head to head · open source
DBeaver vs flyway
DBeaver has 52,273 GitHub stars, 4,442 forks, 3,334 open issues and last shipped yesterday. flyway has 10,183 stars, 1,634 forks, 258 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. DBeaver leads on adoption by 413% (52,273 vs 10,183 stars). DBeaver is written in Java under Apache-2.0; flyway is written in Java under Apache-2.0. DBeaver has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, flyway 16%. DBeaver was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (database, db2, java), 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 | flyway | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 10K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 flyway if
- You want the flyway feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and flyway 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 flyway
Flyway by Redgate Database Migrations Made Easy. Evolve your database schema easily and reliably across all your instances. Simple, focused and powerful. Works on Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker and Java Supported build tools Maven and Gradle Supported databases Supports 50+ DBMS, including: Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Amazon Redshift, Azure Synapse, SAP HANA (including SAP HANA Cloud), SQLite, IBM DB2 LUW, Amazon Aurora MySQL, Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, Google Cloud Spanner, SingleStoreDB, CockroachDB, TimescaleDB, Babelfish, Cassandra, Couchbase, Fabric…
read the full flyway overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is DBeaver or flyway more popular?
DBeaver has 52,273 GitHub stars and flyway has 10,183. DBeaver has the larger community by that measure.
Are DBeaver and flyway free?
Both are open source. DBeaver is licensed under Apache-2.0 and flyway under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between DBeaver and flyway?
DBeaver is written in Java and flyway in Java. 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 flyway?
Choose DBeaver if you want the larger community (52,273 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose flyway if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.