Comparison of data modeling tools

This article is a comparison of data modeling tools which are notable, including standalone, conventional data modeling tools and modeling tools supporting data modeling as part of a larger modeling environment.

General

Tool	Creator	Target Business Size	License	Supported Database Platforms	Supported OSs	Standalone or bundled into a larger toolkit	Launch Date
Astah	Change Vision	Enterprises	Proprietary	MySQL, Oracle,	Windows, macOS, Linux	Standalone	2006
Database Workbench	Upscene Productions	SMBs and enterprises	Proprietary	MS SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Firebird, InterBase, SQL Anywhere, NexusDB, MariaDB	Windows, Linux and FreeBSD (both through Wine)	Standalone	2001
Enterprise Architect	Sparx Systems	SMBs and enterprises	Proprietary	IBM Db2, Firebird, InterBase, Informix, Ingres, Access, MS SQL Server, MySQL, SQLite, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase	Windows, Linux (Wine), macOS (via CrossOver)	Data modeling is supported as part of a complete modeling platform.	2000
ER/Studio	Embarcadero (acquired by IDERA)	SMBs and enterprises	Proprietary	Access, Snowflake, Microsoft Azure IBM Db2, Informix, Hitachi HiRDB, Firebird, Interbase, MySQL, MS SQL Server, Netezza, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase, Teradata, Visual Foxpro and others via ODBC/ANSI SQL	Windows	Standalone	1998
Erwin Data Modeler	Logic Works (now Quest)	SMBs and enterprises	Proprietary	Access, IBM Db2, Informix, MySQL, MS SQL Server, Netezza, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase, and others via ODBC/ANSI SQL	Windows	Standalone	1998
MagicDraw	No Magic	Enterprises, SMBs, personal	Proprietary	MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, IBM Db2	Windows, Linux, macOS	Standalone	1995
SQL Server Management Studio	Microsoft	Un­known	Proprietary	MS SQL Server	Windows	Standalone	2005
ModelRight	ModelRight	Enterprises, SMBs, personal	Proprietary	Access, MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, IBM Db2	Windows	Standalone	2005
MySQL Workbench	MySQL (An Oracle Company)	SMBs - personal	Proprietary or GPL	MySQL	Linux, Windows, macOS	Standalone	2006
Navicat Data Modeler	PremiumSoft	SMBs and enterprises	Proprietary	MySQL, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQLite	Windows, macOS, Linux	Standalone	2012
NORMA Object-Role Modeling	Terry Halpin	SMBs and enterprises	CPL	MySQL, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, IBM Db2	Windows	Visual Studio Extension	2005
Open ModelSphere	Grandite	Enterprises - SMBs - personal	GNU GPL3	MS SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, IBM Db2	Windows, macOS, Linux	Standalone with Data, UML, and process modeling	2008
Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler	Oracle	Enterprises	Proprietary	Oracle, MS SQL Server, IBM Db2	Cross-platform	Standalone	2009
PowerDesigner	SAP	SMBs and enterprises	Proprietary	Access, Greenplum, Apache Hive, HP Neoview, IBM Db2, Informix, Ingres, Interbase, MySQL, Netezza, NonStop SQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Red Brick Warehouse, SAP business Suite, SAP Hana, SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, SAP IQ, SAP SQL Anywhere, MS SQL Server, Teradata	Windows	Standalone	1989
Software Ideas Modeler	Dusan Rodina	Enterprises, SMBs, personal	Proprietary	MS SQL Server, MySQL	Windows	Standalone	2009
SQLyog	Webyog, Inc.	Enterprises, SMBs, personal	Proprietary	MySQL, MariaDB	Windows and Linux (using Wine)	Standalone	2001
Toad Data Modeler	Quest Software	SMBs and enterprises	Proprietary	Access, IBM Db2, Informix, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, SQLite, Oracle	Windows	Standalone	2005 (before this date known as CaseStudio)
Tool	Creator	Target Business Size	License	Supported Database Platforms	Supported OSs	Standalone or bundled into a larger toolkit	Launch Date

Features

Tool	Supported data models (conceptual, logical, physical)	Supported notations	Forward engineering	Reverse engineering	Model/database comparison and synchronization	Teamwork/repository
Database Workbench	Conceptual, logical, physical	IE (Crow’s foot)	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	No
Enterprise Architect	Conceptual, Logical & Physical + MDA Transform of Logical to Physical	IDEF1X, UML DDL, Information Engineering & ERD	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	Multi-user collaboration using File, DBMS or Cloud Repository (or transfer via XMI, CVS/TFS or Difference Merge).
ER/Studio	Logical, physical, ETL	IDEF1X, IE (Crow’s feet)	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	ER/Studio Repository and Team Server (formerly Portal/CONNECT) for web based publishing collaboration and model management, with Business Glossary as standard.
MagicDraw	Conceptual, Logical & Physical + MDA Transform of Logical to Physical	IDEF1X, UML DDL, Information Engineering & ERD	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	Multi-user collaboration using File, DBMS or (transfer via XMI, CVS/TFS or Difference Merge).
MySQL Workbench	Physical	IDEF1X, IE (Crow’s feet), UML, and more	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	No
Navicat Data Modeler	Conceptual, Logical & Physical	IE (Crow’s foot)	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	No
NORMA Object-Role modeling	Conceptual (ORM), Logical, Physical	ORM, Relational(Crow’s foot option), Barker	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	No
Open ModelSphere	Conceptual, Logical, physical	IDEF1X, IE (Crow’s foot), and more	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	No
Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler	Logical, physical	Barker, IE (Crow’s foot), and Bachman	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	Yes
PowerDesigner	Conceptual, logical, physical	IDEF1X, IE (Crow’s foot), and more	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	Yes
Software Ideas Modeler	Conceptual, logical, physical	IDEF1X, IE (Crow’s foot), UML and more	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	Yes
Toad Data Modeler	Logical, physical	IDEF1X, IE (Crow’s foot), and more	Yes	Yes	Update database and/or update model	Yes

See also

• Comparison of database administration tools
• List of Unified Modeling Language tools
• Data modeling
• IDEF1X