CH-UI vs DBeaver for ClickHouse
DBeaver is one of the best desktop database clients ever made: 80+ databases over JDBC, a mature SQL editor, ER diagrams, and serious data import/export — with a free Apache-2.0 Community edition that connects to ClickHouse out of the box. If your day spans Postgres, MySQL, and ClickHouse from one laptop, keep DBeaver. CH-UI answers a different question: a shared, browser-based workspace that lives next to your ClickHouse — team dashboards, pipelines, models, cluster health, query-log analytics, and cost showback — instead of a per-person desktop install.
Choose DBeaver if…
- You work across many databases (Postgres, MySQL, Oracle, MongoDB, …) and want one desktop tool for all of them
- You need heavyweight desktop features: ER diagrams, data compare, cross-database migration and export
- You prefer a local client per engineer over a shared web workspace
- The free Community edition covers you — it includes the ClickHouse JDBC driver
Choose CH-UI if…
- ClickHouse is the center of gravity and you want a tool built only for it
- The whole team should share one URL — dashboards, saved queries, and pipelines in one place, not per-laptop config
- You want ClickHouse ops built in: cluster health, query_log analytics, cost showback
- You need workspace-level auth, SSO, and an audit trail of who ran what
DBeaver vs CH-UI, feature by feature
| DBeaver | CH-UI | |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Desktop application installed per user (Windows/macOS/Linux); CloudBeaver exists as a separate web product. | One self-hosted binary (Docker/Helm available) serving a web workspace for the whole team; state in local SQLite. |
| Database breadth | Exceptional — 80+ databases via JDBC, including ClickHouse in the free Community edition. The clear winner if you juggle many engines. | ClickHouse only, on purpose. Depth over breadth. |
| SQL editing | Mature editor: autocomplete, formatting, execution plans, scripts — refined over a decade. | ClickHouse-tuned workspace: streaming results, result sort/filter, automatic history, ClickHouse error parsing with jump-to-error, Ask AI (Pro). |
| Dashboards & sharing | Charts and dashboards exist in the PRO editions, but they are per-desktop — there is no URL a teammate can open. | Web dashboards with shareable public links; alerts and scheduled runs on top (Pro). |
| ClickHouse operations | Generic database admin over JDBC — sessions, metadata. No ClickHouse-specific replication/merges/Keeper views. | Cluster Health and Query Insights (Pro): per-node replication, merges, mutations, parts, Keeper, backups, and query_log analytics. |
| Cost visibility | None. | Cost Center (Pro): compute and storage showback priced from system tables, per team and per user, CSV export. |
| Ingestion & modeling | Strong data transfer/import-export tooling between databases and files — a real DBeaver strength. | Continuous pipelines (Kafka, S3, webhooks, databases) plus dbt-style models with schedules and GitHub sync (Pro). |
| AI | AI assistant available in paid PRO editions. | Brain copilot and Ask AI with your own provider key — in core, no license needed for the copilot. |
| Auth & governance | Local tool — credentials per user, no shared audit trail. Team/server features live in the separate Team Edition and CloudBeaver products. | Workspace users and roles, SSO/OIDC (Pro), immutable audit log, governance catalog and guardrails (Pro). |
| Licensing & price | Community edition free (Apache-2.0). PRO desktop editions are per user per year, roughly $110 (Lite) to $500 (Ultimate); team/web products priced separately. | Core free (Apache-2.0). Pro is $1,199/year flat per instance, unlimited users — a team of 12 pays the same as a team of 2. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does DBeaver support ClickHouse for free?
Yes. DBeaver Community is free, Apache-2.0, and ships a ClickHouse JDBC driver, so basic browsing and SQL work without paying. PRO features (advanced editors, AI assistant, dashboards, more drivers) are per-user subscriptions, roughly $110 to $500 per user per year depending on edition.
Is CH-UI a replacement for DBeaver?
Only for the ClickHouse part of your work. CH-UI does not connect to Postgres, Oracle, or MongoDB and does not try to. Many teams keep DBeaver for multi-database desktop work and run CH-UI as the shared ClickHouse workspace for dashboards, pipelines, and monitoring.
How does pricing compare for a team?
DBeaver PRO is licensed per user per year; ten engineers on Enterprise-level desktop licenses adds up linearly. CH-UI Pro is $1,199/year flat per instance regardless of how many people use it — and the Apache-2.0 core is free for unlimited users.
Can both be used side by side?
Yes, and it is common. They do not conflict: DBeaver talks JDBC straight to ClickHouse, CH-UI runs as its own service with its own connection. Nothing about CH-UI changes your ClickHouse server.
Try CH-UI on your own ClickHouse
Self-host the Apache-2.0 core for free, or start a 30-day Pro trial — no card, no sales call, license delivered by email.