
HeidiSQL – GUI client for MariaDB, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server and PostgreSQL - pqb
https://www.heidisql.com/
======
justkez
Feel like I've trialled every multi-DB client under the sun. Spent a good deal
of time with Valentina, then DataGrip but firmly in bed with TablePlus
([http://tableplus.com](http://tableplus.com)) now. First class Mac native
experience and it's hard to see ever giving it up! There's a Windows build
I've not used.

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filmgirlcw
Want to also plug TablePlus — I got it in my SetApp subscription but it’s one
I would have no problem buying outright. Really good stuff and consistently
developed.

~~~
chime
Huge fan of SetApp here. I subscribed months ago and absolutely love being
able to just search, install, and get on with my work. Sure it is much cheaper
to directly buy software you will use forever but that’s not why I use SetApp.
I use it because it makes the hunt for apps obsolete. Any time I think I need
software to do something, I have been able to find it instantly on SetApp.
From PDF search to simple image editor to TablePlus, it makes me so much more
relaxed about finding and installing the right app.

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BrentOzar
It's a Windows app. Github repo is here:
[https://github.com/HeidiSQL/HeidiSQL/](https://github.com/HeidiSQL/HeidiSQL/)

The repo doesn't show releases, but the heidisql.com site has nightly builds
done directly from the master branch.

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paulryanrogers
FWIW, it does work on Wine

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andrewmackrodt
Works very well with Wine (but only with non Hi-DPI displays when and the
Windows Version is set to 2003). It's my favourite client on desktop Linux /
Windows.

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voltagex_
Is there any way to improve the HiDPI support? I remember that Wine was doing
some work on that in recent versions.

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cseelus
If you are on macOS and use Postgres, give
[https://eggerapps.at/postico/](https://eggerapps.at/postico/) a try. Haven't
used a better DB GUI Client and it looks great with Mojaves new dark mode :-)

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markn951
For working with MySQL on Mac, I really enjoy Sequel Pro [1]. Full native (and
kinda old-skool, if you dig that kinda thing) Mac experience/design. Works
fast. Is free.

[1] [https://sequelpro.com](https://sequelpro.com)

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pi-rat
I use Sequel Pro almost daily, pretty damn good, and you can't complain about
the price :)

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Ancient
I used the regular Sequel Pro for years but just recently switched to the
nightly version, which usually it's stable and has more updates. I recommend
the switch to nightly. They share the same DB configurations you have created,
so no need to worry that you have to import/export.

~~~
h1d
It's buggier as it crashes on me every few days but can't connect to MySQL 8
otherwise but the way development is going on, the product seems like a dead
end which is too bad.

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stevoski
I have a slightly off-topic question: what tool do you recommend for creating
Entity Relationship Diagrams (also known as database models)?

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brylie
DBeaver has built-in support for diagrams based on an existing database
schema:

[https://dbeaver.io/](https://dbeaver.io/)

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mping
For linux, dbeaver is the least ugly thing I found. DataGrip looks ugly in 4k
with 2.0 scaling, and I dont like the electron based GUIs. Looks like heidi is
windows-only, will check with wine.

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cholmon
One of my favorite features of HeidiSQL is its "Find text in database", see
[https://www.heidisql.com/forum.php?t=1006](https://www.heidisql.com/forum.php?t=1006)

It'll search through all text fields of all tables of whichever database you
specify for a given string, and displays a nice per-table summary for each
matching record. I haven't found anything like this in any other DB client.

~~~
DKnoll
There's an extension for SQL Server Management Studio that does it (MSSQL) as
well. I don't think it's really recommended for prod DBs though.

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clintboxe
So many people sleeping on DB Visualizer. It’s been around forever, can
connect to anything with a JDBC driver, has a ton of features, and is updated
frequently. My favorite is the ability to quickly full text search any query
I’ve ever run.

[https://www.dbvis.com/](https://www.dbvis.com/)

~~~
elmigranto
Sounds interesting, but what are good examples of "Visualizer" part?
Screenshots section [1] only has 6 (pretty primitive [2]) images out of about
a 100 total, but maybe that is outdated?

[1] [https://www.dbvis.com/features/software-
screenshots/](https://www.dbvis.com/features/software-screenshots/)

[2]
[https://www.dbvis.com/images/features/screens/chart3.png](https://www.dbvis.com/images/features/screens/chart3.png)

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hpvic03
If you're on Mac, Try PopSQL: [https://popsql.io/](https://popsql.io/) . It's
excellent.

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cowmix
So what's the best x-platform SQL client these days?

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manigandham
DBeaver is solid and supports the most DBs with lots of handy features:
[https://dbeaver.io/](https://dbeaver.io/)

Jetbrains Datagrip is popular too, more intelligent but less DBs than DBeaver:
[https://www.jetbrains.com/datagrip/](https://www.jetbrains.com/datagrip/)

If you want a web-based tool, especially for Postgres, then OmniDB is a good
choice: [https://www.omnidb.org/en/](https://www.omnidb.org/en/)

~~~
soperj
I'll second DBeaver.

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pca2
third!

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morenoh149
fourth dbeaver db support and data model diagramming

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timvisee
It's one of the best free apps I've used when I was still developing on
Windows, and it's one of the few tools I miss for development when on other
platforms. If you haven't yet, give it a try!

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dizzystar
A while back, I was fixing up procedures in PL/pgSQL for a company. The
procedures had to be rewritten, and they all sort of looked like this:

create function...

"""

declare some string "'"this string"'" int

"""

end;

The cross-database client didn't support or comprehend $$ escaping, so the
people who wrote everything had no choice but the write with loads of quotes
everywhere. I didn't realize this, so I passed some code back to them and they
couldn't run it at all.

The client-specific programs are all optimized to the RDMS you are using, so I
never was able get on board with these products.

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max23_
I have been using this ever since SSMS (when it was built with WinForm IIRC)
was a pain to use in my old job and my OS was Windows XP.

Plus, I can update single column field from the query result by double
clicking it.

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Risse
I have been using HeidiSQL with Wine for couple of years now, works great! It
does have some bugs though, like after running a large SQL file the UI just
freezes and you have to kill the program.

~~~
windsurfer
I really love using HeidiSQL as well, but I have the same issue. If I'm
running large SQL files, I'm either using workbench or the CLI app.

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ztjio
This has been around a long time. I used to use it when working with DBs in
awkward places, like RDP accessed Windows servers. Since it doesn't require an
install, it was handy to just put it on a shared local folder and run it from
there on the remote server.

Never had any real complaints but it wasn't anything I'd used for regular
work. I tend to prefer using the DB plugins in IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate or, if
they aren't great, then something specific to the DB at the time.

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creUsNa
Props to Ansgar Becker for maintaining this awesome SQL client pretty much by
himself.

HeidiSQL is hands down the best SQL client I've used.

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exabrial
I still think the best sql client in existence is sequelpro. It only works
with mysql but the ui and feature set is incredible.

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h1d
UI polish and snappiness can't be beaten, which in turn locks me into using
MySQL..

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giancarlostoro
I usually use this on Windows but now that I have all JetBrains tools I opt
for DataGrip the most since its cross platform. But also this gets tricky when
you want to open a MSSQL db thats local for development I forgot what
Microsoft calls it but it may as well be called MSSQLite.

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Max_aaa
If I need a GUI for MySQL, I find MySQL Workbench to work great:

[https://www.mysql.com/products/workbench/](https://www.mysql.com/products/workbench/)

But in 90% of cases, I do find that the cli sql client for your DB of choice
is sufficient.

~~~
jamisonbryant
I wish I had the same experience as you. I use MW at my work and it is
constantly crashing, hanging, freezing, and otherwise puttering out. We don't
have a stupidly large database either. Lately I've been hounding my team to
switch to another product, such as HeidiSQL or DBeaver.

~~~
soperj
>HeidiSQL or DBeaver

I've used both, and they're both good.

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MarsAscendant
Downloads are programmatically disallowed while you're viewing the page under
an ad blocker.

Of course, it only disallows the downloads via _clicking_ the link. Easily
circumventable.

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lillesvin
You can install it with chocolatey without ever visiting the site.

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MarsAscendant
You're seriously overestimating my ability to operate command line.

I'm only here for a serious discussion.

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xellisx
I'll have to check out some of these I havent heard of. I use SQLYog (there is
an opensource community edition)

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glogla
Is there a gui client that can do both "normal" databases (like postgres and
oracle) and Hive or Presto?

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ken
Induction [1] was supposed to be that, but the webpage is long gone, and it
looks like there's just a source dump on GitHub with "alpha" code that hasn't
been touched in 5 years.

[1]:
[https://github.com/pothibo/Induction](https://github.com/pothibo/Induction)

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dariusj18
Does this app actually export to CSV correctly, because MySQL Workbench and
SSMS both screw it up?

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jasonjayr
Though I'm not familiar with the CSV export of those two tools, I've had
adventures in CSV parsing from other tools. How do they screw it up? Is there
a canonical "correct" way defined somewhere?

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dariusj18
I cannot remember exactly how they each screw it up, but the issues I have had
are, but not limited to,

a) truncation of data b) removal of line breaks c) not escaping enclosing
values, ex. " as "" d) using \n or other values in place of actual line breaks
or tabs e) using \N for NULL values (which isn't too bad, but it would be nice
to be able to configure this) f) in general not complying with
[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180)

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d4nc00per
The Postgres support was no good last time I tried. I'm using dbeaver now on
linux

~~~
bouncing
You might consider DataGrip -- it's got surprisingly good Postgres support and
even does ssh tunneling quite nicely.

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parrellel
Oh! This is still a thing? Cool! I lost track of it when I switched over to
Linux.

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nwsm
Heidi, DbVisualizer, and DataGrip are all great.

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DiabloD3
So how does this actually compare to Datagrip?

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jaequery
It doesn't support Mac OSX?

