What are the best SQL clients for Linux?

Options
Considered

User
Recs.

Feb 4, 2024

Last
Updated

DBeaver vs DataGrip vs HeidiSQL

vs DbVisualizer vs Sqlectron vs Squirrel SQL vs MySQL Workbench vs Jailer Relational Data Browsing Tool vs SQL Workbench/J vs SQL Workbench vs Aqua Data Studio vs SQLyog vs Beekeeper Studio vs mycli vs PopSQL vs DbForge Studio for MySQL vs JookDB vs Oracle SQL Developer / Raptor vs TeamSQL vs Valentina Studio vs Panasonic RP-HGS10

Specs

Platforms

Windows, Linux, MacOS

Technology

Java

Database management

PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, SQL Server, Access, Sybase, Firebird, Derby (JavaDB), SQLite, Mimer, HSQLDB, H2, IBM Informix, Teradata, SAP MAX DB, Cache, Ingres, Linter, Vertica, MongoDB, Cassandra, ODBC, Any JDBC compliant data source

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Technology

Java

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows

Technology

Delphi

Database management

PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite

License

GPL-2.0

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Technology

Java

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Technology

Java

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Java

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Technology

Java

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Mac, Windows, Linux

Technology

Electron

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Yes

Free tier

Yes, 100% Open Source

Compatibility

SQLite, MySQL, Postgres, SQL Server, Redshift, CockroachDB, and more

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

MySQL, MariaDb, Percona, Amazon RDS

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Mac, Linux

Technology

C++

Database management

MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB, DM, OceanBase, TiDB and SQLServer

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Windows, Linux, Mac

Technology

C++, QT

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Connectivity

Sweat Resistant

Integrated Microphone

Platforms

Technology

Database management

License

Dark Theme

Free tier

Compatibility

Supported platforms

Type

Bone Conduction

Connectivity

3.5mm wired

Sweat Resistant

Yes

Integrated Microphone

Yes

Pros + Cons

Pro
Cross-platform

Supported on Windows (2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10), Linux, Mac OS and Solaris (x86).

Comment

Pro
Works for many types of databases

MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Sybase, Java DB (Derby), Firebird (Interbase), Derby (JavaDB), SQLite, Mimer, HSQLDB, H2, IBM Informix, Teradata, SAP MAX DB, Cache, Ingres, Linter, Vertica, MongoDB, Cassandra, ODBC, Any JDBC compliant data source.

Comment

Pro
Free

It it licensed under GPL v2.

Comment

Pro
Separation between production, QA and development environments

The UI uses a different color to indicate that you are working on a production system which is a hint that the user must be careful.

Comment

Pro
Clean, neat, and easy to use interface

[add description]

Comment

Con
Unstable and buggy

Crashes once a week. Buggy Introspection (sometimes Refresh does not refresh Introspection).

Comment

Pro
Free & open source

The community edition is free and open source under Apache License 2.0.

Comment

Pro
Supports a lot of database servers

Connects to plenty of database servers via JDBC.

Comment

Con
Existing SQL files have to be imported to be used

I have a large library of SQL query files organized the way I want them, but in order to use them in DBeaver in my VM, I have to import them one by one and then save them internally and rebuild my organizational structure; also, any changes I make have to be exported back to my library because I use a different company paid SQL client on my host device.

Comment

Pro
Follow foreign key to their primary key

If you have a table with a foreign key you can click on it to see the table row where this key references to.

Comment

Con
Query panel blink

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Formatted text view

It has the classic grid view and a well-organized text view that you can quick-select with CTRL-A.

Comment

Con
Can become unstable after an update

An update can corrupt the configuration files and prevent DBeaver to start.

Comment

Con
Written in Java

Consumes a lot of memory.

Comment

Con
Never-ending function errors

Like 'Communications link failure', 'Connection refused' (Community Edition 6.2.1).

Comment

Pro
Easy to use, clean neat interface

[add description]

Comment

Con
Trigger edition

Until version 3.5.8 you can not edit triggers, only view (since 3.5.6).

Comment

Con
Cannot view function

[add description]

Comment

Con
Does not support regex for filtering tables

Not able to filter like so: ^patient|standard$ Which would give you the tables in the list that start with 'patient' and end with 'standard';

Comment

Con
Apache license

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Open source

It it open source, but licensed under Apache.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform

Supported on Windows (2000/XP/2003/Vista/7/8/10), Linux, Mac OS and Solaris (x86).

Comment

Pro
Multi-platform

Available for Windows and Linux.

Comment

Pro
Free and open source

It is licensed under GPLv2.

Comment

Pro
Friendly interface

Zero learning curve interface for those who have expeirence with another IntelliJ IDE.

Comment

Pro
Easy to add external database drivers using JDBC

For example, it is easy to get DataGrip to work with Spark SQL / Thriftserver

Comment

Pro
Much more powerful than its counterparts

DataGrip is a full-featured IDE for working with databases and SQL. It includes commonly found features in database clients, and offers IDE-specific features beyond that — version control, autocompletion, refactoring support, etc.

Comment

Pro
Good integration with other IntelliJ tools

[add description]

Comment

Con
Expensive

As of January 2018, Jet Brains charges $89 for 1st year, $71 for 2nd year, and $53 for every 3rd year and onwards for individual customers.

Comment

Con
Not user friendly

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Helps you avoid mistakes

It can catch SQL bugs and suggest ways to resolve them. It will inform of unresolved objects and the use of keywords as identifiers.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Powerful data editor

A powerful data editor lets you add, remove, edit, and clone data rows. Navigate through the data by foreign keys and use the text search to find anything in the data displayed in the table editor. All your changes are stored locally and can be submitted at once. Multiple fields can also be edited at once.

Comment

Con
Performance can be slow/sluggish when working with high-volume databases

As with all other IDEs, DataGrip is powerful and thus requires more resources than usual. It can use up to several GB's of memory when working with high-volume databases, and this has an impact on performance if your system is not equipped to handle it.

Comment

Pro
Free

Licensed under GNU GPL.

Comment

Pro
Great UI and ease of use

HeidiSQL has a comprehensive and intuitive interface.

Comment

Pro
SSH tunnel

HeidiSQL allows connecting to your MySQL database via SSH tunnel.

Comment

Pro
Great user management

The user manager of HeidiSQL can easily set privileges on a per-database level or give access to only certain commands.

Comment

Con
Needs Wine

Running HeidiSQL on Wine can have issues, depending on the version of Wine and HeidiSQL.

Comment

Pro
Lightweight

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Query build tool is extremely easy

The query build tool allows for user to drag, drop, click, etc., to create complicated, beautiful queries.

Comment

Pro
Data monitor tool comfortably enables for graphical query results monitoring

[add description]

Comment

Con
Expensive

License for the full product is costly.

Comment

Pro
Not language specific

DBVIS is not a language-specific Client. It supports a wide variety of languages by default, such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Derby, H2, Sqlite, and many more. You can also specify your own JDBC drivers to get support for additional platforms.

Comment

Con
Unmaintained

The creator stopped working on the project, it is in need of maintainers.

Comment

Pro
Built-in support for major databases

Sqlectron supports PostgreSQL, MySQL (and MariaDB), MSSQL Server, SQLite, and Cassandra.

Comment

Con
Written in Electron

[add description]

Comment

Con
Only installable through npm

Horrible package manager that is not allowed on our servers.

Comment

Con
No plugins

[add description]

Comment

Con
Buggy

Sqlectron is installable and that's about it. You can't actually add servers to connect to in the app, making it a 200 MB paperweight.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform

Available for Windows and Mac as well.

Comment

Pro
Can be extended through plugins

[add description]

Comment

Con
Plugin directory is empty by default

Squirrel does not support major databases out-of-the-box, you have to download and install the JDBC drivers for common major databases.

Comment

Pro
Community version

There is a community edition available that is free and open source; licensed under GPL.

Comment

Con
Unintuitive UI

Workbench's user interface is regarded by a lot of users as unintuitive and hard to use. It seems cluttered and hard to get used to. The left side of the application has several sections (which you get to choose which to open) with several tools for each. A lot of features are hidden behind menus and need some getting used to find them.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform

Works on Windows, Linux, OS X.

Comment

Pro
EER diagramming

MySQL Workbench has enhanced entity–relationship modeling support.

Comment

Pro
Easy to use

Actions can be directly carried out on tables. The software prepares the relevant query for approval before execution.

Comment

Pro
Database synchronization

Forward & reverse engeneering

Comment

Con
Very buggy under Ubuntu 19.04

Dialogue windows crash the application. Large fields cannot be pasted into due to render issues. And many more bugs...

Comment

Con
Freezes constantly

Running any kind of query with more than a thousand records or even just opening a file and other actions crashes the application. You are unable to actually stop a query. You have to kill from Windows Task Manager every single time.

Comment

Con
Complicated

Sometimes it’s too hard to understand how developers implemented certain features.

Comment

Con
Column size is limited

Can't read columns bigger than 65534 chars.

Comment

Pro
Allows you to edit changes before they are executed.

Any changes to the database generate SQL statements that you can review and edit before running.

Comment

Pro
Works with almost any SQL database

Can work with any database with a jdbc driver.

Comment

Pro
Can edit data in table mode.

Easy to make changes when viewing data.

Comment

Pro
Rich interface as alternative for DBA queries

Show information that would require type queries with joins such as tool for object search.

Comment

Pro
Import/Export data

[add description]

Comment

Pro
ER modeler

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Shortcuts for many actions for server management and security

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Tons of features

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Power tools

There are very useful power tools to do task like database synchronization, visual data comparison, Schedule backup with email notification. One can also schedule task with scheduler and will get report of task completion or error in email.

Comment

Pro
Easy to use and elegant UI

The UI is uncluttered and intuitive.

Comment

Pro
Fast and stable

Completely written in c/c++ using win32 api gives is edge in performance over other clients.

Comment

Pro
Advanced connection options

It's possible to connect to any MySQL server with these powerful connection options - HTTP, SSH, SSL.

Comment

Pro
Allows the use of runtime variables

Enabling the use of undeclared variables within a script is a plus, being VERY useful for executing SQL tscript with parameters.

Comment

Pro
Has a community version

There is a free/community version available here.

Comment

Pro
Data visualization

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Works on LINUX via wine

[add description]

Comment

Con
Paid

As almost everything that is good has a price, with SQLyog it is no different, to use ALL the functionality you need to buy, however it is WELL WORTH the investment.

Comment

Pro
Community version

There is a free/community version available here.

Comment

Pro
Easy to use

Way less confusing than other DB managers, and has a simple tabbed interface that feels more like VS Code.

Comment

Pro
Free and Open Source

MIT License!

Comment

Pro
Postgres

I use SQLite, MySQL, and Postgres, and Beekeeper supports all of them!

Comment

Pro
Autocomplete

The autocomplete is useful but not obtrusive

Comment

Con
Not for a DBA

It's great for web/app developers who interact with a database, but if you're a full time DBA you probably have better powertools available

Comment

Con
Limited free queries

You may only run 10 queries (although they don't specify the period of time).

Comment

Con
Requires Google login

Doesn't work until logged in with Google.

Comment

Pro
Free and powerful

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Modern look

[add description]

Comment

Pro
Cloud-friendly

Saves queries on cloud. Shares queries and team management in pro.

Comment

Con
In process of re-branding and it is NOT free at all

Completely misleading - the tool is re-branded and it is not free even though the TeamSQL site bold title still pretends so.

Comment

Con
Uses too much RAM

A simple connection event to a server made it peak to 2GB used.

Comment

Con
Won't exist in about a week. They're dropping the product.

Update: it has stopped working.

Comment

Con
Not simple at all

It's not intended for beginners. The interface just lists tables, views, and functions, though it has a query history panel.

Comment

Con
No rpm build, only .deb

If you have an rpm package Linux distribution you can't install it.

Comment

Pro
Cross-platform

Valentina Studio works on Windows, Linux and OS X.

Comment

Pro
Good UI

Valentina Studio has a responsive and clean user interface.

Comment

Pro
Multi DB

Supports several databases, MySQL/ MSSQL / PostGresSQL / and more

Comment

Pro
Free version

You can download a free version from the app store.

Comment

Pro
Visible in the dark

You’ll be easier to see when using these for a run or walk at night. There are reflective strips on the earpieces and on the rear portion of the neckband, so you’ll be more visible to others. This can help improve safety while you are running or walking outdoors.

Comment

Con
Poor volume levels

You may find it difficult to hear your music. Not only does the design allow you to hear a lot of ambient sound, but the volume levels that these headphones transmit is not very loud.

Comment