Tooling is a big reason I would reach for SQL Server over alternatives in many scenarios. Combining SSMS with 1-2 RedGate utilities and an Excel license is essentially the one ring of database management.
When you have a complex data model and need to constantly engage the business regarding it, having an easy way to transform, compare and visualize representations of the schema can mean the difference between ~3 clicks and a multi-day journey into the rabbit hole of shiny technology.
I would still reach for SQLite in any scenario where I am embedding the DB in software that I am distributing. But, if I need to stand up a database that multiple systems and users are all going to talk to, I am always going to advocate for spending a little bit of money.
> Combining SSMS with 1-2 RedGate utilities and an Excel license [...] a complex data model and need to constantly engage the business regarding it
SSMS suffers greatly from not having a Jupyter Notebook-style mode; whereas SSMS' cousin in Azure Data Studio does feature it, it's still thoroughly compromised in other ways to make it useless, unfortunately.
When you have a complex data model and need to constantly engage the business regarding it, having an easy way to transform, compare and visualize representations of the schema can mean the difference between ~3 clicks and a multi-day journey into the rabbit hole of shiny technology.
I would still reach for SQLite in any scenario where I am embedding the DB in software that I am distributing. But, if I need to stand up a database that multiple systems and users are all going to talk to, I am always going to advocate for spending a little bit of money.