golang-migrate vs sqlx-cli

golang-migrate reads database migrations from a source and applies them to a database in sequence. Each logical migration has an up file and a down file, and the tool can run as a command-line program or be imported as a Go library. Listed database drivers include PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite, MongoDB, Neo4j, CockroachDB, and Google Cloud Spanner. Migration sources include local files, embedded Go data, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, AWS S3, and Google Cloud Storage. The CLI handles Ctrl+C gracefully and does not use config search paths, config files, or automatic environment-variable injection. The library uses io.Reader streams for low memory overhead, is described as thread-safe without goroutine leaks, and supports controlled stopping through a GracefulStop channel to help prevent database corruption. The project documents running the CLI in Docker with a mounted migration directory. golang-migrate is open source under the MIT License and costs nothing. The security policy marks master and 4.x as supported; 3.x and earlier are unsupported.

sqlx-cli is SQLx’s command-line utility for managing databases, migrations, and offline preparation for query macros. It can create or drop the database identified by a database URL, and create, run, inspect, or revert migrations, including paired up and down scripts. The `cargo sqlx prepare` command writes query metadata to a `.sqlx` directory. Once that metadata is checked into version control, builds can run without an active database connection. The `--check` option returns a nonzero status if the saved metadata is out of date, a behavior the project describes for continuous integration.

For workspaces whose crates use query macros, `cargo sqlx prepare --workspace` places one `.sqlx` directory at the workspace root. Commands accept the database URL through `--database-url`, the `DATABASE_URL` environment variable, or a `.env` file in the current directory. The project lists PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and SQLite support, with installation options for database drivers and TLS backends. The CLI is free and open source under the user’s choice of Apache-2.0 or MIT license. The README notes that MSSQL support was removed pending a full driver rewrite.