ERBuilder Data Modeler vs SchemaSpy

ERBuilder Data Modeler is a Windows desktop tool for designing databases with graphical entity relationship diagrams and generating SQL databases. It supports IDEF1X, Crow’s Foot, Codasyl and Relational notations. Users can create DDL scripts and databases from models, or reverse engineer existing databases into graphical models. Supported systems include Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Firebird, Azure SQL Database, Azure Synapse Dedicated SQL Pool, Amazon Redshift and Amazon RDS. The feature matrix lists natural-language generation and updating of ER diagrams, metadata queries powered by the ChatGPT API, and AI descriptions for procedures, views and triggers. Softbuilder says AI inputs are sent to OpenAI servers via HTTPS and are not retained. Enterprise includes navigable HTML and Word documentation, Confluence documentation and Git collaboration for browsing, merging and comparing model versions. A free edition is listed, and the maker offers a 15-day fully functional trial with all features, no credit card required and free technical support. Professional costs $139 a year; Enterprise costs $399 a year. Both include one workstation, one year of Standard support and one year of maintenance and updates.

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.