Beekeeper Studio vs DBeaver: Free Use and Pricing (2026)

Quick verdict

Short answer

Pick Beekeeper Studio if you want a simpler client for writing queries and editing table data, you fit its Community edition's intended audience (individuals, students, non-profits, or businesses under 10 employees or USD 1M revenue), or you are happy to buy a paid plan that leaves you with lifetime use of the versions you paid for. Note that import and export, backup and restore, and editing query results are paid features in Beekeeper. Pick DBeaver if you need a free tool for a larger organisation, more drivers, import and export, data transfer between connections, ER diagrams or execution plans without paying. Both are free to try; the licensing intent and the free feature set may decide it for your employer.

How we know: This comparison is research-based: editions, licences, intended use of the free editions, supported databases, platforms and prices were checked against each vendor's website, pricing pages, documentation and GitHub repositories on 7 October 2026. We have not run either product or measured speed or memory use.

Beekeeper Studio is a cross-platform SQL editor and database manager built with Electron and Vue.js. The Community Edition is open source under GPLv3; paid plans (Indie, Professional and Business) add features such as editing query results, import and export, backup and restore, cloud workspaces, an AI Shell and enterprise authentication. Its pricing table lists PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, SQL Server, Redshift, TiDB, BigQuery, Redis and GreengageDB in the free Community edition; Oracle, CockroachDB, ClickHouse, DuckDB, MongoDB, Cassandra, DynamoDB, Snowflake and several others need a paid plan. Version 6.1.5 is the current stable release. See our Beekeeper Studio review.

DBeaver is a universal database tool from DBeaver Corp. DBeaver Community is free and open source under Apache 2.0, built in Java on Eclipse RCP with a bundled runtime, and ships more than 100 drivers for SQL databases. Paid editions (Lite, Enterprise, Ultimate, Team Edition and CloudBeaver) add NoSQL databases, cloud explorers, comparison tools and Git. See our DBeaver review.

Side by side

Aspect	Beekeeper Studio	DBeaver
Free edition licence	Community Edition: GPLv3	Community: Apache 2.0
Who the free edition is for	Vendor states it is intended for students, individuals, non-profits and businesses with fewer than 10 employees and/or under USD 1M annual revenue	No size or revenue condition stated; free for commercial use
Paid model	Indie, Professional, Business: per user, monthly or yearly, with a lifetime licence for versions released while subscribed	Lite, Enterprise, Ultimate: monthly or annual subscriptions; Team Edition and CloudBeaver by users
Supported databases (free)	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, SQL Server, Redshift, TiDB, BigQuery, Redis and GreengageDB; Oracle, MongoDB, DuckDB, ClickHouse, CockroachDB, Snowflake and others are paid only	100+ SQL database drivers; NoSQL databases require a paid edition
Table data editing	Editable spreadsheet for table data in Community; direct editing of query results needs Indie or above	Data editor in Community
Import, export, backup	Import/export and backup/restore in Indie, Professional and Business only; not in Community	Data transfer, import and export in Community
ER diagrams and plans	Visual Schema Explorer (ERD) documented; no execution plan feature documented	ER diagrams and execution plans for many engines in Community; SQL Server plans paid
AI	AI Shell in Professional and Business	Community AI chat with OpenAI or GitHub Copilot; more providers in paid editions
Technology	Electron and Vue.js	Java, Eclipse RCP, bundled runtime
Main trade-off	Simpler and includes Redis free, but free use is aimed at small organisations and import/export is paid	Broad free feature set for any organisation, but a denser interface and NoSQL is paid

Key differences

What the free editions allow, and for whom

Both community editions are open source, but their vendors frame free use differently. Beekeeper Studio's pricing page says the Community Edition is "intended for students, individuals, non-profits and small businesses with fewer than 10 employees and/or annual revenue below $1m". The code itself is GPLv3; the statement describes who the company expects to pay, and larger organisations are asked to buy a licence. We describe the terms here; we do not give legal advice on them.

DBeaver Community carries no such statement. It is Apache 2.0 licensed and free for commercial use at any size, which makes it the simpler choice for a larger company that wants a no-cost standard tool.

Feature depth in the free tier

Beekeeper Studio Community covers the core of daily work: a SQL editor with autocomplete, an editable spreadsheet view of table data, creating and modifying tables, relations, triggers and indexes, transaction control, SSH tunnels and unlimited connections and tabs. Its pricing table leaves the Community column empty for import and export, backup and restore and direct editing of query results; those start at the Indie plan. (The GitHub README lists import/export and backup/restore as app features without naming editions; the pricing table is the authoritative source.)

DBeaver Community includes data transfer between connections, import and export, ER diagrams and execution plans for many engines at no cost. If you regularly move data in and out of databases and do not want to pay, DBeaver goes clearly further.

NoSQL coverage

Beekeeper Studio's Community edition includes Redis, which DBeaver Community does not. Its other non-relational engines (MongoDB, Cassandra and DynamoDB) are listed in the paid plans only. In DBeaver, NoSQL databases and cloud explorers require a paid edition, so for MongoDB you pay either way.

Paid licences

Beekeeper Studio's paid plans are billed per user, but its pricing page states that you keep lifetime access to the versions released during your subscription whether or not you renew (immediately for yearly plans, after 12 consecutive months for monthly ones). DBeaver's paid editions are subscriptions. Beekeeper's Indie plan is limited to one device per user.

Pricing and licensing

Beekeeper Studio. Community Edition is free within its stated intended audience. Listed on the vendor's pricing page in October 2026 (USD, per user): Indie $9 per month billed yearly or $18 billed monthly; Professional $14 per month billed yearly or $28 billed monthly; Business $18 per month billed yearly or $35 billed monthly. A 14-day trial needs no credit card.

DBeaver. Community is free. Listed on dbeaver.com/edition in October 2026 (USD): Lite $113 per year or $12 per month, Enterprise $255 per year or $26 per month, Ultimate $510 per year, CloudBeaver from $1,025 per year and Team Edition from $1,630 per year.

Pricing checked on the vendors' official pages on 7 October 2026. Prices change; confirm before buying.

Where each one leads

Beekeeper Studio strengths

Focused interface for querying and editing table data
Redis available in the free edition alongside the main SQL engines
Paid plans leave you with lifetime use of the versions you paid for
Open source Community Edition under GPLv3

DBeaver strengths

Free for commercial use at any organisation size
Data transfer, import and export, ER diagrams and many execution plans in Community
More than 100 SQL database drivers
Paid tiers extend into NoSQL, cloud explorers, Git and team products

Limitations

Beekeeper Studio limitations

Free edition is intended for individuals and organisations under 10 employees or USD 1M revenue
Import and export, backup and restore, and editing query results require a paid plan
Oracle, MongoDB, DuckDB, ClickHouse, CockroachDB and Snowflake support require a paid plan
No execution plan feature documented
Indie plan is limited to one device per user

DBeaver limitations

NoSQL databases require a paid edition
Git integration requires Enterprise or above
Java-based application with a dense, broad interface
The edition line-up takes effort to understand

When to choose each

Choose Beekeeper Studio if

You are an individual, student, non-profit or small business and want a simpler free client
You need Redis alongside SQL databases without paying
Your work is mostly writing queries and editing table data
You prefer paying once a year and keeping the versions you bought

Choose DBeaver if

Your organisation is larger and needs a free tool with no size condition
You move data between databases or import and export often
You need ER diagrams or execution plans at no cost
You connect to many or unusual SQL databases

When neither is right

You want a compact client with a one-time per-device licence: see DBeaver vs TablePlus.
You want a commercial multi-database client with NoSQL and Git in one paid edition: see DbVisualizer vs DBeaver.
You write SQL as code and want refactoring: see DBeaver vs DataGrip.
You want more options: see the best DBeaver alternatives and the best free database management tools.

Final recommendation

Bottom line

Beekeeper Studio is the better fit for individuals and small teams who want a simpler, focused client for querying and editing table data, and for anyone happy to pay for its Indie plan or above to get import and export, backup and restore and wider engine support. DBeaver Community is the safer default for larger organisations and for anyone who needs import and export, cross-database data transfer, ER diagrams or execution plans without paying. Check the Beekeeper Studio Community terms against your organisation's size before standardising on it.

Frequently asked questions

Is Beekeeper Studio free for commercial use?

The Community Edition is GPLv3, but the vendor states it is intended for students, individuals, non-profits and businesses with fewer than 10 employees and/or under USD 1M annual revenue. Larger organisations are expected to buy a paid plan. DBeaver Community has no such condition.

Can Beekeeper Studio import and export data for free?

No. Its pricing table lists Import/Export and Backup/Restore in the Indie, Professional and Business plans, not in the Community edition. DBeaver Community includes import and export at no cost, plus transfer of data between different connections.

Does DBeaver Community support MongoDB?

No. NoSQL databases require a paid DBeaver edition. Beekeeper Studio also lists MongoDB in its paid plans only; its free Community Edition includes Redis but not MongoDB.

Is Beekeeper Studio lighter than DBeaver?

Beekeeper Studio is built on Electron and DBeaver on Java with Eclipse RCP. We have not measured memory or start-up time, so we cannot say which is lighter on your machine; try both.

Sources

Checked October 2026.

How we research comparisons: our editorial method.