PgDesigner vs DrawDB

Feature comparison

Feature	PgDesigner	DrawDB
Database focus	PostgreSQL only	MySQL, MariaDB, PG, SQLite, SQL Server, Oracle
Visual ERD editor	Yes	Yes
DDL export	Yes (19-step dependency order)	Yes (multi-dialect)
Diff/ALTER engine	Yes — models, git versions, live DB; 10 hazard codes	Beta, paid Pro — between saved diagram versions, no hazard checks
Schema lint	69 rules, 15 autofix	Basic validation
Sample data generator	Yes (30+ heuristics)	No
Reverse engineering	Yes (live DB + SQL import)	DDL import only
Git-friendly format	Yes (.pgd XML, one attribute change per line)	No (JSON blob)
PG-specific types	70+ types, partitions, IDENTITY, temporal	Basic PG types
CLI for CI/CD	Yes	No
Offline / self-hosted	Yes (single binary)	Yes (Docker / static)
Price	Free (Apache-2.0)	Free (AGPL-3.0); cloud Pro plans paid

Different tools for different jobs

DrawDB is a general-purpose diagramming tool — great for quick ERD sketches, multi-database projects, and teams that need a free browser-based editor. PgDesigner is a PostgreSQL-specialized workbench — built for teams that need production-grade DDL, safe migrations, and schema quality checks. Both are free and open source — DrawDB under AGPL-3.0, PgDesigner under Apache-2.0 — so the choice comes down to what you need.

Where DrawDB is stronger

• Multi-database — supports MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server, and Oracle in one tool
• Zero friction start — open the browser, start designing. No download, no account
• 40k+ GitHub stars — large community, active development
• Cloud collaboration — Pro adds cloud sync, live collaboration and version history with migration scripts
• Real-time validation — detects circular references, orphaned tables, duplicate columns as you design
• Templates — pre-built schema templates to start faster

Where PgDesigner is stronger

• PostgreSQL depth — 70+ types, partitions (RANGE/LIST/HASH), temporal constraints, virtual generated columns, IDENTITY, domains, composite types. DrawDB supports basic PG types
• Diff & migrations — compare any two schemas (files, git versions or a live database) → safe ALTER SQL with 10 hazard codes, free and in the CLI. DrawDB generates migrations only between saved versions of a cloud diagram, in paid Pro, in beta
• 69 lint rules — FK type mismatches, missing indexes, naming conventions, antipatterns. 15 with autofix. DrawDB has basic validation
• Sample data generator — FK-aware, 30+ name heuristics, seeded. DrawDB has no data generation
• Live database reverse engineering — read tables, indexes, constraints and partitions from pg_catalog; views, functions and triggers with -full. DrawDB imports DDL text only
• Git-friendly format — readable single-line diffs in pull requests. DrawDB's JSON blob changes entirely on every save
• CLI for CI/CD — lint, diff, generate, testdata in your pipeline. DrawDB is UI-only
• Round-trip tested — 99.7% fidelity on 630+ tables. DrawDB doesn't publish accuracy metrics

Honest assessment

If you need a quick, free ERD editor that works with MySQL and PostgreSQL — DrawDB is excellent. If your production database is PostgreSQL and you need migrations, linting, and a CI/CD workflow — PgDesigner is purpose-built for that. Both are free — PgDesigner adds the PostgreSQL depth: a free diff engine with hazard detection, 69 lint rules, and sample data generation.