Best 10 MySQL Workbench Alternatives (2026)

• KeeperDB works with Amazon Aurora MySQL, including creating stored procedures, and shows each table’s schema and CREATE syntax
• The live monitor shows each process with its user, database, current SQL and elapsed time, maps blocking chains and locks, and lets you kill a session
• KeeperDB opens several database connections at once in separate tabs, and runs one query across connections of the same database type
• The desktop app retrieves credentials from the Keeper Vault through Secrets Manager and holds them in memory only for the session
• With KeeperPAM, users request ephemeral accounts with time-limited access, approved through Slack, Jira, ServiceNow or Teams
• KeeperPAM records every keystroke and visual interaction of a database session, and revoking the vault share ends a contractor’s access

We think KeeperDB is a strong option for MySQL and MariaDB teams that want secure database access and need recorded, time-limited sessions for production databases.

The free desktop app works as an everyday MySQL client on its own, even without a Keeper account. Credential injection, session recording, read-only permissions and time-limited access need KeeperPAM, which Keeper prices on request.

Keeper is a trusted security platform offering a popular, easy-to-use password manager and enterprise PAM solution, used by more than 100,000 organizations globally. If you’re looking for enterprise password management or PAM alongside database management, Keeper is a strong solution to consider.

• Professional and Business plans include cloud workspaces, where your team shares connections and saved queries in a shared folder
• Workspaces assign Member, Admin, and Owner roles, and per-item permissions let you share queries with different teams
• Saved connection passwords are encrypted, and database credentials stay on your device and are never sent to Beekeeper Studio
• Paid editions support AWS IAM passwordless connections and plugin admin controls with allowlists and lockdown
• Beekeeper Studio connects to MySQL and PostgreSQL with Microsoft Entra ID authentication
• Folders and read-only mode are available in the free edition
• Telemetry is opt-in only, and Windows installs can be deployed through an MSI package

We think Beekeeper Studio is a strong option for small teams that want a modern, open-source client for day-to-day MySQL and MariaDB work on every operating system.

If you’re replacing Workbench 8.0, you can start with the free Community Edition. Paid plans cost $9, $14, or $18 per user per month, billed yearly, with a 14-day trial.

Its ER diagram only shows your existing tables; you can’t design or change tables on it. If your team designs schemas visually, we recommend you pair Beekeeper Studio with a dedicated modeling tool.

• JetBrains AI Assistant writes SQL from natural language with your database context
• You can run agents such as Junie, Claude, Codex, GitHub Copilot, or Gemini CLI from the model picker, and review their work in a result comparison tool before it’s applied
• Local History and Git integration track changes to your scripts
• Project data source definitions can be stored in version control for your team, and the shared file excludes passwords
• DataGrip keeps no password store of its own; it uses your operating system’s password manager or KeePass
• JetBrains AI comes in AI Free, AI Pro, AI Ultimate, and AI Enterprise tiers, and AI Pro is included with the All Products Pack

We think DataGrip is a strong option for developers who want IDE-grade SQL editing and AI agents for MySQL and the other engines they work with.

If you’re replacing Workbench 8.0, DataGrip is free for non-commercial use, and commercial licenses come with a 30-day trial. Its diagrams show existing schemas, and table changes go through the Modify dialog, so if your team designs schemas visually, we recommend you pair DataGrip with a dedicated modeling tool.

Team sharing works through connection files in version control, and DataGrip has no built-in roles.

• Team Edition adds role management, shared scripts and connections, and SAML, Azure AD, or SSO sign-in
• Lite, Enterprise, and Ultimate store connection credentials in external secret managers, such as Azure Key Vault, HashiCorp Vault, and CyberArk
• A master password protects saved credentials in PRO editions
• DBeaver can route queries through a central server, so users don’t see the passwords and DBeaver logs the queries
• Team Edition’s audit logging panel records API activity, and Team Edition and CloudBeaver keep query history for all users
• By default, the AI Assistant asks you to confirm before it runs a query that modifies data or schema

We think DBeaver PRO is a strong option for teams that manage MySQL alongside other engines, with a free Community Edition to start from.

If you’re replacing Workbench 8.0 and design tables visually, ERD Edit mode in Enterprise, Ultimate, or Team Edition handles that work.

Pricing is per named user per year: Lite costs $113, Enterprise $255, and Ultimate $510, with a 14-day trial. Features depend on the edition, so check which one your team needs before you buy.

• Backup and restore can be automated, and Professional and Enterprise add a command-line interface for backup and restore
• Data export covers 14 or more file formats, and import 10 or more
• The dbForge AI Assistant generates, explains, optimizes, and troubleshoots SQL using models from OpenAI and Anthropic, and can use the active document as context
• The AI Assistant receives only your database metadata, never the data itself, and it’s switched off by default
• A free Express AI tier includes 200,000 tokens a month, and the paid AI tier costs $9.95 a month or $99.95 a year

We think dbForge Studio for MySQL is a strong option for Windows-based MySQL and MariaDB DBAs who want design, compare, and admin tools in one IDE.

If you’re replacing Workbench 8.0 and depend on visual design, the free Express edition already includes the Database Designer and user management.

Paid editions cost $99.95, $179.95, or $229.95 per year for Standard, Professional, and Enterprise, and Devart also offers monthly billing and perpetual licenses.

dbForge Studio for MySQL is a Windows application, only running on macOS and Linux through CodeWeavers CrossOver or Wine, and it covers the MySQL family only. If your team runs other engines, we recommend you pair it with a multi-engine client.

• DbSchema compares your design with a live database, and you decide which side to update for every difference
• Built-in Git lets you branch, commit, pull, and merge the schema model
• The AI Assistant writes queries from plain English, explains SQL and suggests indexes using the schema model
• AI Assistant subscriptions work with any edition and include credits for ChatGPT, Claude and DeepSeek, and the Architect edition lets you use your own AI key
• Pro licenses are per developer, so you can install DbSchema on two computers and use one at a time
• Every download starts with a 15-day trial of all features, then switches to the Community Edition

We think DbSchema is a strong option for teams that design and document MySQL and MariaDB schemas visually as well as query them. Built-in Git also lets your team review schema changes in pull requests.

Pro costs $294 per developer as a perpetual license, with the first year of updates included and optional updates at $75 a year after that. Architect costs $470.40 per developer, and the AI Assistant is a $9 monthly add-on.

If you’re replacing Workbench 8.0 for modeling work, note that the Community Edition can’t open saved project files, so we recommend you budget for Pro if your team works from saved models.

• Pro teams share database connections by mounting an external connections folder
• Client-side audit logging in Pro records executed SQL statements, database metadata calls and connection state changes
• Administrators can enforce global audit policies
• Saved passwords are encrypted with an auto-generated key, and an optional master password encrypts all passwords and passphrases instead
• Git integration supports three-way merges
• You can disable AI at the client level

We think DbVisualizer is a strong option for cross-platform teams that want a simple per-user license and a free edition to start with.

DbVisualizer covers MySQL user and process management in one client, which is helpful for teams currently using Workbench for this.

Its references graphs show existing relationships, and table changes go through the Alter Table dialog, so if your team designs schemas visually, we recommend you pair it with a dedicated modeling tool.

Pro costs $199 per user for the first year and $89 a year after that, and every subscription includes a perpetual license for the version you have, with a 21-day Pro trial also available.

• Every edition includes code completion with live error checking, plus SSH, HTTP and SSL/TLS connections
• Data masking supports substitution, variance, shuffling, hashing, and nulling
• Navicat Cloud and the self-hosted Navicat On-Prem Server let you assign a role to each coworker for each project
• On-Prem Server applies access rights to local users or external LDAP and Active Directory users, and logs collaboration activity
• Saved database passwords are encrypted, and Navicat Cloud doesn’t store your database passwords or data
• Navicat also sells Navicat for MySQL, a single-engine edition for MySQL and MariaDB

We think Navicat Premium is a strong option for teams that want one client for MySQL, MariaDB and their other relational and NoSQL databases.

If you’re replacing Workbench 8.0 and model databases, the Enterprise Edition covers data modeling with forward and reverse engineering.

The Enterprise Edition costs $1,999 per user as a perpetual license with a year of maintenance, and paid editions come with a 14-day trial. Navicat Premium Lite is free for up to five users per organization.

• The SQLyog Job Agent schedules jobs, and runs natively on Linux
• SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS tunneling lets you manage hosted MySQL servers when the MySQL port is blocked
• SSL connections support TLS 1.3 encryption
• Data from external ODBC sources can be imported into MySQL
• Session restore saves your workspace automatically through session savepoints
• Volume and enterprise pricing is available on request for more than 10 users

We think SQLyog is a strong option for Windows-based MySQL and MariaDB DBAs who want schema and data sync, scheduled backups, and a perpetual license.

SQLyog costs $299 per user for one to 10 users, as a perpetual license with the first year of maintenance included, and you can try it free for 14 days.

It runs on Windows only, covers MySQL and MariaDB only, and has no AI assistant, so if you want AI help with SQL or work across other engines, we recommend you pair it with another client.

• On macOS, the built-in AI assistant writes and explains queries using your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI, GitHub Copilot, Ollama, and other providers
• The AI assistant asks for your approval before running anything other than a read query, and Safe Mode still applies after you approve
• Query results the AI assistant reads, including data rows, are sent to your chosen provider
• On macOS, the TablePlus MCP server issues read-only tokens
• Database and SSH passwords are saved in your Mac’s Keychain
• Teams share connections through a synced folder, and passwords stay in each computer’s Keychain

We think TablePlus is a strong option for developers who want a native client with a one-time license, particularly on macOS.

If you’re replacing Workbench 8.0 for everyday MySQL work, TablePlus covers user management, backup and restore, and diagram-based table changes in one app. Feature and database coverage is fullest on macOS, so if your team works on Windows or Linux, we recommend you check the features you need during the free trial.

A Basic license costs $99 for one device plus two iOS devices, with a year of updates, and you keep using the app after that year. Team seats cost $79 each, with a minimum of three.