PgDesigner vs DrawDB

Feature comparison

Feature	PgDesigner	DrawDB
Database focus	PostgreSQL only	MySQL, PG, SQLite, MSSQL
Visual ERD editor	Yes	Yes
DDL export	Yes (15-phase sort)	Yes (multi-dialect)
Diff/ALTER engine	Yes (6 hazard codes)	No
Schema lint	75 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, split-model)	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	$19 (free non-commercial)	Free (AGPL-3.0)

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.

Where DrawDB is stronger

• Multi-database — supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and MSSQL in one tool
• Completely free — AGPL-3.0, no commercial license needed
• Zero friction start — open the browser, start designing. No download, no account
• 37k+ GitHub stars — large community, active development
• 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 two schemas → safe ALTER SQL with 6 hazard warnings. DrawDB has no diff engine
• 75 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 — connect via pg_catalog, extract full schema. DrawDB imports DDL text only
• Git-friendly format — single-line diffs, split-model. 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. The $19 price reflects the depth: diff engine, hazard detection, 75 lint rules, and sample data generation that DrawDB doesn't offer.