Alternatives to Beekeeper Studio
Friendly open source SQL editor
Beekeeper Studio ranks #1 of 9 in Database GUIs, with an Alt Score of 86. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, freemium from $18/month (Indie; $9/mo billed annually) and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Developers, DBAs, and technical teams who work directly with SQL and NoSQL databases and want a fast, cross-platform GUI instead of the command line or heavier legacy tools.
A SQL editor with syntax highlighting and autocomplete, a spreadsheet-like view for browsing and editing table data directly, and schema/table builders that don't require writing SQL by hand. It supports 25+ databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server, MongoDB, Oracle, Snowflake, BigQuery, Redis, and others), CSV/JSON/SQL import and export, and connection security via SSL and SSH tunneling. It's open-source, runs fully offline, and works across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
You create a saved connection to a database (with optional SSL/SSH settings), then write and run queries in tabs or browse/edit data and schema directly through the UI, with results displayed in a spreadsheet-style grid.
Why people leave Beekeeper Studio
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
Sign in to add a reason — new reasons go through moderation before appearing.
Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Database GUIs checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Database GUIs checklist | Beekeeper Studio | DbGate | TablePlus | pgAdmin | DataGrip | DBeaver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Databases supported | ||||||
| Query editor & autocomplete | ||||||
| ER diagrams | ||||||
| Data editing safety | ||||||
| SSH tunneling | ||||||
| Import / export formats | ||||||
| Open source | ||||||
| One-time purchase option | ||||||
| Team sharing of connections | ||||||
| Performance on large tables |
Every fact and feature listed for Beekeeper Studio is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
-
Pricing model Freemium verified 2026-07-10
A limited version of Beekeeper Studio. Perfect for hobbyists, students, or folks trying out the app.
https://www.beekeeperstudio.io/pricing -
License GPL-3.0 verified 2026-07-10
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License,
https://github.com/beekeeper-studio/beekeeper-studio/blob/master/LICENSE.md -
Starts at $18/month (Indie; $9/mo billed annually) verified 2026-07-10
$18 / month
https://www.beekeeperstudio.io/pricing -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux verified 2026-07-10
We publish binaries for MacOS, Windows, and Linux.
https://github.com/beekeeper-studio/beekeeper-studio/blob/master/README.md -
Status active verified 2026-07-10
v5.9.2
https://github.com/beekeeper-studio/beekeeper-studio/releases/latest -
Databases supported Yes verified 2026-07-10
Supported Databases
https://github.com/beekeeper-studio/beekeeper-studio/blob/master/README.md -
Query editor & autocomplete Yes verified 2026-07-10
Autocomplete SQL query editor with syntax highlighting
https://github.com/beekeeper-studio/beekeeper-studio/blob/master/README.md -
ER diagrams Yes verified 2026-07-10
To visualize your database schema, Beekeeper Studio provides Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD).
https://docs.beekeeperstudio.io/user_guide/entity-relationship-diagrams-erd/ -
Data editing safety Yes verified 2026-07-10
We never want Beekeeper Studio to be the reason you update the wrong row in a production database.
https://docs.beekeeperstudio.io/user_guide/editing-data/ -
SSH tunneling Yes verified 2026-07-10
Beekeeper supports tunneling your connection via SSH.
https://docs.beekeeperstudio.io/user_guide/connecting/connecting/ -
Import / export formats Yes verified 2026-07-10
CSV, SQL (insert), JSON, Newline delimited JSON (JSONL)
https://docs.beekeeperstudio.io/user_guide/data-export/ -
Open source Yes verified 2026-07-10
A significant portion of Beekeeper Studio's source code is available on GitHub under the GPLv3 license (which helps keep all forks open source too).
https://docs.beekeeperstudio.io/support/open-source/ -
One-time purchase option Partial verified 2026-07-10
Perpetual-use-after-12-months, not a classic one-time license.
Pay for 12 months and you can use the paid features forever, even if you cancel your subscription.
https://www.beekeeperstudio.io/pricing -
Team sharing of connections Yes verified 2026-07-10
Workspaces make it easy to work on multiple computers by storing data (connections and queries) in the cloud, and allow multiple people to work from the same set of data collaboratively.
https://docs.beekeeperstudio.io/user_guide/cloud-storage-team-workspaces/
FAQ
Yes. DbGate, pgAdmin and DBeaver have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
DbGate, pgAdmin and DBeaver — every license claim links its source.