---
title: "TableStudio vs DBHub"
description: "DBHub is a free, open-source, minimal MCP server that connects coding agents to your databases with a connection string. TableStudio is a Mac app whose MCP server adds staged production changes, dry runs, undo and a record of every agent conversation."
canonical_url: "https://tablestudio.sh/compare/dbhub"
---

> Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://tablestudio.sh/llms.txt)

[DBHub](https://github.com/bytebase/dbhub), from Bytebase, is a popular open-source MCP server for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle and SQLite. It's deliberately minimal, with two tools by default, `execute_sql` and `search_objects`. TableStudio's MCP server does the same job from a Mac app and adds what DBHub leaves to other tools. **Choose DBHub** if you want a free server that runs anywhere, including CI and Linux, or you need Oracle. **Choose TableStudio** if your agents change data in databases that matter and you want production changes reviewed, dry runs, undo and a record of every conversation.

<lead-feature icon="i-ph-shield-check" title="An MCP server is the start, not the safety net">

DBHub gets an agent connected, with a read-only mode, row limits and timeouts. Bytebase says approval flows and audit logging are beyond it. Those are exactly the parts that matter once an agent needs to change a database you care about:

- **Approval built in.** Production changes are staged as a migration with its reason, SQL and affected rows, applied with Touch ID.
- **Dry runs and undo.** Writes are tested against the real rows, and every agent change is saved first so it can be undone.
- **A record of everything.** The Agent Center shows each conversation, and the Audit Log every statement.
- **Sandboxes on demand.** The agent can copy a database to your Mac and try a migration there first.
- **No credentials in config files**, and an agent can't widen its own access without your Touch ID.

</lead-feature>

## At a glance

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      
    </th>
    
    <th>
      TableStudio
    </th>
    
    <th>
      DBHub
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      What it is
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Mac database client with an MCP server and agent plugin
    </td>
    
    <td>
      MCP server with a small web workbench
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Runs on
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Mac
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Anywhere with Node.js 22.5+ or Docker
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Price
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Plugin free; app <price-tag>
        
      </price-tag>
      
       once
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Free, open source
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Engines
    </td>
    
    <td>
      PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, SQL Server, ClickHouse, CockroachDB, Cloudflare D1
    </td>
    
    <td>
      PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle, SQLite
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Tools
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Over 55: schema, queries, dry runs, sandboxes, health and schema checks, index advice, backups
    </td>
    
    <td>
      2 by default, plus opt-in <code>
        explain_sql
      </code>
      
      , <code>
        health_check
      </code>
      
       and your own SQL tools
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      How agents connect
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Saved connections by name; passwords stay in the Keychain
    </td>
    
    <td>
      A DSN or a TOML file holding the connection string
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Read-only
    </td>
    
    <td>
      In the database, per call, 30-second limit
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Read-only mode, row limits, query timeout
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Access per database
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Off, Structure only, Read, Read & write
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Per configured source
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Production changes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Staged as a migration for your review, applied with Touch ID
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Not covered; Bytebase is suggested for approval flows
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Dry run with the real rows affected
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Undo one AI change
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Record of agent activity
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Agent Center, per conversation
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Request traces in its workbench
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Blocks <code>
        psql
      </code>
      
       and migration tools writing to production
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Yes, the plugin's shell guard
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      A database client for you
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Full native Mac app
    </td>
    
    <td>
      No
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

## Where DBHub is stronger

- **Runs anywhere.** Linux, Windows, CI and remote servers, with stdio or HTTP transport, as an npm package, a Docker image or a Claude Code plugin.
- **Free and open source.**
- **Small and token-efficient.** Two default tools keep the agent's context lean, and custom tools let you expose exactly the queries you want.
- **Oracle**, which TableStudio doesn't support.

## Where TableStudio is different

**No connection strings in config files.** Agents reach your saved connections by name. Passwords stay in the macOS Keychain, so nothing in the repo or an MCP config can leak them.

**Production changes wait for you.** An agent stages the change, with its reason and SQL, and you apply it with Touch ID. On a remote Postgres database a data change needs a dry run first, and rolls back if the real row count doesn't match.

**Every AI change can be undone.** Before an agent changes rows, TableStudio saves them, foreign-key cascades included, on every engine, so you can undo that one change without restoring the whole database.

**You can see what happened.** The Agent Center shows every conversation from every agent: each call, what it read, dry-ran, proposed and changed, and what TableStudio stopped and why.

**A real client for you, too.** Browse the same databases, review what the agent staged, and fix things yourself in a native Mac app.

<sources-note>

Sources: [DBHub on GitHub](https://github.com/bytebase/dbhub), checked October 29, 2026.

</sources-note>

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](https://tablestudio.sh/sitemap.md) for all pages.