SQL Sentry Plan Explorer is now free

You’ll probably hear about this from other sources, but an announcement made this morning bears repeating: One of my favorite tools, SQL Sentry’s Plan Explorer, is now completely free.

I’ve used Plan Explorer since its first version. It started out as simply a better way to view execution plans: it displays the graphs in a more compact and legible manner, and it exposes much of the information that is contained in the behind-the-scenes XML. It makes troubleshooting much faster and easier – so much so that it’s one of the first tools I install on a new workstation. And amazingly enough, they’ve never charged a cent for the basic version.

And now, they’ve made everything free. All of their Pro features (many of which help when comparing versions of a plan as you try various tweaks) – free. Their new index analysis and performance profiling features – free. They don’t even ask for your email address. It’s an incredible gift to the community.

To SQL Sentry: I tip my hat and extend my thanks.

And to anyone reading this post: Go get this tool. You won’t regret it.

Ed

Ed Leighton-Dick helps small and midsize businesses solve their most challenging database performance, resiliency, and data security issues at Kingfisher Data, the consulting firm he founded in 2014. He has taught thousands of people at over 200 events, including the world's largest Microsoft data platform conferences, and he has been a leader in the Microsoft data community since 2008. Microsoft has recognized Ed seven times as a Data Platform MVP for his expertise and service to the data community.