DbFit vs pgroll
DbFit
dbfit.github.iopgroll
pgroll.comSide by side
| Figure | DbFit | pgroll |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 2 |
| Spec score · Database Testing Tools | 7.4 (#18) | 8.5 (#6) |
| License | DbFit is free and open source under the GPL license; its GitHub repository specifies GNU General Public License version 2. | The repository is licensed under Apache License 2.0. |
| Purpose | DbFit is a framework for writing readable, maintainable unit and integration tests for database code. | pgroll is an open-source command-line tool for safe, reversible PostgreSQL schema migrations that keep multiple schema versions available simultaneously. |
| Support | The contact page directs questions to the project forum and feature requests or bug reports to the issue tracker. | Users are directed to GitHub issues, GitHub discussions and Discord for assistance. |
Plans
In their own words
pgroll
pgroll is an open-source command-line tool for PostgreSQL schema migrations that keeps old and new schema versions available while applications move between them. Its expand/contract workflow lets clients choose a version through PostgreSQL's search_path. The project describes migrations as zero-downtime and says it applies changes without locking the database; it can also backfill columns automatically when needed. For breaking changes, pgroll builds virtual schemas from views over physical tables and uses triggers to carry writes between old and new columns. Active migrations can be rolled back to the previous schema version. It supports PostgreSQL 14 and later, including RDS and Aurora, and is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows or self-hosting. It can convert SQL generated by ORMs, with examples for Alembic, Django, and Drizzle, though manual data migrations and SQL consolidation may be needed. On PostgreSQL 14, its versioned views do not respect row-level security policies, which can make it a poor choice for RLS users on that version. The project is licensed under Apache License 2.0.