head to head · open source
DBeaver vs sqlit
DBeaver has 52,273 GitHub stars, 4,442 forks, 3,334 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sqlit has 4,964 stars, 177 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. DBeaver leads on adoption by 953% (52,273 vs 4,964 stars). DBeaver is written in Java under Apache-2.0; sqlit is written in Python under MIT. DBeaver has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, sqlit 4%. DBeaver was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (mysql, oracle), 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 | sqlit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 5.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 177 |
| 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 sqlit if
- You want the sqlit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and sqlit 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 sqlit
The lazygit of SQL databases Connect and query your database from your terminal in seconds. pipx install sqlit tui Connect Supports all major databases: SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MariaDB, FirebirdSQL, Oracle, DuckDB, CockroachDB, ClickHouse, Snowflake, Databricks, Supabase, CloudFlare D1, Turso, Athena, BigQuery, Spanner, RedShift, IBM Db2, SAP HANA, Teradata, Exasol, Trino, Presto, Apache Flight SQL, Apache Impala, SurrealDB and osquery. Query Syntax highlighting. History. Vim style keybindings. Results Load millions of rows. Inspect data, filter by content, fuzzy search. Docker Discovery…
read the full sqlit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is DBeaver or sqlit more popular?
DBeaver has 52,273 GitHub stars and sqlit has 4,964. DBeaver has the larger community by that measure.
Are DBeaver and sqlit free?
Both are open source. DBeaver is licensed under Apache-2.0 and sqlit under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between DBeaver and sqlit?
DBeaver is written in Java and sqlit 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 sqlit?
Choose DBeaver if you want the larger community (52,273 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose sqlit if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.