SQLlySQLly vs LibreDB Studio
LibreDB Studio flips the usual model: instead of installing a client on every laptop, you deploy one MIT-licensed web app next to the database - a container, a Helm chart, or an npm package - and the whole team works from a browser tab, with SSO and an audit trail built in. SQLly goes the other way: a native Rust workbench on your own machine that tries very hard to know your data and keep you out of trouble. Here’s the honest breakdown.
Last reviewed: September 2026
The short version
A native workbench with opinions
GPU-rendered on macOS, Windows, and Linux with no runtime underneath. Thirty engines connect today - relational, analytical, and Redis - and the focus is depth: completions from real column values, layered safety guardrails, and script-first admin tools.
The IDE that deploys next to the data
Free and MIT-licensed, with nothing held back. A Next.js/React app around the Monaco editor, self-hosted beside the database; eighteen drivers covering forty-plus engines including MongoDB, Cassandra, and Kafka - plus OIDC SSO, roles, a query audit trail, and an optional AI agent on your own model. A young, pre-1.0 project, shipping fast.
Feature by feature
SQLly’s column uses the same honest status badges as the features page and the docs. For LibreDB Studio we list what its own site and repository state.
| Capability | SQLly | LibreDB Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on macOS, Windows & Linux | YesmacOS is signed and notarized; Windows and Linux are a supported beta. | YesAny modern browser; the server deploys on all three (Docker, Helm, npm, deb/rpm, Snap, Homebrew, winget). |
| How the app is built | NativeRust, rendered on the GPU (Metal, Direct3D, Vulkan). How it works | Web appNext.js/React with the Monaco editor, on Node.js or Bun. Desktop wrapper builds exist for Linux. |
| Free to use | Free tierTwo saved servers, one cloud account, and a reminder to pay about every five hours. Pricing | YesEvery feature, any team size. No paid edition exists today. |
| Open source | NoLifetime licenses carry a source-escrow promise if SQLly is ever discontinued. | YesMIT - SSO, ER diagrams, AI, and the NoSQL engines all ship in the open build. |
| Browser / server mode for a team | NoA desktop app. The browser preview is a demo, not a deployment. | YesThat is the design: OIDC single sign-on, role-based access, and a per-person query audit trail. |
| SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite | YesPlus hosted and compatible engines - 30 in all. Full list | Yes |
| DuckDB, ClickHouse, Oracle, libSQL/Turso | YesNative drivers, with each tool saying where an engine has no counterpart. Per-engine coverage | Yes |
| Db2, Snowflake, Databricks & friends | PlannedModeled in SQLly’s engine profiles; live connectors still to come. | No |
| Redis | YesCommand editor, key browser, dashboard, activity monitor, slow log; Valkey, KeyDB, DragonflyDB, ElastiCache and MemoryDB too. | YesCommand editor, key browser, INFO-based monitoring; Valkey, KeyDB, DragonflyDB and Garnet over the same protocol. |
| MongoDB & other NoSQL | No | YesMongoDB and Couchbase; Cassandra over CQL; Elasticsearch/OpenSearch, Kafka, and Prometheus read-only. |
| SSH tunnels | YesSSH, SOCKS, and HTTP proxy. Engine docs | YesFor any host-and-port engine; Kafka and connection-string setups excepted. |
| TLS modes & client certificates | YesDisable, require, verify-CA, verify-full. TLS | YesAn SSL/TLS panel on every networked engine; custom CA and client certificates where the driver allows. |
| Edit table data | YesA row editor generated from the table’s own metadata. Row editor | YesInline grid editing where the engine’s SQL allows a single-table update; hidden elsewhere. |
| ER diagrams | YesExport to SVG, Mermaid, or DBML. Relationship Graph | YesReal foreign-key edges, automatic layout, PNG/SVG export. |
| Execution plan viewer | In progressPlain-language findings, tree, and diagram across nine engines. Query plans | YesVisual EXPLAIN for PostgreSQL, MySQL, DuckDB, ClickHouse, Trino, and more. |
| Schema diff | YesAcross connections and engines, risk-graded, with rollback scripts. Schema Compare | YesSnapshot timeline and cross-connection diffs, with migration SQL for five engines. |
| Data compare | YesTable diffs with sync scripts. Tools | - |
| Backup & restore | YesBackup and restore as reviewable scripts. Tools | - |
| Import & export data | YesCSV, JSON, Excel, SQL, and more. Export | PartialCSV import; CSV, JSON, and SQL INSERT export, to file or clipboard. No Excel. |
| Session & activity monitoring | YesActivity Monitor with blocking chains, top queries, Server Dashboard. Activity Monitor | YesSessions, slow queries, cache hit ratios, and storage, read from each engine’s own statistics. |
| Plugins & extensions | No | NoNo plugin system; the whole IDE is embeddable as an npm package instead. |
A dash means we couldn’t confirm it from LibreDB Studio’s own materials - check its documentation for the current state.
Where SQLly is different
LibreDB Studio moves the tool to the data. SQLly bets on the laptop instead - and on depth once it’s there.
Native, not a browser tab
SQLly is one Rust codebase drawing straight to the GPU with each OS’s own graphics path. There’s no server to deploy and no browser in the middle, and large results stream to disk so the grid stays flat on memory whether you fetch 50 rows or 50 million.
Spill-to-disk results βAutocomplete that knows your data
Beyond schema completion, SQLly can pull a column’s real distinct values into a WHERE clause, offer a join’s ON clause from actual foreign keys, and underline a GROUP BY mistake as you type.
Guardrails you set once
Read-only connections that refuse file-reading and shell-escape tricks, a hard stop on UPDATE/DELETE with no WHERE, auto-wrapped transactions, and prod painted an angry red - inherited down your client, project, and environment tree.
Script-first admin tools
Activity monitor, backup and restore, schema and data compare, index analyzer, SQL Agent, and more live under one Tools menu. Anything destructive opens as SQL in a tab for you to read before it runs.
Tools βComments that shape results
A one-line SQL comment can pivot a result or set up a chart, and it travels with the query so the next run looks the same. The grid has pivot, chart, diff, and JSON/XML viewers built in.
SQLly directives βPlain files, no telemetry
Connections, history, and settings are plain files you can diff or commit, with passwords kept in your OS keychain. The app has no telemetry today, full stop.
Everything is a file βWhen LibreDB Studio is the better choice
Different shape, different wins. LibreDB Studio is probably the better fit if:
- You want one tool for the whole team, next to the database. Single sign-on through your identity provider, role-based access, and an audit trail of every executed query - onboarding is a URL, offboarding is disabling an account. SQLly is a per-person desktop app.
- Open source is a requirement, or free at any company size. LibreDB Studio is MIT with nothing held back; SQLly’s source is closed, and its free tier isn’t available inside organizations with more than 100 employees.
- You need MongoDB, Couchbase, Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, Kafka, or Prometheus. SQLly’s NoSQL support is Redis and its cousins, full stop.
- You want a finished graphical EXPLAIN today. LibreDB Studio ships visual plans for several engines; SQLly’s plan viewer is still in progress.
- You want an AI agent on your own model. State an objective and LibreDB’s agent runs read-only, budgeted SQL - enforced by the database itself - and writes a report that cites its results, against Gemini, OpenAI, a local Ollama, or any compatible endpoint.
- You need to reach a database from a phone or a machine you can’t install on. A browser is the only client LibreDB Studio needs.
One honest caveat in the other direction: LibreDB Studio is pre-1.0 and moving quickly, so check its repository for the current state of any feature that matters to you.
Questions
Is LibreDB Studio really free?
Yes. LibreDB Studio is MIT-licensed with no paid edition and no feature gating - SSO, the audit trail, ER diagrams, the NoSQL engines and the AI features all ship in the free build, at any company size. It is developed by Sekoya Tech and supplemented by GitHub Sponsors donations; the project says a separate platform product may carry a price one day, but nothing is on sale today. SQLly is free for hobbyists, with Annual and Lifetime licenses for everyone else.
Is LibreDB Studio a desktop app like SQLly?
No. LibreDB Studio is a web application you self-host - as a container, a Helm chart, or an npm package, usually next to the database itself - and use from a browser, with desktop wrapper builds for Linux. SQLly is the opposite shape: a native Rust app installed on macOS, Windows, or Linux, with no server to run.
Which connects to more databases, SQLly or LibreDB Studio?
They overlap heavily on SQL engines: both cover PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, DuckDB, ClickHouse, libSQL/Turso and Redis. LibreDB Studio adds MongoDB, Couchbase, Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, Kafka and Prometheus, plus wire-compatible engines such as CockroachDB and Valkey. SQLly connects to 30 engines with deeper per-engine tooling, but has no MongoDB or other document and search stores. Neither connects to Db2, Snowflake or Databricks today.
Other comparisons
Different answers to the same question
LibreDB Studio lives next to your database; SQLly lives on your laptop. Take the pig for a spin - free on macOS, Windows, and Linux, no account or container required.