drawDB vs QuickDBD
Typing-first diagrams versus a full visual canvas.
QuickDBD is built around typing: you write lines of shorthand and it lays out the diagram for you, which is genuinely fast for sketching. drawDB gives you a full visual canvas with drag-and-drop tables, relationships, indexes and enums. The bigger difference is the free plan. QuickDBD's free Basic tier allows a single diagram of up to 10 tables and cannot make it private, while drawDB's free editor has no diagram or table limit and keeps everything local to your browser. Both charge $14 per month for their paid tier, but drawDB Pro adds cloud storage, real-time collaboration, AI schema chat and GitHub sync.
drawDB vs QuickDBD at a glance
| Feature | drawDB | QuickDBD |
|---|---|---|
| License | AGPL-3.0 (open source) | Proprietary |
| Free tier | Unlimited diagrams, no account required | 1 diagram, 10 tables, cannot be private |
| Account required to start | No | No, for the free app |
| SQL (DDL) export | 7 dialects | Yes |
| SQL import / reverse engineering | Yes (paste DDL, get a diagram) | Yes |
| DBML | Import and export | Not supported |
| Self-hosting | Yes | No |
| MCP server for AI agents | Yes, official MCP server | Not offered |
| Paid plans from | $14 / month | $14 / month |
Figures taken from each vendor's public pricing page. Last checked 2026-09-09.
Which should you pick?
Choose QuickDBD if
- You think faster in text than on a canvas and want to stay on the keyboard.
- You are sketching a small schema and never need to revisit it.
- You want a one-week pass rather than a monthly subscription.
Choose drawDB if
- You need more than one diagram, or more than 10 tables in it.
- You want your diagrams private without paying.
- You want a visual canvas with indexes, enums, custom types, notes and subject areas.
- You want an open-source tool you can self-host.
drawDB vs QuickDBD
QuickDBD has a free Basic plan limited to one diagram of up to 10 tables, and diagrams on that plan cannot be private. Its Pro plan is $14 per month or $95 per year.
drawDB is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, with no diagram or table limit, no account required, and diagrams stored privately in your own browser.
drawDB is primarily a visual editor, but you can import DBML or a SQL DDL script and drawDB will build the diagram for you, which covers the same write-it-as-text workflow.