SQL Server Standard is much cheaper and it offers substantial capabilities that suffice for many businesses. Enterprise Edition, however, is necessary for certain advanced features. For example, Enterprise supports distributed availability groups, essential for high-availability setups across multiple databases and more than two replicas.

The Enterprise edition of SQL Server provides additional features and scalability, which make it a suitable choice for larger organizations with more complex requirements. On the other hand, smaller organizations may find that the foundation provided by the SQL Server Standard sufficiently meets their needs.

Standard: This edition enables database management with minimal IT resources. Enterprise: This is the most complete edition of all. With this edition you have unlimited virtualization and high service levels for mission critical workload.

The two SQL Server editions both have similar features for management tools, RDBMS Manageability, Development Tools, and Programmability. Despite many similarities between the two editions, it is clear that Enterprise delivers more functionality than the other editions of SQL Server, including the Standard edition.