head to head · open source
drawDB vs HeidiSQL
drawDB has 39,590 GitHub stars, 3,253 forks, 241 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. HeidiSQL has 6,274 stars, 587 forks, 324 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. drawDB leads on adoption by 531% (39,590 vs 6,274 stars). drawDB is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; HeidiSQL is written in Pascal under GPL-2.0. drawDB has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, HeidiSQL 9%. HeidiSQL was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (mariadb), 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
| drawDB | HeidiSQL | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Pascal |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 587 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick drawDB if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick HeidiSQL if
- You want the HeidiSQL feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Pascal
- You evaluated both and HeidiSQL fits your workflow better
About drawDB
drawDB is a free, open source, browser based database entity relationship diagram (ERD) editor and SQL generator for developers, data modellers, and teams who need to design database schemas and turn them into SQL scripts without creating an account.
read the full drawDB overview →
About HeidiSQL
HeidiSQL is a free, GPL 2.0 licensed graphical client for managing MariaDB, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Interbase and Firebird databases, aimed at developers and database administrators who need to browse, edit and export data without working from a command line.
read the full HeidiSQL overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is drawDB or HeidiSQL more popular?
drawDB has 39,590 GitHub stars and HeidiSQL has 6,274. drawDB has the larger community by that measure.
Are drawDB and HeidiSQL free?
Both are open source. drawDB is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and HeidiSQL under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between drawDB and HeidiSQL?
drawDB is written in JavaScript and HeidiSQL in Pascal. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, drawDB or HeidiSQL?
Choose drawDB if you want the larger community (39,590 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose HeidiSQL if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.