Database Software Buyer Guides
Every CodeWithSQL buyer guide in one place: shortlists of the best tools for a job, platform or database engine, and the alternatives to popular products. Guides are grouped by software category.
SQL Clients & IDEs
View category →Best SQL IDEs
SQL editors and database IDEs compared by use case, price and platform.
AlternativesBest DBeaver Alternatives
Free and paid database clients to consider if DBeaver is not the right fit.
AlternativesBest DataGrip Alternatives
Cheaper, lighter or free options if a DataGrip subscription is not for you.
AlternativesBest TablePlus Alternatives
Free and paid clients to consider instead of TablePlus.
AlternativesBest Navicat Alternatives
Free and lower-cost tools to consider instead of Navicat.
AlternativesBest DbVisualizer Alternatives
Other cross-platform database clients to consider instead of DbVisualizer.
AlternativesBest Oracle SQL Developer Alternatives
Other Oracle clients to consider instead of SQL Developer.
AlternativesBest MongoDB Compass Alternatives
MongoDB GUIs to consider when Compass falls short: SQL access, team access and multi-database tools.
Best ofBest SQLite GUI Tools
Graphical tools for opening, browsing and editing SQLite database files.
Best ofBest Oracle Database Tools
GUI clients, IDEs and admin tools for Oracle Database.
Best ofBest Database Tools for Developers
The database tooling a developer needs beyond the SQL editor: local databases, migrations, ORMs, testing and schema review.
Admin & Management
View category →Best Database Management Tools
GUI tools for browsing, editing and administering databases, by use case.
Best ofBest Free Database Management Tools
Capable database GUIs that cost nothing, and what the free versions leave out.
AlternativesBest SSMS Alternatives
SQL Server clients for macOS, Linux and multi-database work, and when SSMS is still the right tool.
AlternativesBest MySQL Workbench Alternatives
Other MySQL clients worth a look, and what each does better or worse.
AlternativesBest pgAdmin Alternatives
PostgreSQL clients to consider instead of, or alongside, pgAdmin.
Best ofBest SQL Server GUI Tools
SSMS, VS Code with the MSSQL extension and other SQL Server clients, now that Azure Data Studio is retired.
Best ofBest MySQL GUI Tools
Graphical clients for MySQL and MariaDB, from the rebuilt official MySQL Workbench to multi-database IDEs.
Best ofBest PostgreSQL GUI Tools
pgAdmin and the alternatives for querying and managing PostgreSQL.
AlternativesBest Redgate Alternatives
Other tools for the jobs Redgate products cover: monitoring, compare, migrations and test data.
Web & Lightweight
View category →Best Online SQL Editors
Browser-based tools for writing and running SQL without installing anything.
AlternativesBest HeidiSQL Alternatives
Other database clients to consider instead of HeidiSQL.
Best ofBest Database Tools for Windows
Database clients and admin tools for Windows, including Windows-only tools, Arm64 builds, portable installs and WSL notes.
Best ofBest Database Tools for Mac
Database clients for macOS, including Mac-only apps and Apple silicon support.
Best ofBest Database Tools for Linux
Database clients and admin tools for Linux desktops and servers, and how each is packaged.
Database Monitoring
View category →Best Database Monitoring Tools
Monitoring tools for SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL and more, by use case and pricing model.
Best ofBest SQL Server Monitoring Tools
Dedicated and built-in options for monitoring SQL Server performance.
Best ofBest PostgreSQL Monitoring Tools
Open source and commercial tools for monitoring PostgreSQL.
Best ofBest MySQL Monitoring Tools
Open source and commercial tools for monitoring MySQL and MariaDB.
Best ofBest Open Source Database Monitoring Tools
Free, open source ways to monitor database performance, and what they take to run.
ETL & Data Integration
View category →Data Warehousing & Analytics
View category →Best Snowflake Alternatives
Data warehouses and analytics platforms to consider instead of Snowflake.
AlternativesBest Databricks Alternatives
Lakehouse, warehouse and open source options to consider instead of Databricks.
AlternativesBest BigQuery Alternatives
Warehouses and analytics engines to consider instead of BigQuery.
Cloud Database Platforms
View category →Database Migration & DevOps
View category →Database Modeling & Design
View category →Time-Series Databases
View category →BI & Reporting
View category →Best Open Source BI Tools
Metabase, Superset, Redash, Lightdash, Evidence and Grafana compared on licence, self-hosting and SQL access.
Best ofBest SQL Reporting Tools
Tools for turning SQL queries into scheduled, paginated and interactive reports, from Power BI Report Server (the SSRS successor) to open source BI.
Database Backup & Recovery
View category →Best Veeam Alternatives
Enterprise backup platforms and services with database-aware recovery, from Commvault and Cohesity to AWS Backup.
AlternativesBest Redgate SQL Backup Pro Alternatives
Native SQL Server backup, IDERA SQL Safe Backup, SQLBackupAndFTP and backup platforms with SQL Server agents.
Database Security & Auditing
View category →Data Quality & Observability
View category →Best Monte Carlo Alternatives
Data observability platforms by pricing, trial and deployment: Bigeye, Anomalo, Acceldata, Validio, Elementary, Soda.
AlternativesBest Soda Alternatives
Data testing tools after Soda Core moved to ELv2: GX Core, dbt tests, Elementary, Deequ, Pandera, Glue Data Quality.
Data Catalog & Governance
View category →Best Collibra Alternatives
Governance platforms for stewardship-led programmes: Informatica, Purview, IBM, Ataccama, OvalEdge and more.
AlternativesBest Alation Alternatives
Search-led catalogs for analysts: Atlan, DataHub Cloud, Collate, DataGalaxy and the Databricks and Snowflake catalogs.
AlternativesBest DataHub Alternatives
Open source, managed and cloud-native catalogs: OpenMetadata, Apache Atlas, Unity Catalog, Glue, Purview and more.
Database Testing & Test Data
View category →Best Delphix Alternatives
Test data management, masking and synthetic data: K2view, Tonic.ai, DATPROF, IBM Optim, DataMasque and GenRocket.
AlternativesBest Tonic.ai Alternatives
Test data, masking and synthetic data tools: Delphix, K2view, DATPROF, IBM Optim, GenRocket and low-cost data generators.
Change Data Capture & Replication
View category →Best Oracle GoldenGate Alternatives
CDC and replication tools that read from Oracle: Qlik Replicate, Fivetran HVR, Striim, Debezium, AWS DMS and SymmetricDS.
AlternativesBest Qlik Replicate Alternatives
Replicators and managed CDC pipelines into warehouses: Fivetran HVR, GoldenGate, IBM, Striim, Fivetran, Estuary, Airbyte.
Vector Databases & AI Search
View category →Best Pinecone Alternatives
Open source vector databases and vector search inside PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis and search engines, instead of Pinecone.
AlternativesBest Milvus Alternatives
Vector search with less to operate than a distributed Milvus cluster: managed, single-server, embedded and in-database options.
Database Proxy & Connection Pooling
View category →NoSQL & Distributed Databases
View category →Best MongoDB GUI Tools
MongoDB Compass and the alternatives for querying and managing MongoDB.
AlternativesBest MongoDB Alternatives
Document databases and MongoDB-compatible services, from DocumentDB and FerretDB to PostgreSQL JSONB.
AlternativesBest Cassandra Alternatives
Wide-column and CQL-compatible options: ScyllaDB, Keyspaces, Cosmos DB, DynamoDB, Bigtable, HBase, YugabyteDB.
AlternativesBest Couchbase Alternatives
Couchbase alternatives by role: MongoDB and DynamoDB, Redis and Aerospike, and CouchDB for sync.
AlternativesBest CockroachDB Alternatives
Distributed SQL after the v24.3 licence change: YugabyteDB, TiDB, Spanner, Aurora DSQL and Citus.
Performance & Query Optimization
View category →Best SQL Sentry Alternatives
Other SQL Server monitoring tools to consider instead of SQL Sentry.
AlternativesBest SolarWinds DPA Alternatives
Database performance monitoring tools to consider instead of SolarWinds DPA.
AlternativesBest EverSQL Alternatives
EverSQL is now part of Aiven. Query tuning, index advice and plan analysis options for PostgreSQL and MySQL.
Browse products by category in the SQL tools directory, or see the head to head comparisons.