I've been building Zentro, a desktop SQL IDE (Windows, macOS, Linux) that's organized around projects rather than loose connections. It supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server and SQLite, and it's written in Go + Wails on the backend with React + TypeScript on the frontend, shipping as a single executable.
With v0.10.0 (released 2026-10-23), the core is now open source under GPL-3.0-only: https://github.com/ZentroIDE/Zentro
What "open core" means here (and what it doesn't)
To be precise, because this is easy to oversell:
- Open (GPL-3.0): the free core of the IDE, in the public repo. The git history there starts at this release.
- Closed (commercial): Pro is a separate layer on top, under a commercial license. Its source is not in the public repo.
- So Zentro is not fully open source. It's open core, similar in spirit to how JetBrains or Grafana split things. ## Two downloads
| Zentro (official) | Zentro Community Edition (CE) | |
|---|---|---|
| Contents | Free core + Pro features (unlocked by a plan or the 30-day trial) | Free core only, built from the public source |
| Where | zentro-ide.com/downloads and GitHub releases | GitHub releases only (zentro-ce-*) |
| Updates | In-app auto-update | None, download new versions manually |
| Built by | Private release system, Windows binaries code-signed | GitHub Actions in the public repo, from the release tag; unsigned |
Most people should pick the official build: it's free, needs no account, and includes the Pro trial. CE is for people who want a binary built publicly from source they can read. Since CE is unsigned, Windows SmartScreen and macOS Gatekeeper will warn on first launch. CE has no Pro code and no updater.
Pro trial and the AI assistant
- 30-day Pro trial for everyone, started inside the app, no card, no invite. It replaces the old early-access program.
- The AI assistant with your own API key (BYOK) is completely free, including the MCP server for external agents. Only the query statistics panel is Pro.
- The data-protection rule for AI (the model only sees schemas you allow, ADR 0017) applies to every plan.
What else is new in v0.10.0
- Activity panel & background jobs: CSV import and whole-table export run as cancellable jobs with live progress; a Jobs tab and a Server Sessions tab (view and kill sessions on the database itself).
- Bigger AI assistant: new chat with history and streaming; SQL checking, query plan explanations, schema comparison across environments, impact lookup when changing a schema, table/index stats; MCP server for outside agents.
- SSH tunnels and per-connection TLS control (minimum TLS version, legacy ciphers when a server needs them).
-
Driver-specific connection strings (
postgres://,mysql://,sqlserver://) with examples and correct defaults. - Integrated terminal (local or SSH) in the bottom panel.
- ERD: auto-layout (dagre), minimap, pan/zoom shortcuts, layout reset.
- SQL editor: custom SQL grammar, schema-aware highlighting (tables, columns, aliases), a Colors page with preview, a T-SQL-aware formatter.
- Keyboard navigation: explorer tree and results grid, tab jumping via command palette, chord shortcuts, Enter/F2 to edit cells. Ctrl+Tab now jumps to the most recently used tab, browser-style.
- Security: paid plans are only granted from verified, signed entitlements.
Try it / tell me what's broken
- Download: https://zentro-ide.com/downloads
- Source: https://github.com/ZentroIDE/Zentro
- Docs: https://docs.zentro-ide.com This is a one-person project. Contributions need a CLA, and for larger PRs please open an issue first. Bug reports and ideas go in the repo's Issues and Discussions.
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