Driver feature support matrix for Microsoft SQL Server

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If you're planning to use a feature in Microsoft SQL Server, it might not be available in all drivers. Some reasons a feature might not be in a particular driver include:

  • The feature doesn't apply to the driver technology.
  • The feature is new and isn't implemented across all drivers yet.
  • The feature isn't in demand in a particular driver.
  • Other features are being implemented first.

We wish all drivers supported every feature and spend effort to ensure feature parity across drivers. However that isn't always possible. To help you choose the appropriate driver for your needs, here's a list of popular features and the drivers that implement them.

Feature Microsoft.Data.SqlClient (.NET Core) Microsoft.Data.SqlClient (.NET Framework) System.Data.SqlClient (.NET Core) System.Data.SqlClient (.NET Framework)
Always Encrypted Yes Yes Yes (v4.6+)
Always Encrypted with secure enclaves Yes (v1.1+) Yes (v1.1+) Yes (v4.7.2+)
Microsoft Entra access token authentication Yes Yes Yes (v4.6+) Yes (v4.6+)
Microsoft Entra password authentication Yes Yes Yes (v4.6+)
Microsoft Entra integrated authentication Yes Yes Yes (v4.6+)
Microsoft Entra Interactive (MFA) authentication Yes Yes (v2.0+)
Microsoft Entra managed identity authentication Yes (v2.1+) Yes (v2.1+)
Microsoft Entra service principal authentication Yes (v2.0+) Yes (v2.0+)
Microsoft Entra service principal certificate authentication
Microsoft Entra default Azure authentication Yes (v3.0+) Yes (v3.0+)
Windows-Integrated authentication Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bulk Copy Yes Yes Yes Yes
Data Sensitivity and Classification metadata Yes Yes
Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Spatial Data Types Yes Yes
Table-Valued Parameters (TVP) Yes Yes Yes Yes
MultiSubnetFailover Yes Yes Yes Yes
Transparent Network IP Resolution Yes Yes
TDS 8.0 (strict encryption) and TLS 1.3 Yes (v5.1+) Yes (v5.1+)
Feature ODBC Driver for SQL Server on Windows ODBC Driver for SQL Server on Linux and macOS JDBC Driver for SQL Server OLE DB Driver for SQL Server
Always Encrypted Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v6.0+)
Always Encrypted with secure enclaves Yes (v17.4+) Yes (v17.4+) Yes (v8.2+)
Microsoft Entra access token authentication Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v6.0+) Yes (v18.2+)
Microsoft Entra password authentication Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v6.0+) Yes (v18.2+)
Microsoft Entra integrated authentication Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v17.6+) Yes (v6.0+) Yes (v18.2+)
Microsoft Entra Interactive (MFA) authentication Yes (v17.1+) Yes (v9.2+) Yes (v18.3+)
Microsoft Entra managed identity authentication Yes (v17.3+) Yes (v17.3+) Yes (v7.2+) Yes (v18.3+)
Microsoft Entra service principal authentication Yes (v17.7+) Yes (v17.7+) Yes (v9.2+) Yes (v18.5+)
Microsoft Entra service principal certificate authentication Yes (v12.4+)
Microsoft Entra default Azure authentication Yes (v12.2+)
Windows-Integrated authentication Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bulk Copy Yes Yes Yes Yes
Data Discovery and Classification metadata Yes (v17.2+) Yes (v17.2+) Yes (v7.0+) Yes (v18.5+)
Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) Yes Yes Yes
Spatial Data Types Yes (v7.0+)
Table-Valued Parameters (TVP) Yes Yes Yes (v6.0+) Yes
MultiSubnetFailover Yes Yes Yes Yes
Transparent Network IP Resolution Yes (v13.0+) Yes (v13.1+) Yes (v6.0+) Yes (v18.4+)
TDS 8.0 (strict encryption) and TLS 1.3 Yes (v18.0+) Yes (v18.0+) Yes (v11.2+) Yes (v19.2+)
Feature Drivers for PHP for SQL Server on Windows1 Drivers for PHP for SQL Server on Linux and macOS1 Tedious (Node.js) pyODBC (Python)1 Go (go-lang)
Always Encrypted Yes (v5.2+) Yes (v5.2+) Yes Yes
Always Encrypted with secure enclaves Yes (v5.8+) Yes (v5.8+) Yes
Microsoft Entra access token authentication Yes (v4.3+) Yes (v4.3+) Yes Yes Yes
Microsoft Entra password authentication Yes (v4.3+) Yes (v4.3+) Yes Yes Yes
Microsoft Entra integrated authentication Yes (v4.3+) Yes (v4.3+) Yes
Microsoft Entra Interactive (MFA) authentication Yes2 Yes
Microsoft Entra managed identity authentication Yes (v5.6+) Yes (v5.6+) Yes Yes Yes
Microsoft Entra service principal authentication Yes (v5.9+) Yes (v5.9+) Yes Yes Yes
Microsoft Entra service principal certificate authentication Yes
Microsoft Entra default Azure authentication Yes
Windows-Integrated authentication Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bulk Copy Yes Yes
Data Discovery and Classification metadata Yes (v5.8+) Yes (v5.8+)
Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) Yes Yes Yes
Spatial Data Types
Table-Valued Parameters (TVP) Yes (v5.10+) Yes (v5.10+) Yes Yes Yes
MultiSubnetFailover Yes Yes Yes Yes (always / not optional)
Transparent Network IP Resolution Yes Yes Yes Yes
TDS 8.0 (strict encryption) and TLS 1.3 Yes (v5.10+) Yes (v5.10+) Yes (v16.3+) Yes Yes

1 Since these drivers rely on the Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server, a version of that driver that supports the feature must also be used.

2 Only on Windows.

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