Honest Comparison

QueryGlow vs Drizzle Studio

Drizzle Gateway, the free, self-hosted edition of Drizzle Studio, is a great way to run a database UI in your browser. QueryGlow is a dedicated self-hosted database GUI: a full SQL editor with AI, a visual EXPLAIN plan and layered security, across six engines.

Try the live demo
  • “Beautiful interface and very intuitive.”
    Jean-Francois, Mildor Violon, verified customer
https://db.your-company.com
QueryGlow Data Browser showing a customers table on a production PostgreSQL connection

Two good tools, built for different jobs

They overlap, but they are not the same tool. Here is the honest version.

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

Free, self-hosted data UI

Drizzle Studio is a polished database UI; Drizzle Gateway is its free, self-hosted, browser-based edition that you deploy on your own infrastructure to browse, edit and query PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SingleStore, MSSQL and CockroachDB. It is free and genuinely good: Drizzle helped prove database tools can be beautiful.

Two ways to run it: the classic npx drizzle-kit studio command starts Studio locally on localhost and reads your drizzle.config.ts, while Drizzle Gateway runs on its own as a Docker container or a binary.

QueryGlow

Self-hosted database GUI

QueryGlow is a dedicated database GUI you self-host with Docker and open in a browser. It pairs a full SQL editor and AI text-to-SQL with a visual EXPLAIN plan for tuning queries, layered self-host security, and support for six engines, built for daily query, edit and admin work that stays on your own infrastructure. The whole team uses the same install behind one shared login.

What QueryGlow brings to the table

Everything below is built into QueryGlow today.

A full SQL editor

A Monaco editor (the VS Code engine) with schema-aware autocomplete for tables and columns, Ctrl+Enter to run, and shortcuts you can set yourself for run, explain, Ask AI and save.

AI text-to-SQL, schema-only

Describe a query in plain English and QueryGlow drafts the SQL. Ask AI sends your database type, table and column names with their types, and your prompt. Never rows. Your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Google key, entered in the app (stored encrypted on your server) or set in .env.

A visual EXPLAIN plan

A visual EXPLAIN/ANALYZE plan tree that flags sequential scans and missing indexes, with concrete CREATE INDEX suggestions you insert with one click.

Layered self-host security

Encrypted credentials (AES-256-GCM), SSH tunnels with pinned host keys, optional server certificate verification, Safe Mode, a confirmation before writes on production, and Basic Auth.

Agent Access with an activity log

Let Claude Code, Cursor or Codex query your database through QueryGlow instead of a raw connection string. Tokens are per connection and read-only by default, enforced by the database; the Activity tab lists every call, and one click pauses an agent.

Six database engines

PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, CockroachDB and TimescaleDB in one self-hosted interface. Find local servers checks the standard ports on the machine QueryGlow runs on and offers the database servers it finds.

Full data admin

Inline cell editing, JSON columns readable and editable as JSON text, visual schema editing with the exact SQL shown first, CSV import and export, and a Data Browser that reopens the table you left.

QueryGlow vs Drizzle Studio at a Glance

Price

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

Free (Studio CLI and Gateway)

QueryGlow

$79 once: whole team, every server you run, every 1.x update

How it runs

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

npx drizzle-kit studio (localhost) or self-hosted Gateway

QueryGlow

Self-hosted with Docker, opens in your browser

AI text-to-SQL

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

None

QueryGlow

Your own key: schema and prompt only, never rows

EXPLAIN

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

EXPLAIN/ANALYZE in its SQL console

QueryGlow

Visual plan tree; flags seq scans and missing indexes

Query guard

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

Not documented

QueryGlow

Blocks destructive SQL by default; asks before writes on production

SSH tunnels

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

Not documented

QueryGlow

Built in, host key pinned on first use

Database engines

Drizzle Studio / Gateway

PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SingleStore, MSSQL, CockroachDB

QueryGlow

PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, CockroachDB, TimescaleDB

Drizzle Studio / Gateway feature status as of September 2026, from the Drizzle Studio docs and gateway.drizzle.team.

See it before you pay

Open the live demo (read-only sample database, AI switched off), no signup. If it fits, buy once for your whole team.

Try the live demo

Stripe checkout. You'll need a GitHub account for the repo invite. No refunds, so try the read-only demo first.

Which one fits you?

Drizzle Gateway is a great fit if…

  • You want a free, self-hosted browser for your data
  • You work with the engines Drizzle Studio supports
  • Browsing, editing and running SQL cover what you need

Consider QueryGlow if…

  • You want a visual EXPLAIN plan to find and fix slow queries
  • You want AI that drafts SQL while only ever seeing your schema
  • You want one GUI across six engines, including MariaDB and TimescaleDB
  • You want a hardened self-hosted deployment: SSH tunnels, Safe Mode, encrypted credentials
  • You want your coding agents on read-only tokens, with every call logged

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Drizzle Studio require Drizzle ORM?
drizzle-kit studio does: it runs from your project and reads your drizzle.config.ts. Drizzle Gateway, the free self-hosted edition of Drizzle Studio, does not: it runs on its own as a Docker container or a binary. QueryGlow is also standalone: you connect with standard database credentials, or paste your connection URL, no ORM involved.
Is Drizzle Studio / Drizzle Gateway free?
Yes, both are free. The classic drizzle-kit studio runs locally from the CLI (npx drizzle-kit studio) and serves on localhost; Drizzle Gateway is the self-hosted, browser-based edition you deploy on your own server. QueryGlow is $79 once: your whole team on every server you run, source code included, and every 1.x update.
Can QueryGlow work alongside Drizzle?
Yes. QueryGlow connects directly to your database, independent of Drizzle. You can use Drizzle ORM for your application code and QueryGlow for day-to-day database work; they do not conflict.
How is QueryGlow different from Drizzle Gateway?
Both are self-hosted, browser-based database UIs. QueryGlow is a full database workbench: a SQL editor with AI text-to-SQL (your own key, schema only), a visual EXPLAIN plan that flags slow queries and missing indexes, layered self-host security (SSH tunnels with host key pinning, optional server certificate verification, Safe Mode, a confirmation before writes on production, AES-256-GCM credential encryption, Basic Auth), and support for six engines including MariaDB and TimescaleDB.
Does QueryGlow have a Safe Mode?
Yes. DROP DATABASE and server file or command execution are always blocked. DROP TABLE, TRUNCATE, dropping indexes, views, sequences and schemas, and DELETE or UPDATE without WHERE are blocked by default. Safe Mode covers the Query Editor and AI agents, and on a connection marked production the Query Editor asks before any write runs. It sits alongside AES-256-GCM credential encryption, built-in SSH tunnels and Basic Auth.
Can QueryGlow connect through SSH tunnels?
Yes. QueryGlow ships with built-in SSH tunnels with key authentication, so you can reach databases that are not exposed publicly. The server's host key is pinned on first connect, so a swapped host is refused. Together with Safe Mode and AES-256-GCM credential encryption, it is made for running production databases on your own infrastructure.

A self-hosted database GUI, end to end

Full SQL editor, AI text-to-SQL, a visual EXPLAIN plan and layered self-host security. $79 once, on your own infrastructure, with every 1.x update.

Try the live demo

Try the live demo first: the real app on a sample database, read-only, AI switched off, no signup.

Compare QueryGlow with Others

See how we stack up against the alternatives.

Prefer nothing to install on your laptop? QueryGlow is a web-based SQL client: installed on your server with one command, then Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, CockroachDB and TimescaleDB from any browser.

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