 2010) v2.1 (Apr 20, 2012) The latest release (at the time of publication) v6.12 (Sep 12, 2022) v3.12 (Apr 7, 2021) Total release quantity 133 32 Price comparison Users can download the trial version of both dbForge SQL Complete and SSMSBoost and use them for free for 14 days to evaluate their features, which might be useful for your work. Once the expiration date passes, the user can purchase a full version. dbForge SQL Complete offers three editions: a free Express edition, a Standard ($199.95), and a Professional ($249.95). In SSMSBoost, you'll find a free community edition and a professional license at $195. The price differences are minor, but dbForge SQL Complete provides more features. Conclusion People weigh all pros and cons when choosing one of the code completion tools. Users analyze the tools' features, compare prices, and find the right tool. This article is designed to simplify your selection. SQL Server Management Studio is an excellent alternative to SSMS that allows you to code faster without typos and not waste time on syntax checks. To check out its features, you can download a 14-day trial version of dbForge . After that, you will have a completely different SQL coding experience and no longer want to work without dbForge SQL Complete. SQL Complete A version of this article appears . here