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Add to SafariWhen comparing MySQL Workbench vs Navicat for MySQL, the Slant community recommends Navicat for MySQL for most people. In the question“What are the best MySQL GUI clients for OS X?” Navicat for MySQL is ranked 2nd while MySQL Workbench is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Navicat for MySQL is:
Navicat can easily import data from ODBC, Excel, Access, DBF, TXT, CSV, XML, JSON etc and export to Excel, Access, DBF, TXT, CSV, XML, JSON etc.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to use
Actions can be directly carried out on tables. The software prepares the relevant query for approval before execution.
Pro Community version
There is a community edition available that is free and open source; licensed under GPL.
Pro EER diagramming
MySQL Workbench has enhanced entity–relationship modeling support.
Pro Cross-platform
Works on Windows, Linux, OS X.
Pro Database synchronization
Forward & reverse engeneering
Pro Excellent choice of import/export options
Navicat can easily import data from ODBC, Excel, Access, DBF, TXT, CSV, XML, JSON etc and export to Excel, Access, DBF, TXT, CSV, XML, JSON etc.
Pro HTTP/SSH tunnel
Navicat can upload a PHP script to enable HTTP tunneling or choose a SSH tunnel instead.
Pro Easy to use
Navicat manages an intuitive, easy to use UI without sacrificing functionality.
Pro Unicode support
Navicat has full unicode support.
Pro Data and structure synchronization
Navicat can compare and synchronize your data and structure between local and remote databases.
Pro User management
Navicat allows for simple user and access management.
Pro Light-weighted
Pro Cross-platform
Originally released on Windows, it has been ported to OS X and Linux.
Pro SQL code completion
Navicat supports auto-complete for SQL queries.
Pro Server monitoring
Allows you to monitor your server for inefficient queries, etc.
Pro Batch job scheduling
Navicat can schedule things like backups, restores, data transfers or report building.
Pro Visual query builder
Create and edit queries without writing SQL.
Pro Visual report builder
Navicat can build reports in a visual way. Once set up, the process can be scheduled.
Cons
Con Mixed experience
Doesn't support HiDPi mode on Windows, everything looks blurry. On Linux it has missing features. On Mac seems to be working just fine. But overall a mixed experience.
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.
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.
Con Buggy
Navicat tends to release builds that have some problems, but they usually release a patched version soon after. Also have had issues with import/export and tunneling.
Con Still buggy, not getting better with updates
This software is way to buggy for a premium priced product. Have done many payed upgrades but I will not do a next payed upgrade. I am done with all the crashing and me losing time with this piece of software. Looking for an alternative.
Con Cost
The cost of a license ranges from $119-$299.
