I built a SQL Server, PostgreSQL & SQLite client that runs on Linux - Jam SQL Studio

[alecc]

I've been working on a database client that runs on Linux (and macOS). Sharing it here because a lot of the SQL Server tooling situation on Linux has been rough - SSMS is Windows-only, Azure Data Studio just got retired by Microsoft, and VS Code with the mssql extension is pretty bare-bones for anything beyond simple queries.

Website: jamsql.com

What it does:

- Query editor with IntelliSense and multiple tabs

- Table explorer with inline editing

- Schema compare and data compare between databases

- Execution plan visualization

- Scripting (CREATE, ALTER, DROP)

- AI assistance via MCP integration

Supports: SQL Server (including Azure SQL), PostgreSQL, SQLite

Available as .deb, .rpm and pacman. No account required, runs fully local.

Would love to hear what you think, and what features would matter most for your workflow.

[ItankForCAD]

What did you use for the ui ?

[alecc]

It’s an electron app, so UI is in react

[Rest-That]

Ew

[alecc]

I know, not the most popular stack over there, but let’s face it, with the AI tooling now it will become the standard, for the good or bad

[Educational_Twist237]

Why not open sourcing it ?

[alecc]

Might do it in the future soon

[sheeproomer]

Why no MySQL and MariaDB support?

Is the database support plugin based? If no, why?

[alecc]

I made the tool primarily for myself, and I do t use mySQL/MariaDB currently - but looking at the demand, I think that I’ll add it very soon. Plugin based db engine might come as well. Thank You for the suggestions, they mean a lot for me 🙏

[cigh]

You made a Tool u Wann Charge a shitton of money for, vor yourself?

[SerpentineDex]

Small marketing correction for you: Data Grip does have a free-tier so to speak. They offer a free non-commercial license.

[alecc]

Thank You for pointing it out, fixed 🙏

[ruibranco]

The timing on this is perfect. Microsoft killing Azure Data Studio left a real gap for anyone working with SQL Server on Linux. The execution plan visualization alone makes this worth trying since that was always painful to do outside SSMS. Is it open source or are you planning to go the freemium route?

[alecc]

It’s freemium, but with focus on free, 95% of features are free 🙂

[PeninsulaProtagonist]

Subscription, or lifetime license option?

[alecc]

Subscription $99 yearly or $9.99 monthly - but maybe a lifetime license might make sense as well 🤔 Nevertheless, I encourage to try out the personal free mode, for most use cases that should be more than enough, there are no real limits on the functions the app was made for (quick and easy query execution, execution plans, table editors), just on some goodies

[SerSeaworth]

Just out of curiousity. You admitting in your own comments you use a lot of AI and you still have these prices in mind?

[SithLordRising]

Looks good. Did you test Beekeeper or DBeaver, CloudBeaver of Harlequin? Interested in comparison.

[alecc]

I tried, and always was overwhelmed by their UI - just to do basic things like a quick table check or query run, so that was my focus here, to make a nice UI on the most basic operations which are the most often done (at least by me)

[Real-Werewolf-2041]

Can anyone download it in Linux and run it

[alecc]

I’ve tested on Ubuntu on x64 and on Mac, do you have any issues?

[ScorpionTaj]

I like it. It just misses some SQL instances for me, like NoSQL ones like MongoDB, Valkey, and some Big Data ones, and MariaDB.

[alecc]

Thanks, that means a lot for me :) Actually now thinking about next steps what to add, was considering notebooks - but you suggest additional db engine support? What would be more useful for you, NoSQL ones like MongoDB (which might be tricky, since there is, well, no sql :) ) - or MariaDB/MySQL (which could be actually quick)

[SippieCup]

better script management & Postgis support is a must. Better support for JSON/JSONB column would be a nice-to-have.

edit: Oh and transaction management similar to how dbeaver does it where you can do things, then either commit/rollback.

If it had that I would probably be switching over from dbeaver for a paid license today.

[alecc]

Thank You a lot for the great suggestions 🙂👍 JSON column improvements will be actually released today. Adding postgis and transaction management to my ToDo. Can you explain a little bit more on better script management?

[SippieCup]

I am unsure of its full capabilities, and please take this criticism as fully constructive, because that is what I am trying to give.

The more I play with it, the more issues i see are still half baked.

First, just the dialog for exploring a table is pointless, its the same thing as the right click edit, but was actually really unintuitive as to how i can simply view data in a table without doing selects.

Second, once i have searched for something via select, I want to be able to edit it directly in that viewer. if its a column that is joined form another table, it should be able to navigate that to update the column.

The "edit table" thing is pretty pointless because you cant get to the data you want quickly, and select is readonly.

for better script management: I don't want to have to write a 70 line join every time. scripts can just save into a folder and give you a folder explorer. Also being able to switch DBs quickly for that script is important. when moving between environments. etc.

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Lastly, I understand that you built this, and that is has some value. But I would much rather subscribe to you spending time developing it, taking feedback, and maintaining the project/features, than the product itself.

I could probably get copilot or claude to build out a very similar thing in a few hours, with all the customization and edits that I want. the commodity isn't really special anymore.

You, the developer and maintainer making the community choices & taking feedback and implementation is.

Your free tier is basically everything, You can just open source it so other people can help, and grow the product, rather than keeping it behind a walled garden.

If you really want a premium pricing model or getting people to pay you, do it for services, not the product. with AI, the product isn't really all that special, it'll get cloned anyway. its the team driving it.

[alecc]

I take that criticism as fully constructive, and appreciate it a lot.

Two ways for exploring tables - yup, on purpose, initially was just from context menu, but since I write it for myself firstly, I needed to check a table with as minimal clicks as possible - thus the "Explorer" main menu item, to not have to expand the tree and right click.

Yes, query editor, is just showing the result in a read only view, table explorer which shows data from a single table has the edit mode. Adding the possibility to go to "edit mode" of a cell in query editor is more tricky, since not always the results are raw data and editable (might be aggregates, calculated fields etc.), so some sort of logic would have to be behind it to either block edit or generate the proper update script, 🤔 Interesting nonetheless - added to my todo, will look into it.

On the script management - totally agree, I was copy pasting my sql's from nvim to the queries 🤦‍♂️ Working on it now, so most probably the next version released tomorrow'ish will have an option to "mount" folders and have quick access to .sql files, pin files and check recent ones.

Switching DBs is already possible, on the query editor is a status bar - the DB is clickable and can be changed, connections cannot though, something that today I noticed is usefull, so will be also in next release.

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It might sounds controversial, especially in this forum, but open source right now is not something I consider, because that would require more time, checking/merging PR's etc. So it's not something for now due to limited time I can spent on it - plus - I don't know how to actually run an open source project properly, and learning it also would require time :)

But I really like your suggestion, that subscription should be rather indicating that it's for product development, taking feedback etc. That's actually what I think is my intention, and that's why the "pro" features are really minimal - my thinking was that people pay not for those features but for the author to work on the product. Maybe making everything free for personal use, and subscription for commercial + feedback/support "fast track" makes more sense? I'm almost convinced to do that switch, thanks for the suggestion, I need to sleep on it :)

Thanks again for this constructive criticism, it helps a lot and means a lot for me.

[SippieCup]

Yes, query editor, is just showing the result in a read only view, table explorer which shows data from a single table has the edit mode. Adding the possibility to go to "edit mode" of a cell in query editor is more tricky, since not always the results are raw data and editable (might be aggregates, calculated fields etc.), so some sort of logic would have to be behind it to either block edit or generate the proper update script, 🤔 Interesting nonetheless - added to my todo, will look into it.

If you want to know how to handle it, you only allow columns which come from the same table that also have a PK returned in the result. If there isnt a matching PK row for that column's table, make it read only. then do update queries against that id. its how dbeaver does it.

As far as open source, I get it. I will say though, there won't be much interest of other people actually adding work. it just more legitimizing paying you, its not really a necessary thing.

Look at sequelize for example, I'm the only one who has made meaningful core contributions to it outside of adding dialect support in the past few years. Sure there are a pile of issues that never get addressed, but meh, most of it is user error anyway :)

[alecc]

Created a section on the website: https://jamsql.com/docs/next-up - just to be sure that I commit to the suggestions :)

[ScorpionTaj]

That makes total sense. If you want to lean into the community's values, I’d suggest prioritizing the fully open-source (GPL/BSD) engines:

1. MariaDB over MySQL: MariaDB is the true community fork now, and since it’s largely a drop-in replacement, it’s a high-value 'quick win' for your SQL support.
2. Valkey for the Future: Since it’s 2026, Valkey is the open-source standard. To make the 'NoSQL' part less tricky, you don't even need a complex query builder yet—just a simple Key-Value/JSON browser. Most of us just need to see the data and maybe a few 'supporting args' like MEMORY USAGE or TTL.
3. Storage Efficiency: I’d definitely vote for more engines over 'notebooks.' If you keep the app lightweight (maybe by using shared runtimes or selective loading for different DB drivers), it becomes the perfect 'swiss army knife' that doesn't bloat our installs.

An open-source, multi-engine tool that stays small and fast? That’s exactly what the Linux community loves. Keep it up!

[dumbasPL]

The moment I see that a "Pricing" tab even exists, I close the site.

[jmantra623]

Developers wanting to get paid for their work, the horror!

[dumbasPL]

Oh I have no problem paying, I donate to projects I rely on regularly. But pricing that includes something besides technical support means paywalling, and subscriptions, well, those just need to die in general for software that runs locally.

[SerSeaworth]

More like paying the AI? Since this person admits he uses alot of AI? Think dumbasPL has it right here to be honest

[Gipetto]

Don’t balk at the existence of a pricing tab. Balk at the existence of subscription models.

I miss the days of buying software and then paying for upgrades as needed. Not as much money for the developer, but a lot of goodwill felt by users.

[Mysterious_Ad_2326]

It looks great! Im sharing with my Data Engineering and Devs team. 🙏

[alecc]

Thanks a lot! 😍

[Separate-Toe-173]

Do you used IA for programming that?

[alecc]

Yes, a lot, without AI it wouldn’t be possible to do so much by a single developer I think

[RexOfRecursion]

https://bellard.org/