saferowCompare · DBeaver
saferow and DBeaver.
DBeaver is the broadest database tool there is: more than a hundred data sources on every desktop, with a free open-source Community edition. saferow covers four databases on the Mac and goes deep on what an agent may change.
Checked 3 October 2026. Every DBeaver figure links to DBeaver’s own pages, or says where else it comes from. Something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.
Choose DBeaver if
- You need one of its 100-plus data sources, or the same tool on Windows and Linux.
- You want a free, open-source Community edition.
- Your company standardises on DBeaver’s Team or CloudBeaver editions.
Choose saferow if
- You work in MySQL, MariaDB, Postgres or SQLite on a Mac and want a focused, Mac-first app.
- You want an agent whose changes are counted and held for one approval, with Touch ID on production.
- You want to pay once, with no yearly renewal, and no usage statistics.
side by side
Feature by feature.
| Feature | saferow | DBeaver |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free tier forever. Pro $24 once for 3 Macs, every 1.x update. Business $49 a seat. | Community free (Apache 2.0). Lite $113 a year; Enterprise $255; Ultimate $510. (source) |
| Platforms | macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon only. | Windows, macOS and Linux. (source) |
| Databases | MySQL, MariaDB, Postgres and SQLite. | “100+ data sources”. (source) |
| Built with | Electron (Chromium). We publish no speed or memory comparison. | Java, on Eclipse. (source) |
| AI | Agent first: plans, reads, charts, proposes fixes and migrations. Runs models itself on the Mac by default; Ollama, LM Studio, oMLX, or a cloud model with your own key. | AI Chat in Community; AI tools with Ask or Always allow in Lite, Enterprise and Ultimate. (source) |
| Writes by an agent | Every agent and MCP write is dry-run in a rolled-back transaction, counted, and held for one approval bound to the count; Touch ID on production. Agents are refused DROP, TRUNCATE and DELETE without WHERE on production. | Connection types: Production turns autocommit off and confirms SQL execution and data changes. (source) |
| Undo after a write | Rewind, from a restore point saved before each write: 7 days free, 30 with Pro. | Manual commit and rollback on Production connections; no undo after a commit found. (source) |
| MCP server | Six tools through a signed shim; each client paired once; safe reads; changes only as proposals you approve. Free: one connection, read-only. | The desktop editions are MCP clients; CloudBeaver and Team Edition act as MCP servers. (source) |
| Telemetry | None, in the app and on the website. | Usage statistics, which can be turned off in Preferences. (source) |
| Source code | Closed source. Every safety claim can be checked with the built-in self-test. | Community edition open source. (source) |
trying it
Three steps to try saferow.
- Install saferow from the download page. The free tier needs no account.
- Add a database (⇧⌘N). saferow finds the hosts in your
~/.ssh/configand the databases in Docker on this Mac. - Connect once. saferow checks each step, tells you which one failed and how to fix it, and saves the connection when it works.
questions
Asked about DBeaver.
Can saferow replace DBeaver for me?
Only if your databases are MySQL, MariaDB, Postgres or SQLite and you work on a Mac. For anything beyond those, DBeaver covers far more.