In this post, we are going to have a quick comparison between Querious, Sequel Pro, TablePlus, with pros and cons of each tool. Let’s see which tool is better suited for managing MySQL databases.

1. Querious

Querious provides a quick and easy tool to view, edit, and monitor MySQL databases.

  • Supported Platforms: Querious is available on Mac only.

  • Supported Drivers: Querious was built specifically for MySQL.

  • Pricing: Querious is a commercial app. It offers a 30-day free trial. After that, you need to purchase a license for $49.

Querious

Pros:

  • Simple interface
  • It runs fast.
  • Server dashboard to monitor server status and running processes
  • Full user privileges management
  • Stable with fewer crashes than most tools.

Cons:

  • Autosuggestion is very limited. It can only suggest table names but not SQL reserved words.
  • It only supports MySQL
  • Works on Mac only.

2. Sequel Pro

Sequel Pro had been long known for being one of the best GUI tools for MySQL until recently when it has compatibility issues with MySQL 8 and Mojave.

  • Supported Platforms: Sequel Pro is available on macOS only.

  • Supported Drivers: Sequel Pro only supports MySQL. It works well with MySQL up to 5.7. Since the recent MySQL 8.0 came out, it’s reported that Sequel Pro can’t connect to MySQL 8.0, it’s not working properly or just crashing.

  • Pricing: Sequel Pro is free and open source. It also accepts donation.

Sequel Pro

Pros:

  • Very clean and simple interface. It’s easy for newbies to get started.
  • It runs fast.
  • Easy to import/export databases.
  • Connections over SSH
  • Full user management, credentials, and roles
  • Filtering/Sorting data based on single constraint including equal to/in/like/between etc.
  • Sanity check or data integrity check.
  • It’s free

Cons:

  • Crashes very often and randomly. This is a big problem in the current (2016 to present) version of Sequel Pro.
  • Available for Mac only. The development is stopped now.

3. TablePlus

With a native build and a lightweight size, TablePlus is a very handy tool for managing MySQL and plenty of other databases.

  • Supported platforms: TablePlus is built native for each platform. It started out with a native version for Mac, then another version for Windows, and a version for Linux was introduced recently as an alpha release. It also has an iOS version.

  • Supported Drivers: TablePlus supports a handful of relational databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Microsoft SQL Server, Amazon Redshift, MariaDB, CockroachDB, Vertica, Oracle; and two popular NoSQL databases: Cassandra and Redis.

  • Pricing: TablePlus has a free version with full set of features which you can download and use forever, but there are some usage limitations. If you use it heavily, the license costs $59 to remove all those limitations.

TablePlus

Pros:

  • Native build for each platform so it’s fast, lightweight, and stable.
  • Clean and simple interface.
  • Multiple drivers support
  • Multiple conditions data filter
  • Queries history and keyword binding favorite.
  • Streaming results and async loading to show queries results faster and doesn’t block the UI.
  • Very quick inline editing for table data and structure, you also can edit query results directly.
  • Smart query editor with highlight syntax, instant autocomplete, SQL reformat.
  • A plugin system to extend the app.
  • Quick support. TablePlus releases new updates regularly and responds to users’ requests almost immediately.

Cons:

It currently lacks of some advanced features such as ER Diagram, database compare tool to Diff and Sync, etc.

4. Conclusion

Go with Querious if you:

  • Work on macOS only
  • Work with MySQL only
  • Need a decent tool to get the job done

Go with Sequel Pro if you:

  • Um. It’s dead. Just move on.

Go with TablePlus if you:

  • Are a fan of native experience
  • Work with multiple databases
  • Want a modern design with better usability
  • Want quick support & development cycle.