HeidiSQL – Lightweight MariaDB, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL and SQLite Manager | Hacker News Reader

HeidiSQL – Lightweight MariaDB, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL and SQLite Manager

github.com

I got a taste of Navicat (Paid Software) and I wish I hadn't because being able to control everything in one place with a good SSH support and wide support for all including SQlite and Redis in a unified interface, being able to transfer between servers and take dumps at the comfort of a single software feels like a blessing.

I suggested the Navicat team to put in Redis support in 2020 and they put in a ticket to their Dev team. And in 2023 they added support for Redis and emailing me back saying they did it and released it. I was kinda in disbelief and happy. But, I love their backup and restore option

Paid software can be good, the problem is that the incentives aren't for it to continue being good and improving over a long period of time. The paid products that are able to maintain quality and vision are the exception.

> Paid software can be good, the problem is that the incentives aren't for it to continue being good and improving over a long period of time.

And free software is different somehow?

People's interests are fleeting.

Someone may be dedicated to doing something right for years, and then have kids...

It's different because if free software "dies" there are no victims, if there's community interest in the project you just fork it.

And having kids is of a completely different nature than having to appease investors quarterly.

Wish I didn’t read this cuz now I want redis support too.

What's really special about Heidi and idk if this is still true, but sometime after the creator of MySQL forked MySQL into MariaDB, on Windows, the installer used to include HeidiSQL since they no longer owned the MySQL Workbench, and honestly, as far as open source clients go, Heidi was always my preferred one every single time. It's got its quirks but its so good once you figure it out.

I haven't installed Maria on Windows in forever, but does it not do that anymore? Yes, this is definitely true -- I remember seeing it several times, that's how I found out HeidiSQL existed!

I use neovim for querying my databases with DBUI and tpope dadbod :) https://www.ssp.sh/brain/query-databases-in-vim-vim-dadbod/

But HeidiSQL and DBeaver are great, and open source (DBeaver even has a vim integration too;)

Just gave the Qt6 version a try on Kubuntu. It's incredible how performant it feels compared to DBeaver and pgAdmin.

The UI is kind of ugly in a few places and having the select right below the empty table command seems a little risky. But man, the speed just rocks.

20 years ago I worked on some Delphi projects, but then suddenly everything had to run in the browser. Now I'm a Spring Boot guy, but I really would like to write some decent cross platform desktop software again.

And the Pascal source code looks so clean.

Heidi has been my go-to SQL tool for longer than I can remember. Has been great to watch it evolve and have communicated wish list items to the developer several times with great responsiveness.

It’s been a long time since I used it but it’s one of those pieces of open source that was so vital to my career when contracting I treated it like I had an annual subscription to pay each year.

Does it do anything DBeaver doesn't do?

yes, runs without java.

It's mostly down to preferences and needs.

DBeaver requires Java, supports more RDBMSs, supports plug-ins, supports ER diagrams, but is also a project split into a community/enterprise model so some features are just never going to be implemented or improved upon without you paying an annual fee.

HeidiSQL is written in Delphi, supports the major RDBMSs (except Oracle), and is more focused on being a query analyzer than anything else. There is no edition split or paid model, so you're more likely to see new features in the free edition.

IMX, HeidiSQL is faster. It loads quickly and performs better, though I will say that my experience with both is about 10 years old at this point. From my memory, the DBeaver interface has always felt clunky in that way unique to Java applications, and many of the features in DBeaver are things I never wanted or needed. At the time, HeidiSQL was Windows-exclusive, with Linux support only about a year or two old at this point. My opinion 10 years back was that I would use HeidiSQL when I could and DBeaver if I had to.

Mmmmm just noticed MacOS is now supported. Guess time to say farewell to DBeaver...

If you want to have schema and data dif, DBeaver is very expensive.

It's ready to connect in 2 seconds instead of 45.

Starts instantly compared with DBeaver's Java startup. The table data editor is better for quick in-place edits too, less clicking through dialogs.

Written in Pascal. That's been a while since I've seen Pascal in the wild!

One thing that tripped me up with Heidi was the default collation for tables is Swedish. Makes sense for them I guess. I stopped using it when I ditched windows. The older versions did crash a bit for me but they probably sorted that out. Dbeaver is good enough.

Related: https://www.heidisql.com/

Wow if you try to click on one of the screen shots you get a full screen pop up ad that wants you to install a browser extension.

Absolutely unacceptable.

Looks good, but I can't afford Delphi. I might try their Community Free Edition, though.

The Linux version is built with Free Pascal instead, and the Windows version will be based on that code in the future (says the README in the lazarus branch).

There are release binaries on their website.

https://www.heidisql.com/download.php

Went to their website and it literally has malvertising that tries to install an extension in your browser right at the top.

Nothing really makes me comfortable connecting to my production database quite like malware at the top of a site.

Not saying it’s a good pattern, but plenty of things that have been worth installing in the past like Daemon Tools had questionable ads, assumably to fund development.

Also, my ad was for Vegas. You just happened to get served a worse than usual advertisement.

Are those Google ads? That's the only ad-related script I can find on the page. One of the ads says it comes from "MediaGo", but the iframe seems to be served from googlesyndication.com.

If so, I'm glad we have such a trustworthy company keeping Android users safe from malware by preventing us from installing our own software, all for our own good.

Delphi?! Interbase?! Is this a Borland reunion?

heidisql is interesting, but right now i am using beekeeper. it's great and just works

Beekeeper looks great, thanks for sharing. There is also Tabularis.

How does it compare to DataGrip?

Different kind of beast. In my opinion Datagrip is meant for heavy DB work with jetbrains ecosystem surrounding you as well.

Heidi is perfect for the kind of person who connects to a DB once in awhile to just get some crap done.

I used to use HeidiSQL a lot, then we moved to Azure SQL with entra mfa which Heidi doesn’t current support. I would switch back instantly if that support ever came out.

My daily driver at work

I used this to move away from MySQL Workbench, which is absolute trash. HeidiSQL is excellent, even though is fugly. Doesn't matter though, works like a charm.

people don't realize how good llm is at SQL. I use to use lots of these tools now i just llm on cli.

Perhaps this is for people who have already mastered the skill itself and don't need or want their ability to practice that skill through a meta-skill to exist at the pleasure of other parties.

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