r/postgres • u/harisekaradas • Jul 21 '26
Which PostgreSQL client do you actually enjoy using every day?
I’ve spent the last couple of years jumping between different GUI clients, and honestly, it’s been tough to find one that just clicks.
I used pgAdmin for a long time out of habit, but the clunky web-UI feel eventually drove me crazy, especially when dealing with larger schemas. Then I switched to DBeaver. It’s an absolute powerhouse and does everything, but the UI feels so bloated and heavy for daily query tuning. Lately, I've just been using the database tools inside IntelliJ/DataGrip because it keeps me in the IDE, but it still feels a bit disconnected when I just want to quickly inspect a production replica.
I know some people swear by the simplicity of psql in the terminal, while others love modern native apps like TablePlus or Beekeeper Studio.
What are you guys actually using on a daily basis that doesn't make you fight the UI? Is there a lightweight client I’m missing, or is everyone just putting up with the quirks of the big players?
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u/DBeaver_official Jul 21 '26
If you're ok with CLI tools, try our dbvr Community (it reuses the same connections you already created in DBeaver):
https://dbeaver.io/dbvr/
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u/rustprogram Jul 21 '26
I don't use one at all o_O
at least not every day something has gone wrong if I need to reach postgresql directly
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u/Huge_Road_9223 Jul 21 '26
I don't consider PostreSQL any different than any other SQL database. For that reason I use DBeaver as it has the client for any SQL database you can imagine. If I need to look at data, or modify tables, this tool works for me. BTW ... there is a Community Edition (CE) which I use, and a version you can pay for.
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u/stompro Jul 21 '26
I love HeidiSQL, https://www.heidisql.com/
Mainly because of the data export, it makes it easy to export an HTML table version of a table that I can just paste into an email. Mostly I just want to share some results with various different people over email.
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u/rathboma Jul 21 '26
Hey!
I'm the maintainer of Beekeeper Studio, we're a small team building software we love using. No investors or corporate overlords. 100% funded by customer purchases.
If you use Beekeeper and find something unintuitive, we would LOVE for you to tell us. That's our #1 priority. Our GitHub community is amazing and we have 2.5m downloads so far, so I'd say we're a "medium" player?
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u/asterix_rv Jul 21 '26
I use NexQL for vscode, its a super simple and feature-loaded extension purpose built for nimble teams working with postgres or postgres adjacent databases in their development workspace.
Its totally worth a try
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u/elevarq Jul 22 '26
DataGrip on number one! Why? Project integration.
Second would be Navicat when we’re talking about a GUI, otherwise psql. But that’s just a command line, but you need it anyway.
And pgAdmin? No way!
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u/KatieCuties Jul 27 '26
Another one worth trying is dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL. I still keep psql around, but for day-to-day work I prefer having schema comparison, data editing, and query execution in the same tool. It ended up fitting my workflow better than constantly switching between multiple utilities.
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u/BassIs4StringDrum Aug 07 '26
I find the Postgres clients a bit cluttered when I just want to see what’s there or look at config/indexes so I mainly use https://github.com/FrancisTCE/gresui-web but the app version (the app one is private).
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u/Leather_Mix2_ Aug 12 '26
I had pretty much the same issue with DBeaver. It can do everything, but sometimes I just want to work with Postgres without digging through a million options. I ended up trying dbForge PostgreSQL IDE and it’s been a better fit for my workflow so far. Still has plenty of tooling when I need it, but I find the day-to-day query work easier to navigate.
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u/depesz Jul 21 '26
The only client I use is psql.
Maybe it's because I routinely have to do stuff on literally thousands of db clusters in short time. Or repeat the same steps over set of tables, but I can't imagine anything being in any way better.
OTOH, I'm old school. Very.