MySQL Workbench is one of the most popular MySQL database management and monitoring tools for visual database schema design, SQL query building, administration and maintenance. However, if it doesn’t meet your requirements, then here are the top 5 MySQL Workbench alternatives that you can try.
Top MySQL Workbench Alternatives
Here are the top 5 alternatives to MySQL Workbench.
1. HeidiSQL
HeidiSQL is one of the best MySQL Workbench alternatives for Windows, for database administration and management. It is free to use and also supports PostgreSQL and SQL Server databases.
HeidiSQL makes it easy to create, edit, manage tables, databases, views. It also supports multiple saved sessions, user management, data export and import, SSH tunneling, procedures, triggers and events. It is a very mature and robust tool for MySQL database management.
HeidiSQL works only on Windows.
Bonus Read : How to Enable Query Cache in MySQL
2. Sequel Pro
Sequel Pro is one of the most MySQL Workbench alternatives for Mac. It is a Mac client for MySQL database that provides full MySQL support.
You can easily connect Sequel Pro to local as well as remote databases. It is well-documented and easy to install.
It allows you to save connections as documents and reuse them easily. Sequel Pro is a fast database application due to its threaded interface.
It also provides a visual interface to create and run SQL queries, and export results in various formats.
Whether you are Mac developer, Web developer or software programmer, Sequel pro is a useful tool to have.
Bonus Read : How to Enable Slow Query Log in MySQL
3. Navicat
Navicat provides various database management tools for MySQL, PostgreSQL and Mongo DB.
It allows you to visually model your database, build and run SQL queries, and export results in different formats.
Navicat even supports database infrastructure monitoring and administration.
It offers a suite of tools for database development. So it is important to understand each tool clearly, to pick the right one for your requirements.
Navicate is a paid software and you need to contact their sales department for a quote.
Bonus Read : Top 5 MySQL Monitoring Tools
4. PHPMyAdmin
PHPMyAdmin is perhaps the most popular alternative to MySQL Workbench. It a free web-application for database management and administration.
Since it a web application, it takes a little more effort to set up PHPMyAdmin, compared to desktop clients.
However, PHPMyAdmin is very useful in connecting to remote databases. Since it is a web application, it can be easily installed on any server and made to accept incoming connections from multiple client browsers. This setup works well for team environments, where everyone doesn’t need to install a desktop client separately.
Also, most web hosts support PHPMyAdmin out of the box. So PHPMyAdmin is widely favored by web developers. It provides all the key features found in other MySQL clients mentioned above, such as managing databases, tables, users, columns, indexes, relations, permissions, etc.
Conclusion
If you are a single user who uses Windows use HeidiSQL. If you use Mac, use Sequel Pro. If have multiple users who need to access MySQL database, use PHPMyAdmin. All these tools are free to use. If you don’t mind paying for support, try Navicat.
