One client for everything, or one per database
Universal clients connect to many engines through drivers. Specialized clients do one database very well. Which kind fits depends on how many systems you touch:
| Client | Databases named on the official page |
|---|---|
| DBeaver Community | More than 100 database drivers out of the box, any database with a JDBC or ODBC driver; NoSQL in the commercial versions |
| Beekeeper Studio Community | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server, Redshift, MariaDB, BigQuery, Redis and more |
| HeidiSQL | MariaDB, MySQL, MS SQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Interbase, Firebird and more |
| Adminer | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MS SQL and Oracle |
| pgAdmin | PostgreSQL only |
| DB Browser for SQLite | SQLite and SQLCipher files |
| MSSQL extension | SQL Server, Azure SQL and SQL database in Fabric |
Free editions and their catches
- Beekeeper Studio Community is open source under GPLv3 with unlimited connections, queries and tabs. Import and export, backup and restore, and editing query results directly are paid. Its FAQ says the Community Edition is intended for students, individuals, non-profits and small businesses with fewer than 10 employees or under $1m in annual revenue.
- TablePlus has no free edition, only a free trial that is limited to 2 opened tabs, 2 opened windows and 2 advanced filters, with filters not available in the free Windows version. TablePlus warns the limits can change without notice.
- Adminer is free for business or personal use under the Apache License or GPL 2, but it is a PHP file on a web server. Do not leave it reachable on a public site after use.
- Azure Data Studio is no longer an option. Microsoft says it retired on February 28, 2026 and no longer receives updates or security fixes, and recommends Visual Studio Code with the MSSQL extension.
Getting data in and out
Most clients import CSV files, but they choke on the same things Excel does: wrong separators, stray quotes, mixed encodings. Run the file through the CSV cleaner first, and read our guide on broken characters in CSV files if umlauts or accents arrive garbled. For APIs and document databases, convert with CSV to JSON and JSON to CSV.
Long queries copied from a log or an ORM are easier to debug once they are indented: paste them into the SQL formatter. If joins are the part that confuses you, the SQL joins guide shows each one with a small example.
Safety with production data
A GUI makes it easy to edit a live row by accident. Connect to production with a read-only database user where you can, give production connections a clear name and color in the client, and test changes on a copy first. Beekeeper Studio includes fine-grained transaction management and SSH tunnels in the free edition, which lets you reach a server without opening the database port.
If you only need a shared table for a team and not a real database server, the free no-code databases list is easier to start with. For test data to practice queries on, see the free public datasets list.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free database GUI?
DBeaver Community is free and open source and supports more than 100 database drivers out of the box, so one app covers most systems. If you only use PostgreSQL, pgAdmin is the open source tool made for it, and for SQLite files DB Browser for SQLite is the specialist.
Is Beekeeper Studio free for business use?
The Community Edition is free and open source under GPLv3, and its FAQ says it is intended for students, individuals, non-profits and small businesses with fewer than 10 employees or annual revenue below $1m. Larger organizations are asked to buy a paid license.
Is TablePlus free?
TablePlus offers a free trial, not a free edition. The trial is limited to 2 opened tabs, 2 opened windows and 2 advanced filters, and filters are not available in the free Windows version. A perpetual Basic license for one device is paid.
What happened to Azure Data Studio?
Microsoft retired Azure Data Studio on February 28, 2026, and it no longer receives updates or security patches. Microsoft recommends Visual Studio Code with the MSSQL extension, which is free and MIT-licensed, and SQL Server Management Studio for administration tasks.
Can I manage a database from the browser?
Yes. Adminer is a single PHP file you upload to your server, free for business or personal use. pgAdmin can also run in server mode as a web application for PostgreSQL.