DEV Community

Cover image for I Built a PostgreSQL Admin Tool in Rust — ~6MB, No Electron, Sub-1s Startup
abeni16
abeni16

Posted on

I Built a PostgreSQL Admin Tool in Rust — ~6MB, No Electron, Sub-1s Startup

#postgres #pgadmin #productivity #database

Every time I opened pgAdmin, I lost a little bit of my soul.

600MB download. 15-second startup. A UI that feels like it was designed in 2008. And all of that just to run a quick query or peek at a table.

So I built something different.

Introducing VeloxDB

VeloxDB is a native PostgreSQL admin tool built with Rust and Tauri. It's fast, lightweight, and designed to get out of your way.

  • ~6MB download (not a typo)
  • Sub-1 second startup
  • Zero Electron — true native binary
  • ~50MB memory usage vs 300MB–1GB+ for the alternatives

It's currently in beta and free under the MIT license. No subscriptions, no payments, no telemetry.

👉 veloxdb.dev

Why I Built It

The PostgreSQL tooling landscape in 2025 is... heavy. pgAdmin ships at 200MB+ and runs on Python/JS. DBeaver is a Java app that eats memory for breakfast. TablePlus is polished but paid.

I wanted something that:

  1. Opens instantly — my terminal is faster than my DB GUI, and that's wrong
  2. Doesn't cost RAM I need for Docker, local DBs, and editors
  3. Feels native — not a web app stapled inside Electron
  4. Has a visual schema designer — without needing a separate $200/year SaaS tool

So I built VeloxDB.

What's Inside

⚡ Lightning Fast Queries

Built with Rust end-to-end. Table browsing, schema changes, and query execution happen instantly. No web view lag, no GC pauses.

🎨 Visual ER Diagram Designer

This is the feature I'm most proud of. Instead of writing DDL by hand, you can:

  • Drag and drop tables onto a canvas
  • Connect them visually to define foreign key relationships
  • Generate migrations with one click
  • Track schema diffs
  • Export to SQL, PNG, or PDF

It's a full visual schema designer — built in, no separate tools, no extra cost.

🔐 Security First

  • Credentials stored in the macOS Keychain — no plaintext config files sitting around
  • SSH tunneling and SSL/TLS encryption supported out of the box
  • Zero telemetry — your schemas, queries, and credentials never leave your machine
  • Auto-lock after idle

🧠 Smart SQL Autocomplete

Schema-aware IntelliSense that understands your actual tables and columns. Not just keyword completion — it knows your data model.

🔗 Stable Connections

Persistent connections that don't drop mid-session. No re-auth loops, no flaky reconnects.

Comparison at a Glance

Feature VeloxDB pgAdmin / DBeaver
Download Size ~6MB 200MB – 600MB+
Memory Usage ~50MB 300MB – 1GB+
Startup Time < 1 second 5–15 seconds
Built With Rust / Tauri Electron / Java
Visual Model Designer Built-in Separate tool
Schema-aware Autocomplete Yes Basic
Keychain Integration Native None
Telemetry None Varies

Platform Support

  • ✅ macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel) — available now
  • ✅ Windows (x64) — available now
  • 🔜 Linux (x64 & ARM64) — coming soon
  • 🔜 Homebrew and AUR packages in the works

It's Open Source

VeloxDB is fully open source under the MIT license. No feature gates, no "community vs pro" split — everything is free.

⭐ Star it on GitHub — every star genuinely helps.

Try It

Download is at veloxdb.dev — it's under 6MB so you have no excuse not to try it.

macOS note: If you see a security warning on first launch, run:

xattr -cr /Applications/veloxdb.app

This is a known Gatekeeper issue with unsigned binaries — we're working on signing.

I'd love feedback from the dev community. What features matter most to you in a DB GUI? What would make you actually switch away from your current tool?

Drop a comment or open an issue on GitHub. 🙏
https://github.com/abeni16/veloxdb

Top comments (0)