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PostgreSQL GUI for Mac and Windows: Free and Paid Options Compared

Which PostgreSQL GUIs run on both Mac and Windows, what the free ones leave out, and what the paid ones cost over three years.

by Dragos Pruteanu, CEO and founder of DbSchema · 15-Nov-2026 · Tools
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Your team works on PostgreSQL from MacBooks and Windows laptops. You want one GUI that runs on both, with one licence per person. You also want everyone to see the same version of the schema.

Short answer

Try DbSchema first: it installs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Its free Community Edition connects to PostgreSQL, draws the schema and runs SQL. DbSchema Pro costs 294 USD once, and one licence covers a Mac and a Windows laptop of the same developer.

  • Every DbSchema download starts with 15 days of all features, without registration.
  • After the trial, the Community Edition stays free on Mac and Windows, for any use.
  • One DbSchema Pro licence covers a developer on two computers, used one at a time.

A SQL client shows you the database, DbSchema gives you the model. The model is one design file, and the Mac and the Windows laptops open the same file.

What DbSchema adds for a Mac and Windows team

The model is DbSchema's copy of your schema, kept in a .dbs file. The schema is the set of tables, columns and keys in your PostgreSQL database. The same file opens in DbSchema on every system.

  • The same app on every laptop. DbSchema has installers for Windows, macOS and Linux, and for Windows on ARM64. ARM64 is the chip type in some newer Windows laptops. DbSchema brings its own Java, the runtime it is built on, so you install nothing else (Install DbSchema).
  • One licence for your Mac and your PC. A DbSchema licence is per developer: you install it on two computers and use one at a time. This holds for DbSchema Pro and for Architect, the edition with logical design (Licensing).
  • One design for the whole team. Git is a version control system: it keeps every version of a file and who changed it. DbSchema has Git built in, under File → Git Collaboration. A colleague on a Mac commits a change, and a colleague on Windows pulls it (DbSchema Pro, Git Collaboration).
  • Changes reach PostgreSQL only after review. Offline means DbSchema is not connected, and your edits stay in the model. Schema synchronization then compares the model with PostgreSQL and writes the migration script, the SQL that brings the database up to date. You see that script before it runs (DbSchema Pro, Schema Synchronization).
  • Queries without typed joins. A join combines the rows of two tables through a foreign key. A foreign key is a column that points to a row in another table. The Query Builder makes the join while you tick columns (DbSchema Pro).
Before and after: connected, a change confirmed with OK runs on PostgreSQL at once; offline, the change waits in the model file, a compare shows the migration script, and you choose what runs
Figure 1Connected, every change runs on PostgreSQL at once. Offline, it waits in the model until a compare shows you the script.

The steps are under Share and deploy one PostgreSQL design in DbSchema.

Which PostgreSQL GUIs run on Mac and Windows

All but one of the GUIs below run on both systems. Postico 2 is a native Mac app that requires macOS 14 or later.

Apple silicon, in the table, means the M-series chips in newer Macs. We read every vendor page below on 15 November 2026.

ToolWindowsmacOSLicenceThree years with updates
DbSchema ProYes, also ARM64YesPerpetual, per developer, two computers444 USD
DbSchema CommunityYesYesFree, any use0
pgAdmin 4YesYes, Apple silicon and IntelFree, open source0
DBeaver CommunityYesYes, Apple silicon and IntelFree0
DBeaver EnterpriseYesYesYearly subscription765 USD
DataGrip, organizationsYesYesYearly subscription777 EUR
TablePlus BasicYesYesPerpetual, one device217 USD
Postico 2, commercialNoYesPerpetual, one device99 USD

A perpetual licence is paid once and keeps working. A subscription is paid every year.

DbSchema Pro costs 294 USD and includes a year of updates, meaning new versions.

Each later year costs 75 USD and is optional. Three years make 444 USD. DbSchema Pro keeps working if you stop.

The other values come from the vendors' pages: pgAdmin, DBeaver and its installation page, DataGrip, TablePlus and Postico. JetBrains showed its prices in euros when we read the page.

Postico's price covers version 2.x. TablePlus renews updates at 59 USD a year per device.

Over three years, DbSchema Pro costs less than DBeaver Enterprise, the DBeaver edition with schema compare. It also costs less than DataGrip for organizations.

Postico and TablePlus cost less. Each of their licences covers one device. A developer with a Mac and a Windows laptop needs two TablePlus licences.

What the free PostgreSQL GUIs leave out

pgAdmin 4 is open source and free on Windows, macOS and Linux. Open source means anyone may read and change the program's code.

pgAdmin runs SQL and draws ER diagrams. An ER diagram shows each table as a box and each foreign key as a line.

pgAdmin's Schema Diff compares two databases or two schemas. Both must run on the same major version, the first number of the release, such as 16 or 17. pgAdmin has no graphical query builder, a tool that writes the SELECT while you click tables: the request was closed as not planned.

DBeaver Community is free too. Its schema compare is only in the paid Enterprise and Ultimate editions. DBeaver has no documentation generator.

DbSchema Community reverse-engineers the PostgreSQL schema: it reads the existing tables and draws them as a diagram you can rearrange. The SQL Editor works in every edition.

DbSchema connects to more than 100 SQL and NoSQL databases in the same window. NoSQL databases, such as MongoDB, store data without fixed tables.

DbSchema Pro adds the graphical query builder that pgAdmin lacks:

The DbSchema Query Builder on PostgreSQL with customers joined to orders, a filter on status, count(*), the generated SQL at the right and the result grid below
Figure 2DbSchema joins the tables through their foreign key and shows the SQL while you tick columns.

The best PostgreSQL tools also covers command-line and monitoring tools.

Share and deploy one PostgreSQL design in DbSchema

You need DbSchema Pro or the trial on each laptop, a PostgreSQL login and a Git repository. A repository is a folder that Git tracks, usually shared on a server such as GitHub or GitLab.

  1. Install DbSchema on each laptop, with the .dmg file on the Mac and the .exe file on Windows.
  2. On the first laptop, choose File → New Model, click PostgreSQL and press Connect to PostgreSQL. Fill in the host, the port, the user and the database, then press Connect.
  3. In Reverse Engineer the Database, tick your schema and press Import.
  4. Clone the repository with File → Git Collaboration → More → Clone. Cloning copies the shared repository to your laptop. Save the model into that folder with File → Save Model to File.
  5. In the Git dialog, commit the .dbs file and press Push. A commit is a saved version. Push sends it to the shared repository.
  6. On the second laptop, clone the same repository. Open the model with File → Open Model from File (.dbs).
  7. To change the design, click the connection button in the toolbar and choose Offline (connect later), as in Figure 1. Edit, save, commit and push. Your colleague presses Pull to get the change.
  8. When the change is reviewed, click the connection button again and choose your PostgreSQL connection. Pick Compare, then decide difference by difference.
  9. In Synchronize Model and Database, click the side that wins on each row. Then press Commit in the database, or Generate SQL script to save the script.

Commit in the database runs the statements on PostgreSQL. It is not a Git commit.

DbSchema shows the statements one at a time in the Execute Script In Database Dialog. Save, commit and push the model afterwards, so the file in Git matches the database.

The DbSchema Synchronize Model and Database dialog on PostgreSQL with three differences: birth_date in customers and the rename of carrier_name set to the database, the table suppliers set to the model, and the ALTER TABLE statement below
Figure 3Each row is one difference. You pick the side that wins and see the SQL before it runs.
A Mac laptop and a Windows laptop both open shop.dbs from the same Git repository; after review, DbSchema compares the model with PostgreSQL and runs the migration script
Figure 4Both laptops work on one model file in Git. PostgreSQL changes only after the compare.

DbSchema Pro also writes HTML5, PDF and Markdown documentation with the diagram, for people who don't run DbSchema.

The model file, Git, schema synchronization, the query builder and documentation need DbSchema Pro. The purchase page lists every edition.

Download DbSchema for Mac or Windows, connect it to PostgreSQL and try every feature free for 15 days. After the trial, the Community Edition keeps connecting, drawing diagrams and running SQL, for any use.

Sources

  1. DbSchema: Install DbSchema
  2. DbSchema: Licensing
  3. DbSchema: Git Collaboration
  4. DbSchema: Schema Synchronization
  5. DbSchema: Query Builder
  6. Postico 2
  7. pgAdmin
  8. DBeaver: Buy
  9. DBeaver documentation: Installation
  10. JetBrains: DataGrip pricing
  11. TablePlus: Pricing
  12. Postico 2: Licenses and Pricing
  13. pgAdmin 4 documentation: ERD Tool
  14. pgAdmin 4 documentation: Schema Diff
  15. pgAdmin 4 issue 5680: Graphical Query Builder Support
  16. DBeaver documentation: Schema compare
  17. DBeaver issue 5158: documentation tool
  18. DbSchema: Connect to Database
  19. DbSchema: SQL Editor
  20. DbSchema: Schema Documentation
  21. DbSchema: Pricing

One PostgreSQL design for Mac and Windows

DbSchema runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The Community Edition connects to PostgreSQL, draws the schema and runs SQL, free for any use. DbSchema Pro adds the model file, Git, schema synchronization, the query builder and documentation.

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