Tuesday, November 3, 2026 · Customer reviews of US businesses
The Fair Hearing score
Excellent
109 reviews
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Honesty, pricing, process and quality scores appear once 5 customers have rated them.
Shades is the dark mode add-in for SQL Server Management Studio.Just install the SQL Shades extension and it'll darken everything automatically, including what SSMS' hidden dark mode misses.
SQL Shades (sqlshades.com) has 109 customer reviews on The Fair Hearing, with an average rating of 5.0 out of 5.
Showing 106 reviews with 5 stars · Clear filters
I spend too much time working at night and don't like unnecessarily bright screens (Bright light! Bright light! says Gizmo from Gremlins). I set as many apps as possible to dark mode and was very pleased to find SQL Shades for SSMS. Love it. ❤️
By Dave R.
Response from SQL Shades· Oct 13, 2026
Thank you for the kind words, Dave! Glad to hear you love it 😎
SQL Shades is the best thing I have found to use with SSMS. It gives SSMS a dark-mode and lets you change the text colors to suit your tastes. It is so much easier on the eyes than the regular SSMS interface. I highly recommend SQL Shades!
By Pete P.
Response from SQL Shades· Sep 11, 2026
Thank you for the kind words, Pete! 😊
I love SQL Shades! I like the built in themes which are also customizable if I want to tweak them a bit.
By Ryon
Response from SQL Shades· Sep 4, 2026
So glad you love it, Ryon! 😁
5 🌟 for the SQL Shades. My SSMS is now aesthetically pleasing. Now my tech stack is just dark oncluding VS Code. So refreshing to work in a "dark world" as somebody who spends hours on doing scripting. Kudos to the team.
By edX L.
Response from SQL Shades· Jun 2, 2026
Glad I could darken your world! Thanks for the stellar review 😎
A dream come true... I've used SSMS for years, but we finally have a tool that makes it bearable to look at!
By Dan C.
Response from SQL Shades· May 19, 2026
Glad I could turn your dream into reality, Dan! Thanks for the stellar review 😁
SQL Shades to the rescue! I am a huge fan of dark themes and the one that is built into SQL Server Management Studio is lacking, to say the least. SQL Shades solved that issue and then some. I can not only select a thorough dark them out of the box, but I can customize it to my needs if so desired and pick from other out of the box themes as well.
By Andres C.
Response from SQL Shades· Mar 4, 2026
Happy to be of service, Andres! Thanks for the stellar review 😁
Works perfectly in SSMS, my everyday tool. SQL Shades saved my eyes.
By Tiago P.
Response from SQL Shades· Feb 19, 2026
Happy to be of service, Tiago! Thanks for the perfect review 😎
I really appreciate a dark mode option for something that I have to stare at all day. SSMS not having one was a major let down. The color options too from SQL Shades has been so cool to have. Even though I'm only using the Basic Dark right now, I'm pretty tempted to up my subscription to try the others out.
By ITDeane
Response from SQL Shades· Feb 12, 2026
So glad you like it! Thanks for the glowing review 😁
