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All 100 ideasServers and DevOps

#36 of 100 · Servers and DevOps

A database GUI that feels modern

A native, friendly database GUI like Sequel Pro for Postgres and SQLite on every OS, with automatic ER diagrams from a live database.

11asks, each re-read
11separate threads
9of 19 years
4since 2024
2010first asked

Asks per year

’081’101’121’14’161’182’201’221’2421’26

What the askers want

  • Would pay18%
  • Want it local or private73%
  • Object to subscriptions0%
  • Want it open source or self-hosted0%
  • Want AI to do it0%

Share of the 11 asks that say so, as judged by Jev.

What exists on Show HN

Built, still asked for17 Show HN launches do this job, and 22 more do part of it. People still ask, so the launches are missed, unknown, or not what they want. Ask what they’re missing before you build.

Instead of: DBeaver, MySQL Workbench, Sequel Pro

The idea, as matched

A modern, fast, native database GUI client for Postgres, SQLite, MySQL and others, with a good query editor, schema browsing and automatic ER diagrams, free or one-off priced rather than a clunky Java tool.

Jev first matched 13 requests to this idea; a second reader kept 11 of 13.

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. ER diagram from a live DB is a recurring sub-ask.

  1. Jun 2026Wants a tool that reads all database tables and draws an ER diagram with relationships. Read it: a comment in “Free SQL→ER diagram tool, runs in the browser, nothing uploaded”
  2. Oct 2025Wants a tool connecting to a development Postgres database to draw schema diagrams with relationships, easier than pgAdmin. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Any easy-to-use table schema visualization tool for PostgreSQL?”
  3. Apr 2025Wants a tool that connects to a database and generates its own diagram. Read it: a comment in “Found a simple tool for database modeling: dbdiagram.io”
  4. Jul 2024Seeks a substitute for DBeaver. Read it: a comment in “PgManage: Modern, cross platform graphical database client”
  5. Dec 2022Wants a macOS SQLite GUI as good as Sequel Ace, finding DB Browser for SQLite outdated. Read it: a comment in “Go and SQLite in the Cloud”
  6. May 2019Wants a better free SQL client for Windows to match Sequel Pro on Mac. Read it: a comment in “Windows gets a new terminal”
  7. Jan 2019Wants a clean non-Java Linux Postgres client like pgAdmin 3, connecting to a server then choosing the database. Read it: a comment in “Dbeaver – Multi-platform database tool”
  8. Apr 2017Wants a native, actively developed, free Postgres admin tool for Mac and Ubuntu, replacing slow web-based pgAdmin 4. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: What GUI tool do you use for PostgreSQL administration?”
  9. Feb 2013Wants a desktop tool with real visual database design showing table relationships, supporting all of Postgres. Read it: a comment in “How I work with Postgres – psql, My PostgreSQL Admin”
  10. Jul 2011Wants a Sequel Pro equivalent for Postgres with a native Cocoa interface. Read it: a comment in “Postgres Now the Default Database for Mac OS X Server”
  11. Oct 2010Would pay for a good OS X Postgres GUI client. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: What should I build (for OSX)?”

Building this?

Read ten of the asks above first, because they say what the existing launches miss. If you ship it, post it as a Show HN so the next run of this list finds it.

See all 100How the counts work

Ship it like Vercel, on a server you own

This site runs on ShipTiffin. A push to GitHub deploys it, the way it would on Vercel, but the server is a Hetzner box in your own account. Postgres, sign-in, email, jobs and analytics are already on it, every project gets a hard limit, and nothing is billed by usage.

Get your own box

$19 a month per box, plus about $10 for the server at Hetzner. Open source, so you can also run it yourself for free.