Your perfect alternative to pgAdmin for effective PostgreSQL management

pgAdmin is arguably the most popular open-source solution for the management and administration of PostgreSQL databases. It supports multiple operating systems, it delivers extensive documentation, and it packs quite a few features that are undoubtedly vital for both beginners and experienced professionals.

However, there's nothing that can't be improved upon. What if we suggest an alternative with far wider functional capabilities and customization options? Well, here it is – dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL, an IDE that showcases a more advanced approach to PostgreSQL management. Don't take our word for it—just check the feature-by-feature comparison below to see what we mean.

Code Completion, Formatting & Syntax Validation

dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL delivers an extensive set of features that helps you produce SQL code faster, including smart code completion, formatting, and syntax validation .

  • Context-sensitive object suggestions
  • Predefined and custom formatting profiles
  • PostgreSQL syntax check and query validation
  • Reusable code snippets

Database Comparison & Synchronization

dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL delivers a robust combination of tools that helps you perform and automate the comparison and synchronization of schemas and table data without much effort.

  • Find differences in PostgreSQL and Amazon Redshift database schemas
  • Find differences in table data
  • Apply updates from your development databases to staging or production
  • Synchronize tables between PostgreSQL and Redshift databases in a blink of an eye
  • Automate routine synchronization from the command line

Data Editor

Another vital feature is the integrated Data Editor that simplifies manipulations with table data in a variety of ways.

  • View data in Grid View and Card View modes
  • Sort, group, filter, and edit data
  • Enable the paginal mode to split your records into a custom number of pages
  • Enable the auto-search mode to find the required data easily
  • Enable the Cached Updates mode to store your updates locally
  • Use Foreign Key Lookup to view data in related tables

Data Analysis & Reporting

dbForge Studio offers quite a few features that help you organize and summarize your data for subsequent analysis.

  • Pivot tables reorganize your data in a convenient way to help you summarize, count, or group it, as well as calculate the total or the average
  • Chart Designer helps you visualize pivot data as a chart
  • Master-Detail Browser helps you view and analyze related data in parent and child tables/views, as well as self-referencing tables
  • Static, data-aware, and master-detail data reports can be exported to multiple formats

Query Profiler

The advanced query optimization functionality of the Studio examines your queries, easily finds potential execution bottlenecks, as well as helps you analyze query execution plans and fix slow queries.

  • Run profiling to find performance bottlenecks
  • Review Query Plans and Query Execution Diagrams
  • Compare profiling results visually
  • Scrutinize the list of the most expensive operations taking place on the server
  • View Query Execution Plans in XML

Data Generator

The built-in Data Generator is designed to create large volumes of meaningful test data and populate your database with it in a matter of moments.

  • Support for all essential PostgreSQL data types
  • Smart generators with flexible data customization
  • Well-maintained SQL data integrity
  • Real-time preview of generated data
  • CLI-powered scheduling of recurring operations

Feature comparison table:
dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL vs pgAdmin

The following table provides a detailed feature comparison of dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL 3.0 (Professional Edition) and pgAdmin 4.6.19. For quick navigation, please use the side menu.

SQL Editing & Execution

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Automatic SQL syntax check
Yes
Yes
Code outlining
Yes
None
Customizable SQL formatting and code beautifier
Yes
None
Execute current statement
Yes
Yes
Parameter information for stored routines
Yes
None
SQL editor with syntax coloring
Yes
Yes
Quick access to favorite templates from the SQL editor
Yes
None
Select block
Yes
Yes
Text search
Yes
Yes
Document Outline window for quick navigation through large scripts
Yes
None
Execution of scripts, selected SQL fragments and statements
Yes
Yes
SQL History window
Yes
Yes
Execution warnings
Yes
Yes

Code Completion

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Context-sensitive code completion
Yes
Yes
Code snippets
Yes
None
Snippets Manager
Yes
None
On-the-fly renaming of database objects
None
Yes
Auto-generation of table aliases
Yes
None
Extended code formatting options
Yes
None

Query Profiler

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Query profiling to detect performance bottlenecks
Yes
None
Visual SQL explain plan
Yes
Yes
Session statistics
Yes
Yes
Plan of the query displayed in the tree view
Yes
Yes
Profiling history that can be saved for further analysis
Yes
None
Comparison of profiling results with highlighted differences
Yes
None
Printing of profiling results
Yes
None

Data Editor

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Copying of data with column headers for the quick paste to a spreadsheet
Yes
Yes
Custom data filters of any complexity
Yes
None
Data Viewer window for browsing images, RTF files, and binary cell values
Yes
Yes
Date/time editor with a visual interface
Yes
None
Free copying of any block of data to clipboard
Yes
Yes
Full-text search (Ctrl+F) in the data grid
Yes
Yes
Graphical card view
Yes
None
Grouping by arbitrary columns
Yes
None
Incremental search (Ctrl+I) through the data grid
Yes
None
Multi-table query result set editing
Yes
None
Paginal data browsing for large result sets
Yes
None
Data printing
Yes
None
Quick filter available for each data cell
Yes
None
Read-only state indication
Yes
Yes
Reporting and pivot building directly from the data editor
Yes
None
Chart building directly from the data editor
Yes
Yes
Visible column picking
Yes
None
Editing of multiple execution results of one script on separate tabs
Yes
None
Auto-commit mode
Yes
Yes
Export selected data to CSV, HTML, XML, JSON, and SQL
Yes
None
Export selected data to a file
Yes
None

Database Explorer

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Multiple database connections
Yes
Yes
Browse and navigate through objects
Yes
Yes
Detailed object properties and data browsing in the Object Viewer window
None
Yes
Dependency tree browsing for each object
None
Yes
Quick generation of template scripts for selected objects: SELECT, INSERT, EXECUTE, etc.
Yes
Yes
'Send To' command for quick sending of tables to Query Builder, Data Report, and other tools
Yes
None
Quick access to object privileges (GRANT) from the pop-up menu
None
Yes
Grouping of connections
Yes
None
Marking of objects as favorites
Yes
None

Database Comparison & Synchronization

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Comparison and synchronization of data in databases of virtually any size
Yes
None
Comparison of tables and views
Yes
Yes
Comparison of procedures, functions, events, and triggers
Yes
Yes
Custom comparison keys
Yes
Yes
Filtering of comparison results
Yes
None
Data synchronization script generation
Yes
Yes
Per-record viewing of data differences
Yes
None
Exclusion of tables and records from synchronization
Yes
None
CLI-powered automation of data comparison and synchronization
Yes
None
Generation of accurate comparison reports in HTML and Excel
Yes
None
Generation of comments
Yes
None
Specific options for tables, script objects, triggers, indexes, and constraints
Yes
None
Inclusion\exclusion of objects by mask in Data Compare
Yes
None
Scheduled data synchronization
Yes
None
Compare tabs
Yes
Yes
Compare results
Yes
None
Save Command Line
Yes
None

Data Export

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
CSV
Yes
Yes
XML
Yes
None
Text
Yes
Yes
XLS
Yes
None
XLSX
Yes
None
PDF
Yes
None
DBF
Yes
None
HTML
Yes
None
RTF
Yes
None
JSON
Yes
None
MDB (Access)
Yes
None
ODBC
Yes
None
SQL
Yes
None
Google Sheets
Yes
None
Binary
None
Yes
Database table
Yes
None
Data export from multiple tables
Yes
None
Data export from the command line
Yes
None

Data Import

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
CSV
Yes
Yes
XML
Yes
None
Text
Yes
Yes
XLS
Yes
None
XLSX
Yes
None
DBF
Yes
None
MDB (Access)
Yes
None
ODBC
Yes
None
Google Sheets
Yes
None
Binary
None
Yes
Database table
Yes
None
Scheduled import
Yes
None
Export and import templates
Yes
None
Data import from the command line
Yes
None

Data Analysis

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Data reports
Yes
None
Display of table data representing parent-child dependencies (Master-Detail Browser)
Yes
None
Data report generation wizard
Yes
None
Data report designer
Yes
None
Pivot table designer
Yes
None
Display of query results as a chart
Yes
Yes
Chart building wizard
Yes
None
Data search on a live database
None
Yes
Save Command Line
Yes
None
Automated report generation and distribution via CLI)
Yes
None

Test Data Generation

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Multiple generators with data customization
Yes
None
Support for all column data types
Yes
None
SQL data integrity support
Yes
None
Meaningful data generators
Yes
None
User-defined data generators
Yes
None
Real-time preview of generated data
Yes
None
Multiple ways to populate databases with data
Yes
None
Save Command Line
Yes
None

User Interface

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Start Page with quick access to main product features
Yes
None
Rich user settings
Yes
None
UI skins
Yes
None
Customizable window layout
Yes
None
Windows with the Auto-hide and Float modes
Yes
None
Multiple shortcut schemes with full shortcut customization
Yes
None
Syntax highlighting customization
Yes
None
Tabbed groups for documents
Yes
None
Toolbar customization
Yes
None
Wizard for sharing common code standards and templates
Yes
None
Connection coloring and categories
Yes
None
GUI font
Yes
None
Wide choice of languages
Yes
None

Connectivity

dbForge Studio
pgAdmin
Support for SSH
Yes
Yes
Support for SSL
Yes
Yes
SSL wizard
Yes
Yes

Best PostgreSQL Tool

Discover the functionality, user interface, and unique capabilities of pgAdmin and dbForge Studio. By the end of this video, you'll have a clear understanding of which tool aligns best with your specific requirements.

dbForge Studio: Your ultimate PostgreSQL IDE

dbForge Studio is a versatile PostgreSQL GUI client whose elaborate functionality makes it an ideal toolset for PostgreSQL. Feel free to consult the documentation, check the product pricing, or contact support with any questions.

Get dbForge Studio for a free 30-day trial today!

Download the fully-featured edition of dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL and enjoy a free month-long trial.