Main Limitations of SQL Server Express Editions

SQL Server Express Editions are a handy solution for small businesses with small databases with no special requirements about performance, high availability, encryption, etc. This article discusses about the main limitations of SQL Server Express Editions.

 

What are the Main Limitations of SQL Server Express Editions?

The Express Editions of SQL Server, even free, as expected, have certain limitations. In the below table I have gathered some of these limitations which I can consider are the limitations someone might want to check as a first look. In the end of each column, there is a URL with more information about all the limitations of the express edition for each SQL Server version.

 

Main Limitations of SQL Server Express Editions (note: this is not the full limitations list)
Feature/SQL Server Version SQL Server 2008 R2 Express SQL Server 2012 Express SQL Server 2014 Express SQL Server 2016 SP1 Express SQL Server 2017 Express SQL Server 2019 Express
Maximum number of CPU/Cores 1 socket or 4 cores 1 socket or 4 cores 1 socket or 4 cores 1 socket or 4 cores 1 socket or 4 cores 1 socket or 4 cores
Maximum memory per instance 1 GB 1 GB 1 GB 1 GB 1 GB 1 GB
Maximum database size 10 GB 10 GB 10 GB 10 GB 10 GB 10 GB
In-memory OLTP N/A N/A No Yes Yes Yes
Always Encrypted N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes Yes
Row-Level Security N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes Yes
Dynamic Data Masking N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes Yes
Partitioning No No No Yes Yes Yes
AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances No No No No No No
Always On Availability Groups N/A No No No No No
Transparent database encryption No No No No No No
In-Memory Columnstore N/A No No Yes Yes Yes
Polybase N/A N/A N/A Yes (compute node) Yes (compute node) Yes (compute node)
URL for more info/full limitations list Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here
For more articles please check: SQLNetHub Article by Artemakis Artemiou, Senior Database and Software Architect

*Note: The above table does not contain all limitations of SQL Server express editions. For the full lists of limitations, click on the URL provided in the end of each column for every SQL Server version.

Last Updated: Aug 25, 2022.

 

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