It is a common misconception that SQL Express 2016 cannot or should not be used in production environments. SQL Express 2016 (and SQL Express 2014 and 2012 and…) are most certainly licenced to be used in production at no cost. In fact, for most small and medium applications the only significant difference between SQL Standard and SQL Express are performance and backup.
SQL Server Standard provides a very high level of performance that many applications will not need. Often the end user cannot tell the difference between SQL Express and SQL Standard performance because humans cannot detect results returned in .005 seconds from SQL Standard appear vs .05 seconds from SQL Server Express.
Below is a nearly complete list of features in SQL Server Express and SQL Server Standard in decreasing order of importance (for most small and medium applications)
EXPRESS | STANDARD | FEATURE DESCRIPTION |
| 10GB | Unlimited | Maximum Database Size |
| 4 Cores | 24 Cores | Maximum Number of CPU Cores |
| .35GB | 32GB | Maximum Memory Per Database |
| 1.2GB | 128GB | Maximum Memory Buffer (Per Instance) |
| .35GB | 32GB | Maximum Memory Columnstore Segment (Per Instance) |
| 4GB | 64GB | Maximum Memory for Reporting Services (Per Instance) |
| No | Yes | Two Node High Availability |
| No | Yes | SQL Server Agent |
| No | Yes | Database Mail |
| No | Yes | SQL Server Analysis Services |
| No | Yes | Replication to Azure |
| No | Yes | Encrypted Backup |
| No | Yes | Backup to Azure |
| No | Yes | System Center Operations Manager Management Pack |
| No | Yes | Database Tuning Advisor |
| . | . | . |
| Yes | Yes | SQL Manager GUI |
| Unlimited | Unlimited | Maximum Number of Databases |
| Yes | Yes | Full Text Support |
| Yes | Yes | Change Tracking |
| Yes | Yes | Database Snapshots |
| Yes | Yes | Basic & Full Auditing |
| Yes | Yes | Powershell Scripting |
| Yes | Yes | SysPrep Support |
| Yes | Yes | Visual Studio Integration |
| Yes | Yes | Internationalized Versions |
| Yes | Yes | SQL Server Migration Assistant |
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To confirm these numbers you can wade through Microsofts own SQL Server Comparison charts HERE and HERE .
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