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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.
| 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, plus GitHub sync (Pro). |
| AI | AI assistant available in paid PRO editions. | Brain AI chat with your own provider key, in core with no license needed; Ask AI and agentic tools are Pro. |
| 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. |
Questions
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
