Designing a database is one of those tasks that can either be satisfying or painfully tedious, depending on the tools you use. A good schema diagram tool helps you visualize how your tables relate, catch structural mistakes early, and communicate design ideas clearly with your team.
But not everyone wants to rely on expensive, cloud-locked platforms that hide collaboration and export features behind paywalls. That’s why the open-source ecosystem for database schema visualization has become such a breath of fresh air — giving developers and database architects full control, transparency, and self-hosting freedom.
Among the growing range of community-built tools, several stand out for being polished, easy to use, and surprisingly capable.
drawDB
drawDB has become a favorite among developers who want something lightweight but still powerful. It runs entirely in your browser — you can clone it from GitHub, host it locally, and instantly start creating entity-relationship diagrams with drag-and-drop ease.
What makes drawDB appealing is its simplicity: you can add tables, define columns and relationships visually, then export everything as SQL scripts for MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite. It’s an excellent choice if you want to design quickly without a heavy setup process.
While it doesn’t yet rival enterprise tools in terms of advanced collaboration or auto-reverse engineering, it nails the essentials of schema design for small to medium-sized projects.
ChartDB
ChartDB feels like a modern take on what an open-source data modelling platform should be. It’s browser-based, self-hostable, and built with performance in mind. The interface lets you drag tables, connect relationships, and edit properties intuitively — all without the clutter of traditional ERD tools.
Its support for multiple SQL dialects (including PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, Oracle, ClickHouse, and MSSQL) makes it suitable for teams working across varied environments. You can even import existing schema structures and visualize them instantly, which saves hours of manual drawing.
ChartDB’s strength lies in its developer-first approach — no proprietary lock-ins, no subscription tiers, just a well-designed open-source tool you can host yourself.
Azimutt
Azimutt is slightly different in its philosophy. It’s designed to handle large, complex databases that can overwhelm traditional ERD tools. Instead of focusing purely on diagrams, Azimutt treats schema exploration as an interactive experience — letting you search, filter, and navigate through relationships dynamically.
It supports live connections to existing databases, automatic layout generation, and even analysis features that can help detect inconsistencies in your schema. You can self-host it or use its online version, both open and community-driven.
Developers who work with large datasets or legacy databases often find Azimutt to be the most practical option, because it combines visualization with insight and debugging capabilities.
Liam ERD
For those who love minimalism, Liam ERD offers a clean and straightforward environment for designing database diagrams. It’s open source, runs in the browser, and supports essential ERD operations like creating tables, defining keys, and drawing relationships between entities.
It’s not packed with advanced features, but that’s the beauty of it — you can quickly map out ideas or prototype database structures without distraction. If you’re teaching, learning, or documenting small systems, Liam ERD makes the process smooth and approachable.
Comparison
| Feature / Tool | drawDB | ChartDB | Azimutt | Liam ERD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Reverse Engineering / Schema Import | Limited | Yes, multiple DBs | Yes, live DB connections | Yes, schema file / DDL import |
| Database Support | MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MSSQL, Oracle, ClickHouse, MariaDB | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, others | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite (via schema file) |
| Schema Exploration / Analytics | No | Basic | Advanced | No |
| Diagram Export (SQL / Image) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
