head to head · open source
DBeaver vs badger
DBeaver has 52,273 GitHub stars, 4,442 forks, 3,334 open issues and last shipped yesterday. badger has 15,797 stars, 1,341 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. DBeaver leads on adoption by 231% (52,273 vs 15,797 stars). DBeaver is written in Java under Apache-2.0; badger is written in Go under Apache-2.0. DBeaver has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, badger 8%. DBeaver was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (database), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| DBeaver | badger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 16K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick DBeaver if
- You weight community size — 52K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick badger if
- You want the badger feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and badger fits your workflow better
About DBeaver
DBeaver Free multi platform database tool for developers, SQL programmers, database administrators and analysts. Has a lot of features including schema editor, SQL editor, data editor, AI chat, ER diagrams, data export/import/migration, SQL execution plans, database administration tools, database dashboards, Spatial data viewer, proxy and SSH tunnelling, custom database drivers editor, etc. Out of the box supports more than 100 database drivers . Supports any database which has JDBC or ODBC driver (basically almost all existing databases). Integrates AI tools for work with data, SQL and database structure…
read the full DBeaver overview →
About badger
BadgerDB BadgerDB is an embeddable, persistent and fast key value (KV) database written in pure Go. It is the underlying database for Dgraph, a fast, distributed graph database. It's meant to be a performant alternative to non Go based key value stores like RocksDB. Project Status Badger is stable and is being used to serve data sets worth hundreds of terabytes. Badger supports concurrent ACID transactions with serializable snapshot isolation (SSI) guarantees. A Jepsen style bank test runs nightly for 8h, with race flag and ensures the maintenance of transactional guarantees. Badger has also been tested to work…
read the full badger overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is DBeaver or badger more popular?
DBeaver has 52,273 GitHub stars and badger has 15,797. DBeaver has the larger community by that measure.
Are DBeaver and badger free?
Both are open source. DBeaver is licensed under Apache-2.0 and badger under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between DBeaver and badger?
DBeaver is written in Java and badger in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, DBeaver or badger?
Choose DBeaver if you want the larger community (52,273 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose badger if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.