dbForge 2026.2 Makes Its AI SQL Assistant Free: Here’s What Developers Get

dbForge 2026.2 is out, and for anyone who writes SQL every day the headline is simple: dbForge AI Assistant now has a free Express edition. You can generate, explain, fix, and optimize SQL with AI directly inside your dbForge tool, working against your actual schema, without buying a subscription first.

This post covers what changed in 2026.2, how the AI Assistant fits into a normal SQL workflow, and how to get the most out of the free edition.

TL;DR

• dbForge 2026.2 introduces a free Express edition of dbForge AI Assistant.
• The free edition has a limited token allowance and keeps chats for 14 days. Paid plans offer a larger allowance and keep chat history with no time limit.
• New context options: auto-attach the document you are editing, attach files, add several databases to one chat, and compare two scripted databases.
• You can choose between Anthropic and OpenAI models.
• Works with SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, and PostgreSQL.

What is dbForge AI Assistant?

dbForge AI Assistant is an AI-powered SQL copilot built into dbForge products. It is not a separate app or a browser tab. You use it from inside dbForge Studio for SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, or PostgreSQL, dbForge Edge, and other compatible dbForge tools.

The key idea is context. When you attach a database, the AI Assistant works with its metadata, such as schema and index information, so its answers are based on your real tables and relationships rather than on whatever you managed to describe in a prompt.

What’s new in 2026.2

What's new in dbForge 2026.2: New PostgreSQL Debugger, visual editors, broader context for AI Assistant, and much more - Devart Blog

Learn all about dbForge 2026.2, the latest update of our ecosystem of database lifecycle management solutions.

devart.com

A free Express edition

The biggest change is price of entry. The Express edition gives you the AI Assistant for free, with a limited token allowance and a 14-day chat history. That is enough room to try it on the SQL you actually write and decide for yourself whether a paid plan is worth it.

dbForge Studio is also available as a free Express edition, so you can try the IDE and the AI Assistant together at no cost.

Much richer context

2026.2 expands what you can hand the AI Assistant before it starts answering:

• Auto-attach the current document, so you stop pasting the same script into every prompt.
• Attach files: application code, database projects, diagrams, sample SQL, or your own instructions and conventions.
• Keep multiple databases in one chat, which helps when a task spans more than one system.
• Compare two scripted databases directly in the conversation.

Model choice

You can pick the model behind the AI Assistant under Tools > Options > AI Assistant > General. Both Anthropic Claude and OpenAI GPT models are available, so you can choose what works best for your tasks.

Why an in-IDE assistant beats a browser generator

Plenty of tools will turn a sentence into SQL. The difference shows up in what happens next.

With a standalone generator, every query becomes a loop of describing your schema, copying the result, pasting it into your client, and going back when it fails. With the AI Assistant, that loop happens in one place.

A typical workflow

1. Open the AI Assistant in your dbForge product. It is turned off by default, so enable it first.
2. Attach the database you are working on.
3. Describe what you need in plain language, including the dialect if it matters.
4. Review the draft and ask follow-up questions in the same chat.
5. Move the SQL into the editor, run it, and adjust.

A generation prompt might look like this:

Using the attached database, write a query that returns the top 10
products by revenue for Q3 2026, excluding cancelled orders.
Target: SQL Server.

The same chat handles the other everyday jobs. Explaining unfamiliar code:

Explain this query clause by clause and tell me why it
returns duplicate customers.

Fixing an error:

Here is the query and the error message from MySQL 8.0.
Propose the smallest fix and explain what you changed.

Reviewing performance:

This query is slow on large date ranges. Suggest a rewrite or
indexes, and explain what each change is meant to improve.

And when you cannot remember where a feature lives, you can simply ask the AI Assistant how to do something in dbForge instead of digging through menus.

Getting the most out of the free edition

• Attach context instead of describing it. Schema metadata and files give the AI Assistant far more to work with than a long prompt, and keep your prompts short.
• Name the engine and version. Date functions, row limits, and identifier quoting differ between SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.
• Ask for explanations and minimal fixes. They are faster to review than full rewrites.
• Measure optimization suggestions. Compare returned rows, execution plans, and timing for the original and revised queries before you adopt a change.
• Test writes safely. Run generated UPDATE, DELETE, and DDL statements against a test database first.
• Save what you want to keep. Express chats are kept for 14 days, so move useful queries into your scripts.

Supported databases and products

dbForge AI Assistant supports SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and cloud services built on these engines. It runs inside dbForge Studio for SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, in dbForge Edge, which brings the four Studios together for multidatabase work, and in compatible dbForge tools for SSMS and Visual Studio users.

Try it

If you already use dbForge, update to 2026.2, enable the AI Assistant, attach a database, and give it a query you know well. If you are new to dbForge, the free Express editions let you try the IDE and the AI Assistant together.

Details and downloads: https://www.devart.com/dbforge/ai-assistant/

Have you tried an AI assistant inside your database IDE yet? Share what worked for you in the comments.