DBDiff vs sqldef
DBDiff
dbdiff.devsqldef
github.comSide by side
| Figure | DBDiff | sqldef |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Database Schema Comparison Tools | 7.8 (#8) | 7.6 (#12) |
| Integrations | The site documents Supabase support and compatibility with tools including Flyway, Liquibase, Laravel Migrations, Docker, and Podman. | The project links to Docker images on Docker Hub and a GitHub Action that previews database schema changes. |
| License | DBDiff is distributed under the MIT license. | The repository says source files are distributed under the MIT License, with the parser under Apache License 2.0. |
| Purpose | DBDiff compares two local or remote databases and generates migration files from their schema and data differences. | sqldef is a CLI tool for diffing SQL schemas and managing relational database migrations with regular SQL DDLs. |
Plans
In their own words
DBDiff
DBDiff compares local or remote databases and creates migration files from their differences. Its drivers support MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite, and its schema and data diffing covers tables, views, materialized views, triggers, routines, types, domains, sequences and row-level-security policies. YAML settings and command-line options can include or exclude tables, omit columns, filter rows, and set schema or data scope by table. Migration output includes up and down SQL in native SQL, Flyway, Liquibase XML or YAML, Laravel Migrations and custom templates. A built-in runner offers commands to create, apply, roll back, inspect, validate, repair and baseline migrations. A Supabase option selects PostgreSQL and enables SSL, but limits that diff to the public schema, leaving managed auth and storage schemas out. Pre-built binaries are available for Windows, macOS and Linux without PHP, Node or Composer; PHAR and Composer installs need PHP 8.1 or newer. DBDiff is free, open source under the MIT license.
sqldef
sqldef is a free command-line tool for managing relational database migrations with SQL DDLs. Users maintain a SQL file describing the desired schema; sqldef compares it with the current database schema to generate and apply changes. It lists support for MySQL, MariaDB, TiDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and SQLite3. The workflow can export the current schema and use a dry run to preview migrations before execution. It can also compare two SQL files without a database connection, for schema validation, CI/CD, and migration script generation. Repeated runs are safe: when the database matches the desired schema, another run shows no changes. Rename annotations are documented for tables, columns, indexes, and ENUM values. Each database tool is distributed as a single binary without dependencies. Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted availability are listed. Linux binaries and Docker images are available, but Debian packages are not; a Homebrew tap is listed for four database tools. Source files use the MIT License, while the parser uses Apache License 2.0.