head to head · open source
DBeaver vs ibis
DBeaver has 51,797 GitHub stars, 4,372 forks, 3,334 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ibis has 6,661 stars, 767 forks, 544 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. DBeaver leads on adoption by 678% (51,797 vs 6,661 stars). DBeaver is written in Java under Apache-2.0; ibis is written in Python under Apache-2.0. DBeaver has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, ibis 12%. DBeaver was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, mysql), 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 | ibis | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 6.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 767 |
| 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 ibis if
- You want the ibis feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ibis fits your workflow better
About DBeaver
DBeaver is a free, multi platform database management tool built in Java, designed for developers, SQL programmers, database administrators, and analysts. It operates across Windows, macOS, and Linux and integrates with the Eclipse based plugin ecosystem via OSGi and Eclipse RCP frameworks.
read the full DBeaver overview →
About ibis
Ibis is the portable Python dataframe library: an Apache 2.0 framework that lets data engineers, analysts, and Python developers write one lazy dataframe expression and run it against more than twenty SQL and analytical backends, from a local DuckDB file to Snowflake, BigQuery, or PySpark.
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Frequently asked questions
Is DBeaver or ibis more popular?
DBeaver has 51,797 GitHub stars and ibis has 6,661. DBeaver has the larger community by that measure.
Are DBeaver and ibis free?
Both are open source. DBeaver is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ibis under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between DBeaver and ibis?
DBeaver is written in Java and ibis in Python. 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 ibis?
Choose DBeaver if you want the larger community (51,797 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ibis if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.