Requires a free license key

Get started

Grab a free Personal license key, download the compose file below, and paste your key in — you're running.

Don't have a key yet? Get a free Personal key below — just an email, no credit card.

First, grab your free license key

The compose file below needs a license key to run. Personal keys are free forever for personal and education use — just an email, no password, no credit card. We'll fill your key into everything on this page automatically, including the file you download.

Personal use only — not for evaluating or running SQL Simulator on behalf of a company. If that's you, see Commercial pricing instead.

Already have a key?

Not for databases with sensitive data

If you need data governance protections — limits on how much sensitive data can be retrieved, specific records blocked unless approved, or a full audit trail of who accessed what — that's what 00DB provides. SQL Simulator doesn't have those controls, so it's built for test/development databases that don't contain sensitive data, not as a replacement for them.

Prerequisites

Docker, installed and running on your machine, with Compose v2 (bundled with every current Docker Desktop or Docker Engine install) — the docker compose command in Step 2 below needs it. That's the only thing you need before starting; everything else comes from the file you download in Step 1.

Pick your database engine

Download the compose file

Grab your free key above first — the download below unlocks once you have one.

Get your free key above to unlock the download

Run it

From that directory, run the command below for your engine — no --build flag needed, every service pulls its image straight from Docker Hub.

SQL Server docker compose -f docker-compose.yml --profile sqlserver up

Postgres docker compose -f docker-compose.yml --profile postgres up

MySQL docker compose -f docker-compose.yml --profile mysql up

Oracle docker compose -f docker-compose.yml --profile oracle up

Set up this deployment

Once the container's running, open http://localhost:8080 in your browser. The first time, you'll land on Set up this deployment — pick a username and password.

This does two things on every sandbox container this deployment starts. It creates a dedicated login using exactly the username and password you type here — that's the account to point your own tools at a sandbox with.

It also resets SQL Server's built-in admin account, sa, to the same password — only its password changes, never its username. That's the one shared login for this deployment from then on, separate from your license key, with no reset later — pick something you'll remember.

It also resets Postgres's built-in admin account, postgres, to the same password — only its password changes, never its username. That's the one shared login for this deployment from then on, separate from your license key, with no reset later — pick something you'll remember.

It also resets MySQL's built-in admin account, root, to the same password — only its password changes, never its username. That's the one shared login for this deployment from then on, separate from your license key, with no reset later — pick something you'll remember.

It also resets Oracle's built-in admin account, system, to the same password — only its password changes, never its username. That's the one shared login for this deployment from then on, separate from your license key, with no reset later — pick something you'll remember.

Add your first data source

Go to Data Sources and click Add. Two connection strings go on that form:

Source connection string — your real database

Server=your-database-host,1433;Database=YourDatabase;User Id=readonly_user;Password=your-password;TrustServerCertificate=True;

Host=your-database-host;Port=5432;Database=YourDatabase;Username=readonly_user;Password=your-password;

Server=your-database-host;Port=3306;Database=YourDatabase;User Id=readonly_user;Password=your-password;

Data Source=your-database-host:1521/YourService;User Id=readonly_user;Password=your-password;

Simulated connection string — the sandbox container Step 2 just started

Lets the Test Connection button on that same form check the sandbox side before you run anything. These are the fixed credentials already baked into the compose file you downloaded above, for the engine you picked:

Server=mssql,1433;Database=master;User Id=sa;Password=******;TrustServerCertificate=True;

Host=postgres;Port=5432;Database=postgres;Username=postgres;Password=******;

Server=mysql;Port=3306;Database=information_schema;User Id=root;Password=******;

Data Source=oracledb:1521/FREE;User Id=system;Password=******;

Upload the script you want to test

From that data source's row on Data Sources, click Scripts, and upload the migration or schema-change script you're about to run — whatever .sql file you actually want to test. This is what SQL Simulator scans to figure out which tables (and everything related to them) it needs to build — skip this and there's nothing to seed the sandbox from. Multiple scripts run top to bottom, in the order you upload them.

Run it

Head to the Simulator screen and click Build Sandbox to see the tables it'll build from a real, scoped copy of your data — or Apply Sandbox/Dry Run to actually execute your script's statements against it.

Need multiple data sources at once, or you're evaluating this for a company? See Commercial pricing. Need to give your whole team database access without a direct path to production? See 00DB.