Hex vs Outerbase Studio
Hex
hex.tech
Outerbase Studio
outerbase.comSide by side
| Figure | Hex | Outerbase Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $36/mo | $9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 5 |
| Spec score · SQL Query Tools | 8.1 (#11) | 9.0 (#4) |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States | United States |
| Intended users | Hex describes Community as for hobbyists and small projects, Professional for individuals, Team for companies collaborating on data, and Enterprise for organizations needing advanced security, governance, and support. | The maker says Studio is intended for local-first development by indie developers, students, and early-stage founders, and can be used to manage SQLite files. |
| Security controls | Enterprise plan features include audit logs, OIDC SSO, OAuth database connections, and Bring Your Own Key. | Outerbase advertises two-factor authentication, breach-password checks, database-role access controls, AES and RSA encryption, SSH tunneling, HIPAA compliance, and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance. |
| What it does | Hex is a data platform for asking questions and building with data, including notebooks, conversational self-serve, and data apps. | Outerbase Studio is an open-source graphical database client for exploring, querying, editing, and managing SQL databases. |
Plans
Outerbase Studio
- FreeFree
- Outerbase StudioFree
- Hobby$9 a month
- Pro$30 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Hex
Hex is a hosted data platform for exploring data, asking questions, and building data applications through notebooks and conversational self-service. It supports SQL, Python, and R, with real-time collaboration and version history. Users can connect data warehouses and local TXT, CSV, JSON, Parquet, Avro, and XLSX files, as well as metadata, semantic-layer, catalog, machine-learning, and workflow tools. Airflow, Dagster, and dbt integrations can trigger analytical flows and app runs from data pipelines. Hex says its agent grounds answers in organizational context and can connect with Claude, Codex, Cursor, Slack, MCP, a CLI, APIs, or custom agents. Users can build apps from prompts, with code underneath and controls for the finished app. Context Studio and Evals provide visibility into topics, trends, and warnings about answer quality. Community is free; Professional costs $36 a month per Editor, and Team costs $75 a month per Editor. Community and Professional allow up to five published apps, while Team and Enterprise allow unlimited published apps. A 14-day trial is listed.
Outerbase Studio
Outerbase Studio is an open-source database GUI client for working with databases, with an emphasis on local development. The Studio page lists LibSQL, SQLite, Postgres, and MySQL, and the broader database support list also includes Turso/LibSQL, Cloudflare D1, rqlite, StarbaseDB, and Val.town. Users can add, filter, and edit rows, choose foreign keys, and view row details in a sidebar. SQL files can be organized in folders and opened in separate tabs or windows. The page describes notebooks for putting code, queries, and rich text together to explore, document, and share insights, with the feature labeled “Releasing early 2025.” Studio is free at free, with no paid service required. It is available on the web and offers desktop downloads for Macs with M1 or newer chips and most modern Windows devices. The MySQL page also explains command-line connections and port and authentication configuration. The maker describes Studio as lightweight and suitable for local database work, including launching local databases from the interface.