Every team that runs more than one copy of a database ends up with drift: a hotfix applied straight to production, an index added on a test server, a lookup table edited by hand. Schema and data compare tools answer that question directly: they read two databases, scripts or snapshots, list every difference, and generate the script that makes one side match the other.
The category shifted in 2026. Microsoft shipped a native Schema Compare inside SSMS 22 as a preview in June and declared it generally available in version 22.10.2 on September 28, 2026, which gives every SQL Server shop a free baseline. Quest moved ApexSQL Diff to limited support, with support ending on December 31, 2025, and folded schema compare into Toad for SQL Server. If you are still choosing a general SQL editor, start with our guide to database IDEs and SQL clients.
Here are 10 schema and data compare tools worth shortlisting for 2027, ranked on database coverage, deployment script quality, automation options and licensing value.
Schema And Data Compare Tools At A Glance
Tool
Best For
Databases Supported
Pricing Model
Redgate SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare
SQL Server teams that need dependable deployment scripts
SQL Server 2008 to 2025, Azure SQL, Amazon RDS; sibling tools for Oracle, PostgreSQL and MySQL
Annual subscription per user, from $327 per tool
Devart dbForge Schema Compare and Data Compare
Budget-conscious teams working across several engines
Redgate’s pair of tools remains the reference point for SQL Server comparison. SQL Compare handles structure, SQL Data Compare handles table contents, and both target SQL Server 2008 through 2025, Azure SQL and SQL Server on Amazon RDS, including instances running on Linux. Redgate also sells siblings for other engines: Schema Compare for Oracle (now at version 5.2), PostgreSQL Compare and MySQL Compare, plus a newer pgCompare product for PostgreSQL 9 and later.
SQL Compare compares a live database against another database, a backup, a snapshot or a folder of source-controlled scripts, then generates a deployment script that respects object dependencies and warns about data loss before you run it. You can deploy everything, a subset or a single object. SQL Data Compare works on static, lookup and reference data, and in the Pro edition can restore a single damaged row from a backup without a full recovery. Pro editions add command-line deployments.
The trade-off is cost and licensing complexity. Each tool is an annual subscription, listed at $327 per user for a one-year term, and running the command line inside a Redgate pipeline or other CI system requires an additional Flyway Enterprise, Redgate Deploy or SQL Toolbelt license. Schema Compare for Oracle is priced separately at $480 per user per year. pgCompare costs $93 per user per year, with a free Community tier for non-commercial use and small businesses.
Best for: SQL Server teams that deploy often and need deployment scripts they can trust without hand editing.
Devart builds standalone schema and data compare tools for SQL Server, MySQL and MariaDB, Oracle and PostgreSQL.
The SQL Server edition compares live databases, native backups, snapshots, script folders and source control revisions, generates T-SQL synchronization scripts, and runs either standalone or as an SSMS add-in. The MySQL edition covers tables, views, routines, triggers and events, plus packages and sequences for MariaDB. Command-line comparison and synchronization is available, and the MySQL tool saves task settings as .bat files you can run from Windows Task Scheduler or PowerShell.
Pricing is the main draw: Schema Compare for SQL Server starts at $239.95 per year and the SQL Server Compare Bundle at $299.95 per year, while Schema Compare for MySQL starts at $89.95 per year. Schema Compare for PostgreSQL is free, though Devart lists standard PostgreSQL, RDS and Azure PostgreSQL as “limited support” in the standalone tool and points users to dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL for full coverage.
Best for: Teams that want dedicated compare tools across several engines at a lower price than Redgate.
Microsoft now offers schema comparison in three free places. SQL Server Data Tools in Visual Studio has had it for years, the MSSQL extension for VS Code added it in 2025, and SSMS 22 shipped a native Schema Compare as a preview in version 22.7 (June 9, 2026) before making it generally available in 22.10.2 on September 28, 2026.
In the VS Code extension, the source and target can each be a live database, a .dacpac file or a SQL project. You can exclude individual actions, apply changes directly or generate a script to run later. The VS Code route runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and targets SQL Server 2017 and later, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure Synapse dedicated SQL pools and Fabric SQL database.
The limits are scope and maturity. Microsoft’s tools compare structure only, so there is no built-in data compare, and they cover only the SQL Server family. The SSMS implementation is new: several of its 2026 fixes dealt with comment-only differences and stored procedures appearing reformatted, so teams with complex schemas should test it against a known baseline before relying on it for releases.
Best for: SQL Server and Azure SQL teams that need free structure comparison and already work with SQL projects or .dacpac files.
Toad for SQL Server is Quest’s full SQL Server workbench, and it is now where Quest’s comparison tooling lives after ApexSQL Diff moved to limited support.
Toad compares both schema and data, can check one schema against several targets at once, shows differences side by side and syncs only the changes you select. Its Automation Designer lets you build a comparison, script or report once, schedule it and share it with the team, which is useful for nightly drift checks. The 2026 R2 release (June 3, 2026) added tolerant support for SQL Server 2025 and Windows Server 2025 and Toad Chat, an AI panel for SQL.
The trade-offs are price transparency and a few open issues. Pricing is quote-based. The 2026 R2 release notes list known issues with column-order comparisons when “Ignore column order” is cleared and with synchronization scripts for tables that have different indexes, so review generated scripts carefully.
Best for: SQL Server DBAs who want scheduled compare jobs alongside a full administration suite.
Aqua Data Studio is a multi-platform database IDE that supports more than 40 data sources, and its compare tools stand out for one reason: they can compare objects between different database vendors, loading only the object types both sides share.
Schema Compare finds DDL differences in tables, views, stored procedures, indexes and triggers and shows them in a color-coded grid with a difference count. Compare Data checks the contents of matching objects and highlights differing rows and columns. The Schema Synchronization wizard lets you pick dependencies, map missing columns and review warnings before it generates a deployment script, with minimum supported versions including Oracle 10g, SQL Server 2005, Sybase ASE 15, MySQL 5.1, MariaDB 10.2, PostgreSQL 9.0 and Db2 LUW 10.1.
The trade-off is that Aqua Data Studio is a broad IDE first, so you pay for far more than comparison. Standard is $499 per user per year and Ultimate, which adds task scheduling, is $699, with Enterprise Ultimate on custom pricing.
Best for: Data architects and migration teams comparing schemas across different database vendors.
DBeaver’s commercial editions add full schema and data compare on top of the familiar DBeaver client. Schema Compare and Data Compare are available only in Enterprise and Ultimate; the free Community edition includes a lighter Simple Structure Compare for two individual objects. See our DBeaver vs DataGrip comparison for the wider differences between the two clients.
Schema Compare uses Liquibase snapshots to read metadata, so it works with any JDBC database Liquibase supports. DBeaver lists more than 20 tested engines, including Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB, Db2, Snowflake, Databricks, Redshift and SAP HANA. Output can be a DDL script, a Liquibase changelog, JSON, YAML or plain text. Data Compare works on two tables or two query results, even across different engines such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, and exports a script of INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statements, an HTML table or a diff file.
The trade-off is depth on any single engine. Because it relies on Liquibase metadata, some engine-specific objects are captured less fully than in a dedicated SQL Server or Oracle tool, and large data compares can exhaust memory unless you store results in a temporary database.
Best for: Multi-database teams that already use DBeaver and want compare features without another vendor.
7. Navicat Premium — Structure And Data Synchronization For Eight Database Types
Navicat Premium connects to MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis and Snowflake from one application, and its Structure Synchronization and Data Synchronization wizards are among its most used features. Navicat 18 is the current release, and it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Structure Synchronization compares two databases, groups differences by operation or object type, shows the DDL for both sides and lets you choose and reorder the generated scripts before executing them. Data Synchronization shows how many records will be inserted, updated or deleted in the target, highlights mismatched values and lets you exclude individual records. It works for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB, SQLite, MongoDB and Snowflake.
The trade-off is that Navicat is a GUI tool built for interactive work rather than CI pipelines, so teams that need scripted, repeatable comparisons will be better served by a tool with a command line. Licensing is available as a perpetual license or a subscription, but prices are not shown on the product page, and maintenance and upgrades are sold separately for perpetual licenses.
Best for: Developers on macOS or Linux who want visual structure and data sync across mixed SQL and NoSQL databases.
8. JetBrains DataGrip — Structure Diffs And Migration Scripts Inside The IDE
DataGrip is JetBrains’ database IDE, and its Compare Structure feature suits developers who want to check a schema change without leaving their editor.
You select two objects of the same type, such as two schemas or two tables, and DataGrip opens a Migration dialog that generates a script to make the target match the origin. Color coding shows what will be created, altered or dropped. Options control schema qualification, constraint placement, whether to recreate objects when an ALTER is not possible, and whether to ignore owners, grants or column order.
The trade-off is scope: DataGrip’s documented comparison covers structure, not table data, and it has no dedicated command-line compare for pipelines. Commercial use requires a JetBrains subscription, while non-commercial use is free.
Best for: Developers who want quick, reviewable schema diffs as part of their everyday IDE workflow.
9. Liquibase — Diff-Changelog Output For Version-Controlled Changesets
Liquibase is a database change management tool, and its diff-changelog command turns comparison into source control. It compares a reference database with a target and writes the differences as deployable changesets you commit and review.
The open source edition diffs catalogs, columns, foreign keys, indexes, primary keys, schemas, sequences, unique constraints and views. Liquibase Secure adds check constraints, packages, package bodies, functions, stored procedures and triggers, and can produce an HTML drift report showing missing, changed and unexpected objects. Supported platforms include Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Db2, Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery and MongoDB.
The trade-off is that Liquibase has no visual diff viewer and assumes you are adopting its changelog workflow. Stored procedures and triggers require the paid edition, and generated changelogs still need a careful review before deployment. For a broader look at migration-first tools, see our list of database DevOps and schema migration tools.
Best for: Teams that want every detected difference captured as a reviewed changeset in version control.
10. Atlas — Declarative Schema Diff From Databases, HCL Or SQL Files
Atlas is a schema-as-code tool from Ariga, and its schema diff command compares any two schema states: a live database URL, an HCL or SQL schema file, or a migration directory.
The command outputs a plan of SQL statements that migrates the “from” state to the “to” state, covering schemas, tables, indexes and constraints by default. A diff policy can skip destructive changes such as dropped tables, create and drop indexes concurrently, and control materialized view creation. Examples cover MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server, ClickHouse, Redshift and YugabyteDB.
The trade-off is the split between free and paid features. The free Starter plan covers MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and SQLite with limited diffing, while views, functions, procedures, triggers, sequences and other engines require Atlas Pro, which starts at $9 per developer per month plus usage-based CI and database fees. It compares structure only, so it does not replace a data compare tool.
Best for: Teams managing schemas as code that want diffs generated and checked in CI.
How To Choose A Schema And Data Compare Tool
Which Databases Do You Actually Need To Compare?
A pure SQL Server shop can begin with Microsoft’s free Schema Compare and step up to Redgate, dbForge or Toad when it needs data compare or better scripts. Mixed estates should look at dbForge’s per-engine tools, DBeaver, Navicat or Aqua Data Studio; Aqua Data Studio and DBeaver also document cross-vendor comparison.
Do You Need Data Compare Or Only Schema Compare?
Structure drift is the common case, but lookup tables, configuration rows and reference data cause just as many failed releases. Microsoft’s tools, DataGrip and Atlas compare structure only. Redgate SQL Data Compare, dbForge Data Compare, Toad, Aqua Data Studio, DBeaver and Navicat all generate data sync scripts. If you are copying data into test environments, pair your compare tool with one of the test data management and data masking tools so production values are not exposed.
How Much Do You Trust The Generated Deployment Script?
Run a trial against a schema you know well, including computed columns, filtered indexes, temporal tables and stored procedures with comments. Check that it orders changes by dependency and warns about data loss. The quality of this script, not the diff viewer, is what separates release tools from convenience features.
Will Comparisons Run In CI Or Only On A Desktop?
If you want nightly drift checks or comparisons in a pull request, confirm command-line support and its licensing. Redgate requires extra licensing for pipeline use, dbForge offers command-line jobs, Toad uses its Automation Designer, and Liquibase and Atlas are built for CI from the start.
Which Licensing Model Fits Your Team?
Annual per-user subscriptions dominate, but there are real alternatives: free tools from Microsoft, free tiers from Redgate pgCompare, Devart and Atlas, and perpetual licenses from Devart and Navicat. Price the whole team, including CI licenses.
Conclusion
For SQL Server, Redgate SQL Compare and SQL Data Compare still set the standard for deployment scripts, dbForge offers similar coverage for less money across more engines, and the now generally available Schema Compare in SSMS 22 gives every team a free starting point. Toad and Aqua Data Studio suit wider DBA or cross-vendor work, while DBeaver, Navicat and DataGrip add compare features to clients developers already use.
If your goal is to stop drift before it happens rather than find it afterwards, Liquibase and Atlas move comparison into version control and CI. For the rest of the tooling around your databases and .NET applications, see our pillar guide to the best database tools.
