head to head · open source
DBeaver vs tbls
DBeaver has 51,797 GitHub stars, 4,372 forks, 3,334 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tbls has 4,344 stars, 210 forks, 55 open issues and last shipped yesterday. DBeaver leads on adoption by 1,092% (51,797 vs 4,344 stars). DBeaver is written in Java under Apache-2.0; tbls is written in Go under MIT. DBeaver has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, tbls 5%. DBeaver was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | tbls | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 52K | ★ 4.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 210 |
| 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 tbls if
- You want the tbls feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and tbls 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 tbls
tbls is an MIT licensed, Go written command line tool that automatically documents a database schema as Markdown and other formats, aimed at developers, data engineers, and platform teams who want schema documentation generated, diffed, and linted inside continuous integration instead of maintained by hand.
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Frequently asked questions
Is DBeaver or tbls more popular?
DBeaver has 51,797 GitHub stars and tbls has 4,344. DBeaver has the larger community by that measure.
Are DBeaver and tbls free?
Both are open source. DBeaver is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tbls under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between DBeaver and tbls?
DBeaver is written in Java and tbls 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 tbls?
Choose DBeaver if you want the larger community (51,797 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tbls if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.