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Andrei Sergeev
Andrei Sergeev

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I Built DTDb — An IMDb for Developer Tools

#showdev #database #programming #webdev

We developers have strong opinions about the tools we use every day.

Vim vs. VS Code. PostgreSQL vs. MySQL. Ubuntu vs. Arch. Python vs. Go. And now, with AI coding agents becoming part of everyday development, there are even more tools to compare.

But where can you actually see what developers think about these tools?

There are plenty of comparison articles, sponsored rankings, benchmarks, and opinionated blog posts. But I wanted something a little different.

So I built DTDb — Developer Tools Database.

👉 https://dtdb.dev

What's the idea?

Think of IMDb, but instead of movies, we're ranking developer tools.

The concept is simple:

  • Developers rate the tools they actually use.
  • Tools are organized into categories.
  • Each month, ratings are frozen into a ranking.
  • You can follow how rankings change over time and see which tools are gaining or losing popularity.

The goal is to create a community-driven picture of the developer tools ecosystem.

What can you find there?

I've started with several categories:

  • Database engines — PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle Database, and others.
  • Linux distributions — Ubuntu, Debian, Arch Linux, etc.
  • Programming languages — Python, JavaScript, Java, and more.
  • AI coding agents — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, etc.
  • IDEs and code editors — VS Code, Visual Studio, Notepad++, and others.

This is just the beginning. There are plenty of categories and tools I'd like to add.

Why monthly rankings?

I didn't want DTDb to become just another leaderboard where positions constantly fluctuate.

Freezing ratings into monthly snapshots makes it possible to look back and understand how developer preferences evolve.

For example, it'll be interesting to see how AI coding agents compete over the coming months, or whether developers' preferences for programming languages and databases actually change.

What's next?

There are plenty of things I'd like to improve:

  • More categories and developer tools.
  • Better ways to explore historical rankings.
  • More community participation.
  • Improvements based on actual user feedback.

But before going too far, I'd love to hear what other developers think.

I'd love your feedback!

A few questions I'm particularly interested in:

  1. Does the IMDb analogy make sense for developer tools?
  2. What categories would you like to see?
  3. Which tools do you think are missing?
  4. Would you actually use something like this to discover or compare developer tools?

This is an independent project, and I'm still figuring out the best direction for it.

Check it out: https://dtdb.dev

Any feedback, criticism, or suggestions are very welcome!

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