ErdDocs vs tbls
ErdDocs
erddocs.comtbls
github.comSide by side
| Figure | ErdDocs | tbls |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Database Documentation Tools | 7.9 (#16) | 8.2 (#9) |
| Integrations | The site describes format support and exports, including Mermaid diagrams for GitHub and DBML that opens in dbdiagram.io. | Documented datasources include PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, BigQuery, Cloud Spanner, Amazon Redshift, Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL or Microsoft Fabric Warehouse, Amazon DynamoDB, Snowflake, MongoDB, ClickHouse, Databricks, JSON, HTTP, and GitHub. |
| Purpose | ErdDocs turns database schemas into interactive ER diagrams and printable data dictionaries. | tbls is a CI-friendly tool written in Go for documenting databases. |
Plans
In their own words
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.