Pgweb is a cross-platform, web-based PostgreSQL database explorer written in Go that ships as a single dependency-free binary for Mac, Linux and Windows, aimed at developers and operators who need to browse, query and export data from PostgreSQL without installing a native desktop client on every machine.

What it is

Pgweb is an open-source database explorer for PostgreSQL. It is written in Go, distributed under the MIT licence, and works by starting a local web server: the pgweb binary runs, and it serves a browser interface for inspecting database structure, running SQL and exporting results. It runs on Mac, Linux and Windows at 64-bit and works with PostgreSQL 9.6 and newer. The project is hosted on GitHub under the sosedoff organisation with a documented homepage, and the topic list places it in the PostgreSQL and Go ecosystems.

The concrete problem it solves is per-machine client sprawl. A native desktop database client ties a team to one operating system, requires an install on every workstation, and drags along its own dependency chain. Pgweb replaces that with one binary that has zero dependencies, started as a server and reached through a web browser. Because it runs as a server rather than a desktop application, the same instance can be reached over a native SSH tunnel from a remote machine, which removes the need to expose PostgreSQL ports directly.

Repository facts: 9,508 stars, 864 forks, 56 open issues, last push 2026-07-26.

Key capabilities

• Cross-platform: Mac, Linux and Windows (64-bit) from a single codebase.
• Simple installation, distributed as a single binary with zero dependencies.
• Connection via flags such as pgweb --host localhost --user myuser --db mydb.
• Connection URL scheme support, including sslmode modes and Unix sockets via pgweb --url "postgres:///database?host=/absolute/path/to/unix/socket/dir".
• Native SSH tunnel support for reaching databases that are not directly reachable.
• Multiple database sessions, enabled with pgweb --sessions or PGWEB_SESSIONS=1.
• Execute and analyze custom SQL queries, with query history and server bookmarks.
• Table and query data export to CSV, JSON or XML.

Who uses it and how

• Developers running pgweb locally against PostgreSQL, using the default localhost:5432 interface for schema browsing and ad-hoc queries.
• Teams reaching remote databases through native SSH tunnels instead of exposing PostgreSQL ports to the wider network.
• Operators running one instance with multiple database sessions enabled so several databases are served from the same process.
• Evaluators trying it without installing anything, using the hosted demo at https://pgweb-demo.fly.dev/.
• Contributors running make test against a local PostgreSQL server, or make test-all with Docker to run the suite against all supported PostgreSQL versions.

Getting started

Precompiled binaries for the supported operating systems are published on the releases page, after which the server starts with the pgweb command. A Docker image is published as sosedoff/pgweb, and the project wiki lists further installation options.

How it compares

No similar or paid products are named anywhere in the facts supplied for this entry, so pgweb stands alone in this registry. Its position is defined entirely by its own stated properties: MIT licensed, self-hosted, single-binary, and PostgreSQL-specific rather than multi-engine.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster operates very little: the binary has zero dependencies and PostgreSQL itself is the only external requirement, with no separate database, storage layer or mail service involved. It is the wrong choice for teams standardised on database engines other than PostgreSQL, and for anyone who needs a native desktop application rather than a browser interface. The main documented weakness is depth: the README and topic list are sparse on operational detail and do not describe authentication or TLS handling for the web interface, so deployment hardening has to be worked out from the wiki, the homepage or the source.

pgweb

pgweb --host localhost --user myuser --db mydb

pgweb --url postgres://user:password@host:port/database?sslmode=[mode]
pgweb --url "postgres:///database?host=/absolute/path/to/unix/socket/dir"

pgweb --sessions

PGWEB_SESSIONS=1 pgweb

make test

make test-all