DrawSQL vs SchemaSpy
DrawSQL
drawsql.appSchemaSpy
schemaspy.orgSide by side
| Figure | DrawSQL | SchemaSpy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $14.25/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 1 |
| Spec score · Data Modeling Software | 8.3 (#6) | 7.6 (#15) |
| Founded | 2018 | 2004 |
| Purpose | DrawSQL is a browser-based database schema diagram tool for designing, reviewing, and evolving schemas with a team. | SchemaSpy analyzes database metadata and creates HTML reports to help people visualize, navigate, and understand data models. |
| Support | Enterprise includes priority support, and the help documentation invites users to contact support by chat or email. | The project directs users who need help or find a bug to open an issue on GitHub. |
Plans
DrawSQL
- Starter$171 a year
- Growth$531 a year
- Large$1,790 a year
- FreeFree
- Starter$19 a month
- Growth$59 a month
- Large$179 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
SchemaSpy
SchemaSpy is a free, open-source command-line application that reads database metadata and creates shareable HTML documentation. It generates entity-relationship diagrams from an existing database, collects structural statistics, and can export those statistics to Excel or CSV. Reports can identify design anomalies such as missing indexes, implied relationships, and orphan tables. The project says it supports over a dozen databases directly and can work with others through JDBC drivers. Documentation generation can be placed in a CI/CD workflow, and SchemaSpy can run against an empty database replica because it reads structural information. There is no graphical interface: distribution is through a JAR file or Docker image. Installation requires Java, a database JDBC driver, and viz.js or Graphviz for relationship diagrams. The JAR excludes drivers, while the Docker image includes drivers for MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and jTDS for MSSQL. The listed plan price is free.