Free Database Design Tools 2026: Free Tiers Compared

You want a diagram of your schema, and a way to keep it maintained, without paying for a license. Start with DbSchema Community Edition when you work against more than one database engine: it connects, reverse-engineers the schema and draws interactive diagrams for free, on every engine DbSchema supports. MySQL Workbench Community covers MySQL alone. dbdiagram.io and drawDB build the diagram out of text you can commit. ChartDB produces one without giving any tool a database connection.

Every limit below was read off the vendor's own current page rather than off another comparison article. Free tiers move, and two claims about these tools that still circulate are out of date: pgModeler's free edition no longer reverse-engineers, and dbdiagram.io publishes no free table limit at all.

This page is the free half of the category. For the paid tools, the trials and the enterprise platforms, see Best Database Design Tools 2026.

The best free tool for each job

Seven free tiers, and the one that fits you depends less on how the diagram looks than on what the plan lets you keep when you close it. The jobs below are the ones the free tiers actually split on.

Two of those rows go to DbSchema Community for the same reason: the free edition restricts what you may save, never which database you may open. Every other free tier on this page caps something you will meet within the first week, whether that is the engine list, the number of diagrams, or where the diagram is stored.

What "free" means in a database design tool

Free means three different things in this category, and the difference decides whether a tool still works for you in six months.

• A Community Edition is a full desktop application with a permanent free tier under paid upper editions, which is how DbSchema, DBeaver, MySQL Workbench and pgModeler are built.
• A cloud free tier is a browser tool that caps diagrams, tables or privacy until you pay, which is how dbdiagram.io and ChartDB work.
• Open source means the source is free and you may compile or self-host it, which drawDB, DBeaver and pgModeler all are.

Open source is the meaning that trips people up, because it does not always come with a free binary. pgModeler is GPL and free forever as source, while the pre-built binaries are the commercial Plus edition, from $59.90 per six months[1]. That is a real cost even where the license says free. DbSchema Community is the other shape: an installer you download and run, on Windows, macOS and Linux, with no compilation step and no expiry date.

Free tier comparison

What a free tier stops at tells you more than what it covers. Every vendor here gives away the drawing, and each one charges for a different part of what makes the drawing last. DbSchema charges for keeping the design as a file. dbdiagram.io charges for keeping it private. ChartDB charges for connecting it to a database at all.

The offline column carries two meanings at once. A browser tool has no offline mode to speak of, so dbdiagram.io is out as soon as the network is. A desktop tool is offline only as far as it can hold the design without a connection, which is why DbSchema Community reads as the application yes, the model file no.

DbSchema Community Edition

DbSchema Community covers the work of reading a database and drawing it:

• connecting to every engine DbSchema supports
• reverse-engineering a schema into an interactive diagram
• creating and editing tables and columns on that diagram
• the SQL editor

While the connection is open, an edit you make on the diagram is applied to the database as you make it, and DbSchema lists the statements it ran in the SQL History pane[9].

The design itself is where Community ends and Pro begins, and Pro adds:

• saving the project as a .dbs model file
• designing while disconnected from the database
• HTML5, PDF and Markdown documentation
• the Query Builder
• schema synchronization
• the Relational Data Editor
• the Data Generator
• the Data Importer

Pro is one payment with the first year of maintenance included and an optional renewal a year later. The purchase page carries the figure, in your own currency and on separate tabs for Business, Personal and Universities & Students. Logical and conceptual design is Architect.

What does not change between the editions is the engine list. The free edition opens all of them, which is the reason to start here when your stack has a second database in it, and the reason a MySQL-only team can compare it against Workbench on even terms.

DBeaver Community Edition

DBeaver Community is free and open source under the Apache license[4], and it runs as a desktop application on Windows, macOS and Linux. Its ER diagram ships as one of the standard plugins and is drawn from the connection you have open.

The free build carries[5]:

• ER diagrams
• the SQL editor
• a data browser and editor
• data transfer, export and import
• mock data generation
• schema compare

NoSQL engines such as MongoDB, Cassandra and Redis sit in the paid editions, as do cloud databases such as Redshift and BigQuery, the visual query builder, and enterprise authentication including SAML, SSO and Kerberos. Everything with a JDBC driver is reachable, and the published Community engine list runs past a hundred entries.

DBeaver draws the diagram from a live connection, so what you get is a picture of a database that already exists. Designing a schema before the database is created, and keeping that design as the thing you edit afterwards, is the job DbSchema takes on in this list.

MySQL Workbench Community Edition

MySQL Workbench Community is Oracle's free GPL build. The free edition carries[6]:

• reverse engineering and forward engineering
• schema diff and schema synchronization
• EER diagramming in a choice of notations, with auto layout
• modeling of tables, indexes, views, stored procedures, triggers and functions
• a model saved to a file on your machine
• a migration wizard that pulls a schema in from SQL Server, Access, Sybase ASE or PostgreSQL

Validation and documentation are where the free build stops. General schema validation, MySQL-specific schema validation, model validation and the whole DBDoc set that publishes a schema in several formats are marked for the commercial Standard and Enterprise editions[6].

One engine is the boundary that decides this one. Workbench models MySQL and migrates other databases into MySQL; it does not model them. DbSchema Community covers MySQL on the same free terms and every other engine besides, so the second database in your stack is the point at which the two part company.

pgModeler Community Edition

pgModeler has changed, and most roundups have not caught up. It now splits into a Community Edition distributed as source code and a commercial Plus edition that ships the pre-built binaries[1].

The Community source build carries:

• 30+ PostgreSQL object types
• relationship-driven column propagation
• design-time validation with automatic fixes
• the headless CLI
• PostGIS support
• export to SQL, PNG, SVG, HTML and a live server
• models as plain XML files on your machine, with no cloud dependency and no telemetry

Reverse engineering from a live database is marked Plus, and so are incremental diff and sync, the built-in database management module, SSH tunneling, the Git-friendly split-model format, saved and restored sessions, query variables for SQL testing and the database backup utilities[1]. Plus is where the pre-built binary lives as well.

Take the reverse-engineering change seriously if that is why you shortlisted pgModeler. Reading your production schema is no longer something the free edition does, and compiling from source is the only way to run Community at all. DbSchema Community reverse-engineers PostgreSQL at no cost, from an installer, and PostgreSQL is one engine out of the set it reads.

dbdiagram.io free plan

dbdiagram.io is schema as code. You write DBML, the diagram renders as you type, and the source stays text you can commit next to the application.

The free plan allows[2]:

• 10 diagrams and 1 diagram view
• SQL import and export
• importing a schema from an existing database
• public and embedded diagrams
• export to PDF, PNG and SVG

Private and password-protected diagrams, version history, the AI assistant, table groups, header colors, detail levels and sticky notes are paid, and invited editors and the shared workspace need the Team plan. The catch people meet first is that a diagram on the free plan is public and view-only, with no private option until you pay.

The published cap is 10 diagrams, not 10 tables. dbdiagram.io lists unlimited tables as a paid benefit and publishes no free table number anywhere on the pricing page[2], so a roundup that quotes you a free table limit is quoting something the vendor never wrote. It is a browser tool, so there is nothing to install and nothing that runs without a network.

drawDB free

drawDB runs entirely in the browser, needs no account, and is free and open source[7]. You can also self-host it with Docker.

The free tier gives you:

• unlimited local diagrams
• every SQL dialect it supports
• import and export of SQL, DBML and JSON
• templates, including your own

Cloud storage and sync, public sharing, the AI assistant and the MCP server are the Solo plan; live collaboration and diagram permissions are Team. Reverse engineering here means a DDL script you paste or upload rather than a live connection, and the dialects are MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle and a generic one.

Storage is the limit that catches people. A free diagram lives in your browser's IndexedDB, so clearing your browser data takes the diagram with it; export a backup, or self-host. DbSchema puts the same design in a .dbs file on your own disk instead, which is one of the things the Pro edition adds.

ChartDB free

ChartDB comes in two shapes: a hosted free plan, and a self-hosted build that is free and open source under the AGPL. The hosted free plan is small[3]:

• 2 diagrams, 10 tables in each
• one user
• visual search
• community support on Discord

Self-hosting removes those caps.

Outside the hosted free plan sit connected databases, schema export, the DBML editor, database sync, migrations and versioning, the public link, the API and the AI assistant. The engines are PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite, MariaDB, ClickHouse, CockroachDB and Oracle, with Snowflake and BigQuery on the top paid plan.

The reason ChartDB is on this page is the import route. You run one supplied query yourself and paste the result, so a diagram comes out without anyone handing a tool access to production. That answers a narrow case, and on a real schema the 10-table cap ends it quickly.

What we left out, and why

SqlDBM used to appear in lists like this one and no longer belongs, because it has no free tier. Its pricing page publishes no plans and no prices[8], and every route into the product is a sales conversation.

A trial is not a free tier either, so a fixed-length evaluation does not qualify a tool for this page. DbSchema's own trial sits in that category. It runs 15 days, needs no credit card, and opens all Pro features. The installation page names schema synchronization, Git integration, the data generator and logical design among the features available while it lasts. Logical design belongs to Architect, the edition above Pro, so the trial reaches past Pro as well. When it expires DbSchema reverts to the free Community Edition described above.

For the whole category, paid and enterprise platforms included, read Best Database Design Tools 2026. For PostgreSQL on its own, see Top Free PostgreSQL ER Diagram Tools.

Free tiers here differ less on the drawing than on what they let you keep, and the engine list is the one thing DbSchema does not charge for. Download DbSchema at https://dbschema.com/download.html and open the second engine in your stack, the one that ruled out the single-engine tools above. The free Community Edition reads its schema into a diagram you can rearrange. Saving that design as a model file, exporting HTML5, PDF or Markdown documentation and synchronizing the model against the database are Pro. Logical and conceptual design is Architect.

FAQ

Which free database design tool covers the most engines?

DbSchema Community Edition, because the free edition restricts what you may save rather than which database you may open. DBeaver Community reaches anything with a JDBC driver, with its NoSQL and cloud engines in the paid editions.

Can free tools reverse-engineer an existing database?

DbSchema Community, DBeaver Community and MySQL Workbench Community all read a live database and draw its tables. pgModeler Community no longer does, since reverse engineering moved to the paid Plus edition. drawDB reads a DDL script instead, and ChartDB imports the output of a query you run yourself.

Is a free tier enough for a team?

Collaboration is the first thing every vendor on this page charges for, so shared editing, private diagrams and permissions are where a team meets the paywall. In DbSchema the team step is the Pro edition, which saves the design as a .dbs file that Git versions like source code.

Does open source mean a free download?

Not for every tool here. pgModeler is GPL, and the free edition is the source code while the pre-built binaries are sold. DBeaver Community and drawDB publish free builds, and DbSchema Community is a free installer for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Sources

1. pgModeler, editions and features
2. dbdiagram.io pricing
3. ChartDB pricing
4. DBeaver Community
5. About DBeaver Community
6. MySQL Workbench features, edition comparison
7. drawDB pricing
8. SqlDBM pricing
9. DbSchema design model, online and offline mode