The cost of the Windows OS itself it not the real cost. SQLServer gets costly as you grow out, but not nearly as bad as Oracle. http://www.microsoft.com/sqlse

The cost of the Windows OS itself it not the real cost. SQLServer gets costly as you grow out, but not nearly as bad as Oracle. http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/pricing.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2008/en/us/pricing.aspx Yes, BizSpark makes it free, but that basically locks you into the platform long enough for you to rely on it before you start paying those prices.