DrawDB
Dev tools
database diagram editor
SHOW HN2025
263points
56comments
#215of 3,837 in 2025
Top 6%of 2025 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
9 positive, 16 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 3 critical, out of 32 comments about the project. Thread score +0.16.
Idea: 6 for, 0 againstExecution: 1 for, 1 againstPricing: 1 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Useful, clean tool for prototyping schemas
From 3 comments
I experimented with this for five minutes, and so far it looks great. The one thing missing, or that I didn't see in five minutes, is that when I uploaded the schema for one of…
andrewl on HNNot bad, I bookmark it, its good for prototyping ideas. If it doesn't cost you much money you should keep it free and maybe sell an advanced version aimed at companies. There are…
hoppp on HNAwesome work! We've been searching for something to switch away from MySQL Workbench for years, but the one feature we need is the automatic generation of SQL migration based on…
ptodorov on HN
Mermaid export is useful
From 1 comment
It can even export as Mermaid? That's awesome. I could see that being super useful as a way to take a db schema and turn it into a chart for a github readme. Definitely…
mubou on HN
Objections
Slow and unreadable with around 150 tables
From 1 comment
I tried it with a mysql project that has ~150 tables, which I have been struggling to find a good way to visualize in general, but it became extremely slow and overlapped a lot…
ranger_danger on HN
SQL import fails on some dumps
From 2 comments
It can even export as Mermaid? That's awesome. I could see that being super useful as a way to take a db schema and turn it into a chart for a github readme. Definitely…
mubou on HNFailed to import a Postgres export with all of this errors: - "missing_fields" _text NOT NULL DEFAULT ARRAY[]::text[] - "status" text NOT NULL DEFAULT 'RUNNING' ::text CHECK…
h1fra on HN
Views are not imported
From 1 comment
I experimented with this for five minutes, and so far it looks great. The one thing missing, or that I didn't see in five minutes, is that when I uploaded the schema for one of…
andrewl on HN
Requests
Views and procedures support
From 2 comments
I experimented with this for five minutes, and so far it looks great. The one thing missing, or that I didn't see in five minutes, is that when I uploaded the schema for one of…
andrewl on HNThis is very cool! I have some feedback: 1. Allow for adjusting grid spacing and grid point size. 2. I can't seem to find a snap-to-grid option (e.g., a magnet icon). 3. Allow…
djfobbz on HN
Desktop app
From 1 comment
I would love this as a desktop app.
ThinkBeat on HN
Auto-layout
From 1 comment
I'm curious if you are planning for auto-layout? It's not listed in your features list but it's one of the most important and challenging to do well.
clarkevans on HN
Hosted SaaS version with team features
From 2 comments
A quick(ish) and obvious path to monetization would be offering a SaaS hosted version. The obvious barrier here is how to connect to databases that are private (not publicly…
nodesocket on HNHey! This is awesome! Great job :-) I make Beekeeper Studio, another open source db tool (although v different), we started charging for a pro version 2 years ago. Would be cool…
rathboma on HN
Questions
How it differs from ChartDB and other diagram editors
From 2 comments
This looks a lot like ChartDB[0]. Is that correct? If so, how would you compare the two tools, or better yet, distinguish yours from theirs? [0] https://github.com/chartdb/chartdb
arcanemachiner on HNThis is interesting and quite an useful tool, but what's the USP from other DB diagram editors
debschillin on HN
Whether AGPL with no CLA blocks monetization
From 2 comments
Legally, any enhanced version would need to remain FOSS anyway. It appears to be an AGPL-licensed project with 60+ contributors and no CLA, so the codebase has 60+ different…
evanelias on HNLooks really great! But regarding monetization, one word of caution that other commenters haven't mentioned so far: make sure you have a really good understanding of the…
evanelias on HN
Alternatives named
ChartDB
From 1 comment
This looks a lot like ChartDB[0]. Is that correct? If so, how would you compare the two tools, or better yet, distinguish yours from theirs? [0] https://github.com/chartdb/chartdb
arcanemachiner on HN
draw.io
From 1 comment
It can even export as Mermaid? That's awesome. I could see that being super useful as a way to take a db schema and turn it into a chart for a github readme. Definitely…
mubou on HN
Supabase diagram editor
From 1 comment
Congratulations on releasing the product and its success. You will likely have to compete with Supabase's diagram editor (there might be other competitors too), which has AI…
admiralrohan on HN
MySQL Workbench
From 1 comment
Awesome work! We've been searching for something to switch away from MySQL Workbench for years, but the one feature we need is the automatic generation of SQL migration based on…
ptodorov on HN