DBeaver vs DataGrip: Which Database IDE Should You Use?

Ask a room of developers which database IDE they use and two answers will come up again and again: DBeaver and DataGrip. DBeaver is the open-source workhorse that connects to almost anything with a JDBC driver. DataGrip is JetBrains’ dedicated SQL IDE, known for code intelligence that feels like the rest of the JetBrains family. Both have changed a lot recently. DataGrip became free for non-commercial use, and both tools now ship AI assistants that can work with your schema and act as MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers or clients.

This DBeaver vs DataGrip comparison covers editions and licensing, database coverage, SQL editing, AI features, performance and pricing models. Every product detail comes from the vendors’ own sites and documentation, and we note where you should check current terms before you buy.

If you want to see the wider field first, including lighter clients and web-based tools, our list of the top database IDEs and SQL clients covers more options.

Quick Comparison Table

Area	DBeaver	DataGrip
Vendor	DBeaver Corp (open-source Community plus commercial PRO)	JetBrains
Free option	Community edition, Apache 2.0 license, any use	Free non-commercial license; 30-day trial for commercial use
Paid editions	Lite, Enterprise, Ultimate, Team, CloudBeaver Enterprise	Single product, commercial subscription for organizations or individuals
Database coverage	100+ drivers in Community; PRO adds NoSQL and other non-JDBC sources	Over 50 local and cloud databases
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux; web via CloudBeaver	Windows, macOS, Linux
AI features	AI chat in Community; query suggestions, error fixing and tools in PRO	JetBrains AI and bring-your-own agents, MCP server
Pricing model	Annual subscriptions per edition	Subscription, with perpetual fallback after 12 months

Editions and Licensing

DBeaver Community and PRO

DBeaver Community is free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license, and you can use it at work without paying. It is written mostly in Java on the Eclipse RCP platform and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The latest Community release at the time of writing is 26.2.3, from October 2026.

The commercial line, usually called DBeaver PRO, comes in several editions:

• Lite: a database explorer with a visual query builder, ER diagrams and AI features, but limited development tools.
• Enterprise: adds table data comparison, schema compare and migration, ERD edit mode, a task scheduler and DBA tools for SQL, NoSQL and big data sources.
• Ultimate: everything in Enterprise plus a cloud explorer, native AWS, Google Cloud and Azure support, and cloud storage access.
• Team Edition: a web and hybrid collaboration product with real-time data collaboration and advanced role management.
• CloudBeaver Enterprise: a browser-based option with no desktop app.

DBeaver’s edition comparison page is the place to check which feature sits in which tier. All PRO editions are sold as annual subscriptions that include updates and technical support for the year. Team Edition is licensed per user, and CloudBeaver Enterprise is a server license for a set number of users.

DataGrip Licensing

JetBrains DataGrip is a single product rather than a set of tiers. Commercial use needs a paid subscription, available for organizations or for individuals, and JetBrains offers a 30-day free trial that includes AI Assistant features.

In October 2025 JetBrains made DataGrip free for non-commercial use. JetBrains defines commercial use as developing commercial products or providing paid services, so learning, open-source work without commercial benefit, content creation and hobby projects qualify. Paid development work does not, even at a non-profit. The free license includes the full feature set, runs for one year and renews automatically if you use the IDE during the last six months of the term. The trade-off is data sharing: you must send anonymous usage statistics with no opt-out, and JetBrains enables more detailed code-related data collection by default, which can include code snippets, prompts and AI responses but not data from your connected databases. You can switch that detailed collection off in settings. Read the terms in the JetBrains announcement before relying on it.

One more licensing detail: you may not need a separate DataGrip license at all. JetBrains states that an IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate subscription and a PyCharm Pro subscription both include full DataGrip functionality inside those IDEs.

Supported Databases

Database breadth is DBeaver’s best-known strength. The open-source project ships with more than 100 database drivers out of the box, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle and SQL Server, and works with any database that has a JDBC or ODBC driver. DBeaver’s supported databases page lists more than 130 systems across relational, document, key-value and cloud categories. The commercial editions extend many popular drivers and add non-JDBC sources such as MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis and Neo4j, plus flat files such as CSV, XLSX, JSON, XML and Parquet. If you need NoSQL in the same tool as your relational databases, plan on a PRO edition.

DataGrip supports more than 50 local and cloud-based databases, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, SQLite and MongoDB. That covers the engines most teams actually run day to day. Where DataGrip falls behind is the long tail: niche or legacy systems that DBeaver reaches through generic JDBC or ODBC connections.

If your work is mostly SQL Server, a dedicated tool can still help with the operational side. See our guide to SQL Server monitoring tools for the monitoring layer neither IDE tries to replace.

SQL Editing and Developer Experience

DataGrip’s core appeal is its editor. JetBrains highlights smart code completion, code inspections with quick-fixes and refactoring for SQL, which matters in large schemas where renaming a column or tracing a reference by hand is error-prone. Query results can show in the console or in a dedicated window, and the data editor works like a spreadsheet for exploring and editing rows. Local History and Git integration help you keep track of script changes. If your team already lives in IntelliJ IDEA or PyCharm, keyboard shortcuts and behavior carry over directly.

DBeaver’s Community feature set is broad: a schema editor, SQL editor, data editor, ER diagrams, data export, import and migration, and execution plans. PRO editions add a visual query builder, which helps analysts who prefer to assemble joins by pointing and clicking, along with schema and data comparison, a task scheduler and DBA dashboards. DBeaver tends to feel like an all-in-one database administration and exploration tool, while DataGrip feels like a code editor that happens to specialize in SQL.

AI Assistants

DBeaver AI Features

DBeaver Community includes AI chat and an @ai command, and Community users can connect OpenAI-compatible providers and GitHub Copilot. DBeaver’s documentation marks several features as PRO only: AI query suggestions for creating and editing queries, fixing SQL errors and describing database objects with AI. PRO also adds native support for more providers, including Azure OpenAI, Google Gemini, Ollama, Anthropic Claude, Amazon Bedrock and Grok.

The newest piece is agent tooling. In the Lite, Enterprise and Ultimate editions, DBeaver’s AI assistant can call built-in tools (since version 25.3) to transfer and compare data, read sample data and metadata, manage editors and connections and work with scripts. Since version 26.1, you can also connect external MCP servers over HTTP or STDIO, and DBeaver can itself act as an MCP server. Each tool can be set to ask for confirmation or always run, which is worth reviewing before you point an agent at production.

DataGrip AI Features

DataGrip’s AI is built around JetBrains AI Assistant, which JetBrains says understands your database context and can write SQL from natural-language requests. DataGrip also lets you connect agents using your own API key, an existing subscription or JetBrains AI, and an MCP server lets you decide which tools are exposed to those agents. DataGrip 2026.2 added new AI agent skills and MCP tools for data sources, plus data source management from the command line.

For both tools, the practical question is governance: where your prompts go, which models are allowed and whether an agent can run statements without review. Both products give you controls, but your security team should set the policy. For dedicated AI SQL tooling outside an IDE, see our roundup of AI SQL query generators and optimizers.

Performance

Neither vendor publishes benchmark figures comparing the two, so treat any general claim about speed with caution. A few practical points hold up in day-to-day use.

Both are full desktop applications that index or introspect database metadata, so first connection to a large schema with thousands of objects takes time in either tool. DataGrip’s code intelligence depends on that introspection, which is the cost of its strong completion and refactoring. DBeaver, built on Java and Eclipse RCP, offers lighter workflows for users who mainly browse and edit data. JetBrains noted smoother startup and improved session management in DataGrip 2026.2.

The fairest test is your own environment. Connect each tool to your largest real schema, run your usual queries and see which one feels responsive on the hardware your team actually uses.

Pricing Models

DBeaver Community costs nothing for any use, which is hard to beat for teams that only need relational databases. PRO editions are annual subscriptions that include updates and support. DBeaver’s buy page lists each edition, and Team Edition requires a minimum of one administrator and two other users. Check the vendor’s site for current prices, since they vary by edition and seat count.

DataGrip uses JetBrains’ subscription model, with separate pricing for organizations and individuals. A useful extra is the perpetual fallback license: after 12 consecutive months of a paid subscription, you keep the right to use the version that was current when the subscription period began, even if you stop paying later. Non-commercial users can use DataGrip free under the terms described above, and teams that already pay for IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate or PyCharm Pro get DataGrip’s features inside those IDEs.

Strengths and Limitations

DBeaver Strengths

• Free, open-source Community edition you can use commercially
• The widest database coverage, including generic JDBC and ODBC
• NoSQL, cloud explorers and flat files in PRO editions
• Browser-based and team collaboration options through CloudBeaver and Team Edition
• Wide choice of AI providers, plus MCP client and server support in PRO

DBeaver Limitations

• Key AI features, NoSQL drivers and comparison tools require a paid edition
• Edition lineup takes some study to choose correctly
• SQL refactoring is less of a focus than in DataGrip

DataGrip Strengths

• Strong SQL code completion, inspections and refactoring
• Free for non-commercial use with the full feature set
• Included with IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate and PyCharm Pro subscriptions
• Perpetual fallback license after a year of paid subscription
• Agent support and MCP server built into recent releases

DataGrip Limitations

• Commercial use always requires a paid subscription
• Fewer supported databases than DBeaver
• Free license requires usage statistics sharing with no opt-out

Which to Choose

You need a free tool for work on relational databases. DBeaver Community is the clear option, since DataGrip’s free license excludes commercial use.

You write a lot of complex SQL against a few main databases. DataGrip’s completion, inspections and refactoring will save time every day, and the subscription is easy to justify for a developer who lives in SQL.

Your team already pays for IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate or PyCharm Pro. Use the built-in database tools first. You may not need a separate license.

You work across many engines, including NoSQL or unusual sources. DBeaver Enterprise or Ultimate covers more ground in one tool, especially if cloud explorers for AWS, Google Cloud or Azure matter to you.

You are a student, hobbyist or open-source maintainer. Both are free to you. Pick DataGrip if you want JetBrains-style code intelligence and accept the data sharing terms, or DBeaver Community if you prefer an open-source license with no strings.

You want to share connections and data access across a team in the browser. DBeaver Team Edition or CloudBeaver Enterprise is designed for that. DataGrip is a desktop IDE only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is DataGrip free?

DataGrip is free for non-commercial use such as learning, open-source work without commercial benefit, content creation and hobby projects. Commercial use requires a paid subscription after a 30-day trial.

Can I use DBeaver Community at work?

Yes. DBeaver Community is released under the Apache 2.0 license, which allows commercial use. Paid PRO editions add NoSQL drivers, extra tools and official support.

Which tool supports more databases?

DBeaver. Community ships with more than 100 drivers and works with any JDBC or ODBC database, and PRO adds NoSQL and flat-file sources. DataGrip supports more than 50 databases.

Do DBeaver and DataGrip support MCP?

Yes. DataGrip includes an MCP server for agents, and DBeaver’s paid editions can connect to external MCP servers and can also act as an MCP server.

Conclusion

The DBeaver vs DataGrip choice is less about which tool is better and more about how you work. DBeaver wins on cost of entry and breadth: a free open-source edition you can use at work, more database connections than any rival and paid tiers that add NoSQL, cloud and team features. DataGrip wins on SQL editing: deeper code intelligence, a single straightforward product and a free path for non-commercial users. Try both against your real databases for a week, and the right fit for your team will usually be obvious.