Skip to content
SPECIFICTION
Get listed

Altova DatabaseSpy vs tbls

Altova DatabaseSpy

altova.com

tbls

github.com

Side by side

FigureAltova DatabaseSpytbls
Price from—Free
Free plan—Yes
Free trialYes—
Open source——
WindowsYesYes
macOS—Yes
Linux—Yes
Self-hosted—Yes
Plans published41
Spec score · Database Documentation Tools8.3 (#7)8.2 (#9)

Plans

Altova DatabaseSpy

  • Professional EditionPriced on request
  • Enterprise EditionPriced on request
  • DatabaseSpy 2026 Professional Edition€159, paid once
  • DatabaseSpy 2026 Enterprise Edition€179, paid once

Altova DatabaseSpy pricing →

tbls

  • Open-source softwareFree

tbls pricing →

In their own words

Altova DatabaseSpy

Altova DatabaseSpy has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.

Visit altova.com

tbls

tbls is a command-line tool for documenting databases and checking their schemas. It generates GitHub Flavored Markdown and can export schema information in formats including DOT, PlantUML, Mermaid, SVG, PNG, JPG, JSON, YAML, Excel, and configuration files. Its configurable lint rules can require column comments or set column-count limits. The `diff` command compares a database schema with generated documentation or another database, while `coverage` measures documentation for descriptions and comments. Documented data sources include PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, BigQuery, Cloud Spanner, Amazon Redshift, SQL Server, Azure SQL, Microsoft Fabric Warehouse, DynamoDB, Snowflake, MongoDB, ClickHouse, Databricks, JSON, HTTP, and GitHub. Docker and a GitHub Action are documented for CI use, and external drivers can extend database support. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, or in a self-hosted setup. The listed plan is free under the MIT License. SQL Server requires version 2017 or later and database compatibility level 110 or higher.

Visit github.com