Flyway vs Liquibase

Quick verdict

Flyway is a database migration tool owned by Redgate. It applies migration scripts, mostly plain SQL files, in version order and records each one in a schema history table. Redgate distributes it in several forms: Flyway OSS, built only from the Apache 2.0 licensed open source code; Flyway Community, a free edition that adds some proprietary components and the Flyway Desktop GUI; and the paid Flyway Enterprise. The latest Flyway Engine release in Redgate's release notes is 13.9.0, dated 1 October 2026.

Liquibase is a database change management tool from Liquibase Inc. Changes are written as changesets inside a changelog file, in SQL, XML, YAML or JSON, and Liquibase records each deployed changeset in a DATABASECHANGELOG table. The free edition is Liquibase Community (5.0.4, released 20 August 2026, on GitHub); the commercial product is Liquibase Secure, sold in Starter, Team, Business and Enterprise plans.

Both tools run on Java, both can run from the command line, from Maven or Gradle, from Docker or from a Spring Boot application at startup, and both target the same job: getting the same schema changes into every environment in the same order. If you need a refresher on the statements these tools apply, see DDL commands.

Side by side

Key differences

Migration format: numbered SQL files versus changelogs

Flyway's unit of change is a file. A versioned migration is named with a prefix, a version, two underscores and a description, and Flyway applies versions in order. This is the example from Flyway's getting-started material, in generic SQL:

-- db/migration/V1__Create_person_table.sql  (Flyway versioned migration)
create table PERSON (
    ID int not null,
    NAME varchar(100) not null
);

Flyway also supports repeatable migrations (prefix R), which re-run whenever their checksum changes and suit views or procedures, and baseline migrations. Applied migrations are recorded in the schema history table, and editing an applied file makes validate fail on a checksum mismatch.

Liquibase's unit of change is a changeset, identified by an id and an author, inside a changelog. You can write changelogs in formatted SQL, where comments mark each changeset and its rollback:

-- liquibase formatted sql   (Liquibase formatted SQL changelog)

-- changeset liquibase:1
CREATE TABLE person (
    id int primary key,
    name varchar(50) not null
);
-- rollback DROP TABLE person

Or in a database-independent format. This YAML changeset is the createTable example from the Liquibase documentation, trimmed to the main attributes:

# Liquibase YAML changelog
databaseChangeLog:
-  changeSet:
    id:  createTable-example
    author:  liquibase-docs
    changes:
    -  createTable:
        tableName:  person
        columns:
        -  column:
            name:  address
            type:  varchar(255)

The XML equivalent, again from the documentation:

<!-- Liquibase XML changelog (namespace attributes omitted) -->
<databaseChangeLog ...>
    <changeSet author="liquibase-docs" id="createTable-example">
        <createTable tableName="person">
            <column name="address" type="varchar(255)"/>
        </createTable>
    </changeSet>
</databaseChangeLog>

In our view, Flyway's model is easier to pick up for teams that already review SQL, because a migration is exactly the SQL that runs. Liquibase's modelled formats add a layer of abstraction that pays off when one changelog must target several database engines, or when you want Liquibase to work out the rollback for you.

Rollback and undo: what each edition gates

This is the most important practical difference between the free editions.

Flyway. Rollback is done with undo migrations: a file such as U1__Create_person_table.sql that reverses V1__Create_person_table.sql, run by the flyway undo command, which undoes the most recently applied versioned migration. Redgate's documentation marks undo migrations as a Teams edition feature and states that the undo command needs a Teams or Enterprise licence key; Flyway Community and OSS do not include it. Flyway Enterprise can also generate undo scripts. Redgate's own documentation is cautious about undo: it says undo migrations assume the whole migration succeeded, struggle with destructive changes such as drops and deletes, and recommends backward-compatible changes plus a tested backup and restore strategy instead of relying on undo alone.

-- db/migration/U1__Create_person_table.sql  (Flyway undo migration, paid editions)
drop table PERSON;

Liquibase. Liquibase Community includes rollback (to a tag), rollback-to-date and rollback-count, each with a -sql variant that prints the SQL without running it, plus future-rollback-sql commands. For modelled changelogs (XML, YAML, JSON) many change types, such as createTable, have automatic rollback; for formatted SQL changelogs you write the rollback yourself with -- rollback comments. Liquibase Secure adds targeted rollback: rollback-one-changeset reverts a single non-sequential changeset and rollback-one-update reverts one deployment, both requiring --force.

Neither tool can restore data that a migration destroyed unless your rollback script recreates it. Treat rollback as a convenience for schema changes, not as a backup.

Editions and licences, and what changed recently

Flyway. Redgate's current editions and pricing pages list two editions: Flyway Community ("a free database migrations tool", aimed at individual developers and education) and Flyway Enterprise, with a 28-day trial. Separately, Flyway OSS is built only from the open source code, which the GitHub repository licenses under Apache 2.0; Redgate says Community adds proprietary components on top of that code base and includes Flyway Desktop. Redgate's documentation still labels some features as Teams edition, including undo migrations, dry run scripts, cherry picking and state-based deployments, but the editions page no longer lists a Teams edition for purchase. Redgate's feature summary assigns drift detection, change reports, script generation and secrets-manager integration to Enterprise. Redgate's licensing FAQ describes paid licences as per user.

Liquibase. On 30 September 2025 Liquibase announced that, starting with version 5.0, Liquibase Community is licensed under the Functional Source License, Version 1.1, ALv2 Future License (FSL-1.1-ALv2). Liquibase says you may still use it in production, fork and modify it, but third parties may not commercialise it in a way that competes with Liquibase. Each release converts to Apache 2.0 two years after it ships, and all versions released under Apache 2.0 (the 4.x line) stay under Apache 2.0. FSL is a source-available, "Fair Source" licence rather than an OSI-approved open source licence, so check it with whoever approves licences in your organisation. Contributors now sign a CLA. Liquibase 5.0 also stopped bundling extensions and JDBC drivers (you install them with the built-in package manager, liquibase lpm) and raised the minimum Java version to 17. The commercial product, formerly Liquibase Pro, is now Liquibase Secure.

Supported databases

Redgate says Flyway's core migration commands (info, migrate, repair, validate, baseline, undo) work on more than 50 database systems, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, Snowflake and MongoDB, while its advanced capabilities (comparison, script generation, drift detection) are concentrated on SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL and their cloud variants, with Databricks and Snowflake also named on the Enterprise page. Check the supported-databases page for the exact versions and which edition each feature needs.

Liquibase lists support for more than 65 databases, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server and SQLite, cloud data platforms such as Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery and Databricks, and NoSQL platforms such as MongoDB, Neo4j and Cassandra, many of them through extensions contributed by the community. Formatted Mongo changelogs are a Liquibase Secure feature.

CI/CD and application integration

Both tools fit the same pipeline pattern: migrations live in Git next to the application, and a pipeline step runs migrate (Flyway) or update (Liquibase) against each environment. Flyway documents a command-line tool for Windows, macOS and Linux, a Docker image (redgate/flyway), a Maven plugin, a Gradle plugin and a Java API. Liquibase documents its CLI, an official Docker image, Maven, Gradle, Ant, Spring Boot, Jenkins and GitHub Actions integrations.

Spring Boot can run either tool on startup: add Flyway and it applies V<VERSION>__<NAME>.sql scripts from classpath:db/migration; add spring-boot-starter-liquibase and it reads db/changelog/db.changelog-master.yaml by default. Both tools can also print the SQL they would run for review before deployment: Liquibase Community through update-sql and the rollback -sql commands, Flyway through dry run scripts, which Redgate lists in its paid editions.

The governance layer is where the paid editions differ from the free ones. Flyway Enterprise adds drift detection, change reports and policy-as-code rules; Liquibase Secure adds policy checks, drift detection, flow files for orchestrating steps, structured logging, compliance reporting and secrets-manager integration.

Pricing and licensing

Flyway. Flyway OSS and Flyway Community are free. Flyway Enterprise is paid, with a 28-day free trial; Redgate's pricing page did not show list prices in October 2026, so you need a quote. Redgate's licensing FAQ says paid licences are priced per user, counting people who install the tools or author database changes, not those who only review deployments or maintain pipelines.

Liquibase. Liquibase Community is free. Liquibase Secure is sold in Starter, Team, Business and Enterprise plans, which differ in features (for example, role-based access control from Business), the number of database types (1, 1, 2 and 4) and database targets (250, 500, 750 and 2,000). No prices were published on the pricing page in October 2026; every Secure plan requires a Professional Services package, and Starter is limited to companies with under USD 1 billion in annual revenue.

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

Where each one leads

Limitations

When to choose each

When neither is right

• Your application is written in Python with SQLAlchemy models: Alembic generates candidate migrations from your models; see also Liquibase vs Alembic.
• Your application is a TypeScript project using an ORM: the ORM's own migration tool (Prisma Migrate or Drizzle Kit) may be enough; see Prisma vs Drizzle ORM.
• You only have a handful of manual changes to one database: a reviewed DDL script in source control may be enough; see DDL commands.
• You work only on SQL Server and want declarative, state-based projects: Microsoft's SQL Server database projects (in SSMS 22 and VS Code) are an alternative to migration tools; see the SSMS review.

Final recommendation

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Redgate Flyway documentation
• Redgate: Flyway editions
• Flyway: Undo migrations
• Flyway: Feature summary by edition
• Flyway: OSS and Redgate Flyway Community
• Flyway Engine release notes
• Flyway repository and licence (GitHub)
• Liquibase: Community licence moves to FSL
• Liquibase Community 5.0 release notes
• Liquibase: Rollback commands
• Liquibase: createTable change type
• Liquibase pricing
• Liquibase releases (GitHub)
• Spring Boot: Database initialisation

Checked October 2026.

How we research comparisons: our editorial method.