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Spotlight vs Toad for Oracle comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 19, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Spotlight
Ranking in Database Development and Management
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Toad for Oracle
Ranking in Database Development and Management
7th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of Spotlight is 6.5%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Toad for Oracle is 4.3%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

Seha R - PeerSpot reviewer
Good tool for the design and development of public APIs
The software does not support webhooks. It doesn't support advanced versions of APIs. The tool also doesn't support advanced versions of specifications. The change that we do in one part of the model is not reflected throughout the specification. There are also some mutations in the clones. I am not able to do a local source control with the product as well.
Bikramjeet Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Advanced query optimization and tuning features
Sometimes when I write a query, it gives an unusual error code. Toad for Oracle does not have a particular resolution within the application. Then, I have to search for the code and find a solution. I would like Oracle to implement error codes so that we don't have to search for solutions on Google. It would be more convenient if the error codes were included within the application.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Its dashboards are most valuable. The drill-down of the dashboards is useful."
"Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from."
"Spotlight provides valuable features such as the ability to get alerted and drill down to a very granular level to find out where actual problems are coming from."
"I consider the solution very scalable."
"The tool is a SaaS product where I just need to type a URL and start with the design process. I can integrate all elements of source control like GitHub, GitLab, etc. The tool also supports authentication-related provisions like SSH."
"The best product for working with Oracle databases for support, checking and loading data."
"The tool evaluates non-optimized queries and generates the queries in a way that is more optimal - in addition to giving us some good practices for code development."
"Simply the best GUI software for administration is the most valuable aspect for me."
"I find Toad easy to use and I love the Workspace feature, which allows me to set up projects so that I can open SQL files applicable to what I am working on at any particular time."
"The product's most valuable features are UI and monitoring."
"One of the most valuable features of Toad for Oracle is its ability to manage sessions by killing those that are hung or blocking other sessions."
"The schema browser is the most valuable feature. The way it presents the objects in our database."
"It is very easy to manage all of the objects."
 

Cons

"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."
"Some customizations of the dashboard, such as having backup reports, would be useful."
"The software does not support webhooks. It doesn't support advanced versions of APIs. The tool also doesn't support advanced versions of specifications. The change that we do in one part of the model is not reflected throughout the specification. There are also some mutations in the clones. I am not able to do a local source control with the product as well."
"There's no reporting with this tool, and there really should be. They should add that into future releases."
"One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer."
"It would be beneficial if Toad for Oracle could incorporate OEM features, as having monitoring capabilities in the same interface would simplify workload and management tasks."
"Once in a while, I may encounter a memory exception and have to abort the application. On a few occasions, the file that stores the saved connections for the New Connection window will become corrupt and I will lose all of my saved connections. I am not sure if that is a Windows or TOAD issue, but it has happened to all of my developers at some point or another."
"Toad for Oracle does not have a particular resolution within the application."
"Sometimes it works in some areas, but in others, it doesn't. Like when you copy, you find that it's blank and doesn't copy anything. So, there are some objects that do copy, and sometimes they don't."
"There may be an issue with processing limitations but this cannot be confirmed as a problem with the product or with the newest releases."
"Toad for Oracle could improve code completion, it is very slow."
"The way the dialog boxes appear can be improved."
"There could be a tool for automated SQL query functioning."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is cloud-based. It is priced well."
"Its cost was somewhere in the middle."
"There are paid and free-for-use versions of the product."
"The professional edition is about $1,000 AUD ($700 USD) and the developer version is about twice that much."
"The pricing is okay, it's reasonable."
"The product's pricing is just right because if it were slightly higher, it would not have been as widely adopted as it currently is in our organization."
"My advice is to try to use the three-year maintenance agreement if possible."
"In my opinion, this solution is a little expensive, but I understand that good programs cost more money."
"I would rate it six, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."
"Toad for Oracle has a relatively high cost compared to other similar tools."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Healthcare Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
11%
Performing Arts
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Quest Spotlight?
One improvement could be the inclusion of suggestions for missing indexes or better analysis of how indexes are utilized and how execution plans are used, similar to what other products offer.
What is your primary use case for Quest Spotlight?
I primarily use Spotlight for on-the-spot troubleshooting and alerting to see if there are any issues. The drill-down features allow me to pinpoint problems, whether they are indexing, long-running...
What advice do you have for others considering Quest Spotlight?
I would rate Spotlight probably an nine out of ten. My advice would be to consider its cost-effectiveness and ease of use in smaller environments.
What do you like most about Toad for Oracle?
The product's most valuable features are UI and monitoring.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Toad for Oracle?
The licensing cost for Toad for Oracle is relatively high, with their license and DPA suite totaling around five thousand dollars.
What needs improvement with Toad for Oracle?
It would be beneficial if Toad for Oracle could incorporate OEM features, as having monitoring capabilities in the same interface would simplify workload and management tasks.
 

Also Known As

Dell Spotlight
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Jenkon
intel, ebay, uber, mars, microsoft
Find out what your peers are saying about Spotlight vs. Toad for Oracle and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.