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// MySQL wire

MySQL GUI for Mac, Windows and Linux

A native MySQL client with the admin tools you normally reach for a second app to get: Performance Schema query insights, a user and privilege editor, mysqldump and restore, and plans with real row counts.

Connects over
The MySQL wire protocol
Default port
3306
Sign-in
Password, AWS RDS IAM, or Google Cloud SQL IAM
Encryption
Disable, Require, Verify CA or Verify full, with custom CA and client certificates
Download SQLly How to connect

What SQLly does for MySQL

MySQL gets plans with real row counts, Performance Schema insights, an account editor and dump-and-restore - plus guardrails that understand MySQL’s quirks, like DDL that commits on its own and comments that execute.

EXPLAIN ANALYZE and handler counters

On MySQL 8, an actual plan runs EXPLAIN ANALYZE and an estimated plan runs EXPLAIN FORMAT=JSON. Turn on Include Statistics and SQLly snapshots the session’s handler counters around the run, so you can see how many rows were really touched.

Query plans β†’

Performance Schema insights

Query Insights reads the Performance Schema for your heaviest statements, the Index Analyzer checks index usage, and Activity Monitor shows what is running now.

Query Insights β†’

Accounts and privileges

Edit 'user'@'host' accounts, passwords and locks, global, database and table privileges, and roles on MySQL 8. Every change is previewed as SQL and respects the connection’s read-only policy and production lock.

Security editor β†’

mysqldump without the terminal

With the MySQL client tools installed, Dump Database can produce standard mysqldump files with live progress and cancel, and Backup / Restore feeds a dump back through mysql after showing you the command.

Backup / Restore β†’

Guardrails that know MySQL

Read-only connections refuse LOAD_FILE, INTO OUTFILE, LOAD DATA, INSTALL and CALL, and scan executable /*! … */ comments too. AI and MCP queries run inside START TRANSACTION READ ONLY.

Read-only connections β†’

An honest rollback wrap

The auto-rollback setting wraps a batch in START TRANSACTION; …; ROLLBACK;, and refuses CREATE, ALTER, DROP and the other statements MySQL commits implicitly - because no wrap could undo them.

Auto-rollback β†’

Connect to MySQL

  1. Download SQLly for macOS, Windows or Linux from the download page and open it.
  2. Create a connection and choose MySQL - or pick PlanetScale, TiDB, Aurora, RDS, Azure Database for MySQL or Cloud SQL from the MySQL-compatible group for the right port and encryption defaults.
  3. Enter host, port (3306), database, user and password, or paste a mysql:// URL or JDBC string; SQLly understands the ssl-mode, ssl-ca, ssl-cert and ssl-key options.
  4. Choose encryption (Disable, Require, Verify CA or Verify full) and, on RDS, Aurora or Cloud SQL, optionally sign in with AWS or Google IAM instead of a stored password.
  5. Test, save and connect - through an SSH tunnel, a proxy or a Kubernetes port-forward if the server is private.

Every SQLly tool on MySQL

This is the same engine matrix the app uses to enable or disable its menus, so what you read here is what you get. Where a tool doesn’t apply to MySQL, the app says why - and so do we.

SQLly tools and whether they work on MySQL
Tool MySQL
Explorer, IntelliSense and hover cards Yes
Edit rows in the results grid Yes
Estimated execution plans Yes EXPLAIN FORMAT=JSON.
Actual (executed) plans Yes EXPLAIN ANALYZE on MySQL 8.
Activity Monitor Yes
Query Insights Yes Performance Schema.
Server Dashboard Yes
Disk Usage and Object Browser Yes
Maintenance menu Yes ANALYZE, OPTIMIZE and CHECK TABLE.
Schema Compare and Schema History Yes
Data Compare Yes
Data Transfer Yes
Test Data Generator Yes
Table Structure Editor Yes
Index Analyzer Yes
Security editor (users, roles, grants) Yes Accounts, privileges and MySQL 8 roles.
Backup / Restore Yes Drives mysqldump and mysql when installed.
Create and drop database dialogs Yes
SSH tunnels, proxies and Kubernetes port-forward Yes
Read-only connections Yes
Auto-rollback safety wrap Yes Implicitly committing DDL is refused.
Procedure Mode No Procedure deployment commits immediately and cannot be rolled back.
SQL Agent, Extended Events and guided designers No SQL Server and Azure SQL only.

Hosted and compatible engines

These are choices in SQLly’s connection editor in their own right. Each one sets the right port and encryption default, and a short note under the connection options says what differs from plain MySQL.

  • Amazon Aurora MySQL
  • Amazon RDS for MySQL
  • Azure Database for MySQL
  • Google Cloud SQL for MySQL
  • PlanetScale
  • TiDB

Questions about MySQL in SQLly

Does SQLly work with PlanetScale and TiDB?

Yes. Both are choices in the connection editor's MySQL-compatible group. PlanetScale keeps TLS switched on and shows foreign keys only if they are enabled for the database; TiDB connects on port 4000 and has no stored procedures, so routine folders stay empty.

Can I see MySQL execution plans with real row counts?

Yes. On MySQL 8 an actual plan runs EXPLAIN ANALYZE, and an estimated plan runs EXPLAIN FORMAT=JSON without executing the query. The Include Statistics option also snapshots the session's handler counters around a run.

Why is the auto-rollback safety setting strict about DDL on MySQL?

MySQL implicitly commits statements such as CREATE, ALTER, DROP, TRUNCATE, RENAME, GRANT and REVOKE, so wrapping them in a transaction cannot undo them. SQLly refuses those statements under the rollback wrap instead of pretending they will be rolled back.

Read more

In the docs

Other databases

Choosing a client

// try it on your own MySQL

Bring your MySQL home to the pig

SQLly is free to start on macOS, Windows and Linux, with no account required.

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