DBX vs tbls
DBX
dbxio.comtbls
github.comSide by side
| Figure | DBX | tbls |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Database Documentation Tools | 8.0 (#12) | 8.2 (#9) |
| License | The repository identifies DBX as free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license. | The software is released under the MIT License and permits use, copying, modification, publication, distribution and sublicensing subject to its notice requirement. |
| Maker | The project is maintained in the public t8y2/dbx repository and describes itself as community-built, with hundreds of contributors. | The repository owner and copyright holder is Ken'ichiro Oyama. |
Plans
In their own words
DBX
DBX is a free, open-source workspace for database connections, object browsing, SQL editing, data changes, schema work, and automation. It supports more than 100 databases and data systems across relational, NoSQL, vector, time-series, embedded, and messaging categories. The CodeMirror 6 SQL editor includes metadata-aware autocomplete, formatting, selected-query execution, diagnostics, history, and saved snippets. Other tools cover virtualized data grids, schema browsing and comparison, ER diagrams, field lineage, imports, exports, and transfers between connections. Its AI SQL assistant works with Claude, OpenAI, local models through Ollama, and OpenAI-compatible endpoints. DBX also has MCP integrations for compatible agents and a command-line interface. It runs as a desktop app on macOS, Windows, and Linux, or as a self-hosted Docker web deployment. Safeguards include read-only connections, confirmations for production writes, reviewable SQL changes, MCP access policies, and encrypted configuration exports. Stored credentials are encrypted, and the plugin store offers signed, sandboxed extensions.
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.