DBeaver Alternative for Database Design: DbSchema, Edition by Edition and Price by Price

DBeaver has the live database open in front of you, and the next job is a table nobody has created yet: drawn, reviewed and agreed before it reaches a server. For that work, the DBeaver alternative is DbSchema. It keeps the design in a model file your team reviews in Git, compares that file with the live database before anything is deployed, and exports documentation anyone can open in a browser.

DBeaver edits diagrams only in paid editions, straight into the database

The search usually starts when the job changes from reading a database to designing one. DBeaver's documentation on ER diagrams says plainly that "diagrams are read-only by default". Edit mode turns the diagram into a schema editor, and you can right-click the canvas to create a new table, but Edit mode is "available in Enterprise, and Ultimate editions only". When you click Save, DBeaver shows the generated SQL script and applies it to the database, according to its Edit mode documentation.

That is a good fit for changing a server you own. It is a poor fit for a design that has to be reviewed first, because the diagram and the database are the same thing: there is no separate design to put in a pull request. The difference is where the design lives while the review happens.

Each design capability sits in a different edition of each tool

Each row names the edition a capability needs, because the edition decides the bill. The DBeaver values come from its editions page and documentation, read on 3 November 2026.

Design and review

DbSchema covers the whole design loop from Pro, where DBeaver needs Enterprise for the same rows:

Engines, queries and licence

The licence row is where the two differ most:

The two schema comparisons answer different questions. DBeaver's compares two database objects that you pick in the navigator, reads both with Liquibase snapshots and produces the DDL that makes the target match the source; its schema compare documentation warns that running that migration "can't be undone automatically". DbSchema's compares the design your team agreed with the database that actually runs, so it tells you how far production has drifted from the model.

Over three years DbSchema Pro costs 321 USD less than DBeaver Enterprise

Schema compare and Git sync start at DBeaver Enterprise, 255 USD a year, and Ultimate costs 510 USD a year with no monthly option, according to DBeaver's editions page read on 3 November 2026. Its licence documentation marks perpetual licences as discontinued after version 23.3, and a subscription blocks access when it expires. DbSchema Pro costs 294 USD once, including the first year of updates; after that, updates cost 75 USD a year and the licence keeps working if you stop (DbSchema purchase page).

If you prefer a subscription, DbSchema Pro is also sold at 29.40 USD a month, with all updates included while it runs.

DbSchema keeps the design in a file your team reviews first

Right-click the empty diagram to add a table, and drag a child column onto the parent column to draw a foreign key (foreign keys). While DbSchema is connected, every change you confirm runs in the database at once. Choose Database → Offline (connect later) and your changes stay in the model, so you can design a schema that no server has yet; saving it with File → Save Model to File needs Pro (schema synchronization).

The model is one .dbs file that holds the tables, foreign keys and diagrams. DbSchema's Git dialog clones a repository, commits the file and pushes it, so a colleague reviews a schema change in a pull request the same way as code. Committing changes only the repository; the database changes when you synchronize.

When the design is agreed, DbSchema compares the model with the database and lists every difference in the Synchronize Model and Database dialog. For each row you choose which side wins, then apply the choices to the model, commit them in the database, or generate an SQL script to review first.

123

1. 1Create birth_date in the database
2. 2The statement that would run
3. 3Generate SQL script for review

DbSchema also keeps relationships the database never declared. Tick Virtual when you drag the foreign key, and the line stays in the model only, which documents legacy schemas without touching them.

DbSchema publishes the model as documentation anyone can open

DbSchema Pro writes the model as one HTML5 file, a PDF or Markdown, from File → Export As... → HTML5/PDF Documentation (schema documentation). The HTML5 page carries the diagram as a vector image, and table and column comments show as mouse-over tooltips, so a reviewer or auditor reads the schema without installing anything. DBeaver's diagram export produces images and GraphML, which are pictures and a graph format rather than a data dictionary.

The Relational Data Explorer in Pro opens a parent table beside its child tables over the foreign keys, virtual ones included: select an order, and the order items show only that order's rows.

Other DBeaver alternatives draw the keys that already exist

Most DBeaver alternatives are SQL clients. What separates them for design work is whether the diagram is a design you change before the database has it, or a picture of the keys that already exist. The vendor pages below were read on 3 November 2026.

Only DbSchema's diagram is a design you change before the database has it:

DataGrip's documentation says its diagrams are generated from existing database objects, and you add a table by dragging it from the Database Explorer. DbVisualizer's feature page says its references graph renders "all primary/foreign key mappings" in both editions. Navicat Premium's product page lists a Model feature and connects to MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, Redis and Snowflake. For the wider field, see DBeaver alternatives for visual database design and Best ER Diagram Tools.

DBeaver's paid editions are built for running existing servers

DBeaver's paid editions reach into running the server: the task scheduler and table data comparison start at Enterprise, next to schema compare and Git sync, on the same editions page. Those are administration jobs on databases that already exist. The design question, what the schema should be before it reaches a server and who agreed to it, is the one DbSchema answers, and both connect over JDBC, so you can keep both open on the same database.

Design work goes to DbSchema, server administration to DBeaver

Four of the five jobs point to DbSchema, and the fifth is server administration:

Switching takes three steps against the same database

1. Connect to the same database Community

   Download DbSchema, choose Connect to Database, pick the engine and enter the host, user and password you use in DBeaver.

2. Reverse-engineer the schema Community

   Tick the schemas to import. DbSchema draws their tables and foreign keys on an editable diagram.

3. Save the model and commit it Pro

   Save with File → Save Model to File, then commit the .dbs file from the Git dialog.

To try the whole workflow on your own schema, download DbSchema and connect it to a database you already run in DBeaver. Connecting, reverse-engineering, the editable diagram and the SQL editor are in the free Community Edition. The offline model, Git, schema synchronization, documentation and the Relational Data Explorer are in DbSchema Pro, and a new installation runs every Pro feature for 15 days.

FAQ

What is the best DBeaver alternative for database design?

DbSchema, because its diagram is a design saved in a model file that you review in Git, compare with the live database and publish as documentation. In DBeaver, diagram editing needs Enterprise or Ultimate, and Save applies the edits to the database.

Which other tools do people use instead of DBeaver?

DataGrip, DbVisualizer, Navicat, dbForge Studio and Beekeeper Studio are SQL clients that connect to several engines. The table of other alternatives shows what their diagrams are built from.

Can DbSchema connect to existing databases like DBeaver?

DbSchema connects over JDBC from the free Community Edition, reverse-engineers the schemas you select and draws them as editable diagrams.

Which tool is better for ER diagrams, DbSchema or DBeaver?

DbSchema, if you intend to edit the diagram: it is the design surface, with several diagrams per model and virtual foreign keys. DBeaver's diagrams are read-only until you switch on Edit mode in Enterprise or Ultimate.

Should I switch from DBeaver to DbSchema?

Add DbSchema when your team needs a schema design it can review before deployment, documentation with the diagram, or a check of production against the agreed model. Keep DBeaver for the administration jobs it is built for.

Sources

1. DbSchema purchase page
2. DbSchema documentation, schema synchronization
3. DbSchema documentation, Git
4. DbSchema documentation, schema documentation