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Chris Bongers
Chris Bongers

Posted on • Edited on • Originally published at daily-dev-tips.com

Top 5 MySQL clients for Mac

When it comes to databases, MySQL is a big player and widely used.
Today we'll be looking at some MySQL clients we can use on Mac to view these databases.

TL;DR: My personal favorite for Mac is TablePlus. It offers a free variant which is sufficient enough.

1 TablePlus

TablePlus is the MySQL client I'm using currently.
I'm still on the free plan, which only allows you to have two tabs open at a time, which is enough for me.

TablePlus MySQL client for Mac

PROS

  • Clear interface
  • Quickly edit multiple rows at once
  • RAW query always visible

CONS

  • Only two tabs on the free version
  • No click-through for linked queries

Download TablePlus

2 phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin is another excellent resource to view your MySQL databases. It's a very good one since most servers will come with phpMyAdmin installed. Making it a good universal interface.

phpMyAdmin MySQL client for Mac

PROS

  • Close to your server interface for MySQL
  • Easy to install
  • Web-based

CONS

  • No syntax highlighting
  • Import/Export is web-dependent, making them influenced by the server settings

Download phpMyAdmin

3 DBeaver

DBeaver is a free and open-source database tool. It's built around usability.

This tool is complete and has many cool features. For me, however, it feels a bit too much.

DBeaver MySQL client for Mac

PROS

  • Packed with useful tools
  • ER diagrams!
  • Linked query click-through

CONS

  • A bit clunky for my taste

Download DBeaver

4 Querious

Very Mac like interface and clear to understand how it works and what it does.
I really like the tool however, it should have been a free tool.

Querious MySQL client for Mac

PROS

  • Build for Mac
  • Very good interface for MySQL

CONS

  • 25\$

Download Querious

5 Sequel Pro

Sequel Pro used to be my favorite MySQL client for Mac, however, they seem to have a fair amount of crashes lately. The reason I switched to TablePlus.

The tool itself is one of the best UI's for MySQL I've personally seen.

Sequel Pro MySQL client for Mac

PROS

  • Very clear UI
  • Easy to understand and use

CONS

  • Crashes often, unfortunately in the latest releases

Download Sequel Pro

Thank you for reading, and let's connect!

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Top comments (6)

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maxborysov profile image
Max Borysov

You forgot to mention the most lightweight and completely free client: cli mysql-client :)

If you use docker, you do not even have to install the client. You can do the following:

docker run --rm -it mysql mysql -h localhost -u root -p
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dailydevtips1 profile image
Chris Bongers

Oh very nice one! Must give that a go! 🤩

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djmtype profile image
Scott Rod

Sequel Pro hasn't seen an update since 2016! Sequel Ace looks like a close successor. apps.apple.com/us/app/sequel-ace/i...

I also tried Beekeeper. Love their mantra. Just wish it had more features. docs.beekeeperstudio.io/

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dbajamey profile image
Jamey Barton

I've tried all the tools from this list and stopped on the missed one - dbForge Edge - devart.com/dbforge/edge/
It's a feature-rich multi-database solution. It has only one con: It works on macOS via Crossover. However, it's not a huge problem for me.

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vuong profile image
Vuong

Sequel Ace is alternative of Sequel Pro since it won't be adding new features.

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charlie123 profile image
Charlie123

I've had good luck with sqlprostudio.com.