License & Deployment Mix: 15 tools – 8 OSS, 6 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)

What Are Database Admin & DevTools?

Database administration and developer tools (DB admin tools) are GUI clients, web consoles, and utilities that help developers, DBAs, and operations teams interact with databases without relying solely on command-line interfaces.

These tools span a wide range of capabilities:

  • GUI query editors – write, execute, and debug SQL queries with syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and result visualization
  • Schema management – browse, create, alter, and drop tables, views, indexes, functions, and other database objects visually
  • Migration tools – version-controlled schema changes with rollback support
  • Data browsing / editing – view, filter, sort, and edit table data in spreadsheet-like grids
  • ER diagramming – auto-generate entity- relationship diagrams from existing schemas
  • Import / export – CSV, JSON, SQL dump, Excel, and cross-database data transfer
  • Monitoring dashboards – query performance, connection pools, replication lag, and server health metrics
  • Connection management – organize and share database connections with credential vaults and SSH tunneling

The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.

Comparison

Database Support Matrix

ToolPostgreSQLMySQLSQLiteSQL ServerOracleMongoDBRedis
pgAdminYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
DBeaverYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
AdminerYesYesYesYesYesYes*No
phpMyAdminNoYesNoNoNoNoNo
HeidiSQLYesYesYesYesNoNoNo
CloudBeaverYesYesYesYesYesNoNo
DbGateYesYesYesYesNoYesYes
DataGripYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
NavicatYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
TablePlusYesYesYesYesNoYesYes
DbVisualizerYesYesYesYesYesNoNo
ToadYes**YesNoYesYesNoNo
BeekeeperYesYesYesYesNoNoNo
MetabaseYesYesYesYesYesYesNo
RetoolYesYesNoYesYesYesYes

* = Adminer MongoDB via plugin ** = Toad – primary focus is Oracle; PostgreSQL support varies by edition

Feature Matrix

FeaturepgAdminDBeaverAdminerphpMyAdminHeidiSQLCloudBeaver
Query editorYesYesBasicBasicYesYes
Auto-completeYesYesNoNoBasicYes
Schema browserYesYesYesYesYesYes
Data editorYesYesYesYesYesYes
ER diagramNoYesNoNoNoYes
Import/exportYesYesYesYesYesYes
SSH tunnelYesYesNoNoYesYes
Query historyYesYesNoYesYesYes
Explain planYesYesNoNoNoYes
FeatureDbGateDataGripNavicatTablePlusDbVisualizerToad
Query editorYesYesYesYesYesYes
Auto-completeYesYesYesYesYesYes
Schema browserYesYesYesYesYesYes
Data editorYesYesYesYesYesYes
ER diagramYesYesYesNoYesYes
Import/exportYesYesYesYesYesYes
SSH tunnelYesYesYesYesYesYes
Query historyYesYesYesYesYesYes
Explain planYesYesYesYesYesYes
FeatureBeekeeperMetabaseRetool
Query editorYesYesYes
Auto-completeYesBasicBasic
Schema browserYesLimitedYes
Data editorYesNoYes
ER diagramNoNoNo
Import/exportYesYesYes
SSH tunnelYesYesYes
Query historyYesYesYes
Explain planYesNoNo

Deployment Comparison

ToolTypePlatformWebDesktop
pgAdminFreeCross-platformYesYes
DBeaverFree/PaidCross-platformNo*Yes
AdminerFreePHPYesNo
phpMyAdminFreePHPYesNo
HeidiSQLFreeWindowsNoYes
CloudBeaverFree/PaidDocker/WebYesNo
DbGateFreeCross-platformYesYes
DataGripPaidCross-platformNoYes
NavicatPaidCross-platformNoYes
TablePlusFreemiummacOS/Win/LinuxNoYes
DbVisualizerFree/PaidCross-platformNoYes
ToadPaidWindowsNoYes
BeekeeperFree/PaidCross-platformNoYes
MetabaseFree/PaidDocker/WebYesNo
RetoolPaid/SaaSBrowserYesNo

* = DBeaver’s web version is CloudBeaver (separate product)

Licensing Comparison

ToolLicenseTypeCost
pgAdminPostgreSQL LicenseOpen sourceFree
DBeaver CEApache 2.0Open sourceFree
DBeaver PROProprietaryCommercial~$25/mo
AdminerApache 2.0 / GPLOpen sourceFree
phpMyAdminGPL-2.0Open sourceFree
HeidiSQLGPL-2.0Open sourceFree
CloudBeaver CEApache 2.0Open sourceFree
CloudBeaver EEProprietaryCommercialContact
DbGateMITOpen sourceFree
DataGripProprietaryCommercial~$25/mo
NavicatProprietaryCommercial~$15–30/mo
TablePlusProprietaryFreemium~$89 one-time
DbVisualizerProprietaryFree/Pro~$20/mo Pro
ToadProprietaryCommercialContact
Beekeeper CEMIT*Open sourceFree
Beekeeper ProProprietaryCommercial~$7/mo
Metabase CEAGPL-3.0Open sourceFree
Metabase ProProprietaryCommercial~$85/mo
RetoolProprietarySaaS~$10+/user/mo

* = Beekeeper Studio changed from GPL to MIT in 2023

SSO / OIDC Comparison

OIDC is the preferred SSO protocol; the notes below flag which tools integrate with Authentik.

ToolOIDCSAMLLDAPAuthentik Notes
pgAdminYesNoYesOIDC via Authentik
DBeaver CENoNoNoNo SSO support
AdminerNoNoNoNo SSO support
phpMyAdminNoNoNoNo SSO support
HeidiSQLNoNoNoNo SSO support
CloudBeaver CENoNoNoNo SSO support
CloudBeaver EEYesYesYesOIDC via Authentik
DbGateNoNoNoNo SSO support
DataGripNoNoNoNo SSO (desktop)
NavicatNoNoNoNo SSO (desktop)
TablePlusNoNoNoNo SSO (desktop)
DbVisualizerNoNoNoNo SSO (desktop)
ToadNoNoNoNo SSO (desktop)
BeekeeperNoNoNoNo SSO support
MetabaseYesYesYesOIDC via Authentik
RetoolYesYesYesOIDC via Authentik

Best SSO support: pgAdmin (OIDC + LDAP), Metabase (OIDC + SAML + LDAP), and Retool (OIDC + SAML + LDAP) integrate directly with Authentik. CloudBeaver EE also supports OIDC but requires the commercial edition.

Desktop tools: all desktop-based tools (DataGrip, Navicat, TablePlus, DbVisualizer, Toad, HeidiSQL) have no SSO support – they use local credential storage.

PostgreSQL Feature Depth

For PostgreSQL-first deployments, PostgreSQL-specific capabilities are a critical evaluation factor.

FeaturepgAdminDBeaverDataGripCloudBeaver
pg_stat viewsYesLimitedYesLimited
Vacuum mgmtYesNoYesNo
Tablespace mgmtYesNoYesNo
Extension mgmtYesLimitedYesNo
Role mgmtYesLimitedYesLimited
ReplicationYesNoBasicNo
Backup/restoreYesNoNoNo
Query explainVisualVisualVisualVisual
pgAgent jobsYesNoNoNo

Best for PostgreSQL: pgAdmin is the most complete PostgreSQL management tool. DataGrip is the best commercial alternative with deep PostgreSQL support.

API Comparison

ToolREST APIExtension APICLI
pgAdminYesYespsql
DBeaverNoPlugin (Java)No
AdminerNoPlugin (PHP)No
phpMyAdminNoNoNo
HeidiSQLNoNoCLI export
CloudBeaverGraphQLPluginNo
DbGateNoPlugin (JS)Yes
DataGripNoPlugin (Java)CLI
NavicatNoNoCLI
TablePlusNoNoCLI
DbVisualizerNoNoCLI
ToadAutomationNoCLI
BeekeeperNoNoNo
MetabaseYesNoNo
RetoolYesYesCLI

Tools

15 tools.

Adminer

Adminer is a minimalist, single-file PHP database management tool. The entire application is distributed as a single PHP file (< 500 KB), making it one of the simplest database tools to deploy – just drop it into any PHP-capable web server…

License: GPL-2.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none

Website · Source

Beekeeper Studio

Beekeeper Studio is a modern, cross-platform SQL editor and database manager focused on simplicity and a clean user experience. It supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, SQL Server, Amazon Redshift, CockroachDB, and LibSQL.

License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none

Website · Source

CloudBeaver

CloudBeaver is the web-based version of DBeaver, developed by the same team (DBeaver Corp). It brings DBeaver’s multi-database capabilities to the browser, enabling team-based database management without desktop installation.

License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: OIDC, SAML

Website · Source

DataGrip

DataGrip is JetBrains’ professional database IDE, built on the IntelliJ platform. It provides deep SQL editing, schema management, and data exploration for PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MongoDB, Redis, Cassandra, and many other dat…

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none

Website

DBeaver Community

DBeaver is the most popular free multi-database GUI client, with over 40 million downloads and a massive community.

License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none

Website · Source

DbGate

DbGate is a free, MIT-licensed database client that runs as both a desktop application and a web-based tool. It supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, CockroachDB, and Amazon Redshift.

License: MIT (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none

Website · Source

DbVisualizer

DbVisualizer is a cross-platform database client that has been on the market since 2002. It supports a wide range of databases through JDBC drivers and is known for its visual explain plan viewer and ER diagram capabilities.

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none

Website

HeidiSQL

HeidiSQL is a free, lightweight database client for Windows. Originally created for MySQL management, it has expanded to support MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and SQL Server (via MSSQL native client or FreeTDS).

License: GPL-2.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none

Website · Source

Metabase

Metabase is an open-source business intelligence and data exploration platform. While not a traditional database admin tool, Metabase provides powerful query and visualization capabilities that complement dedicated admin tools.

License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, docker, native · SSO: none

Website · Source

Navicat is a long-established commercial database management tool from PremiumSoft. It has been on the market since 2001 and supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, MongoDB, and Redis.

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: none

Website

pgAdmin

pgAdmin is the official open-source administration and development platform for PostgreSQL. It is the most widely used PostgreSQL management tool, included in default PostgreSQL distributions and recommended by the PostgreSQL community.

License: PostgreSQL (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none

Website · Source

phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin is the most widely deployed MySQL/ MariaDB web administration tool. It has been a staple of web hosting control panels (cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin) since the early 2000s and remains the default MySQL management interface for mill…

License: GPL-2.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none

Website · Source

Retool Database

Retool is a low-code platform for building internal tools, including database administration interfaces.

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, saas · SSO: none

Website

TablePlus

TablePlus is a modern, native database client known for its clean interface and fast performance. Originally macOS-only, it now supports Windows and Linux as well.

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none

Website

Toad (Quest Software)

Toad is a long-established database development and administration tool from Quest Software (now part of One Identity / OpenText).

License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none

Website

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