SequelPG
v0.3.4 · macOS 14.4+
001 — A Postgres GUI for people who read EXPLAIN

Postgres, unwrapped from Electron.
Just the database.

A native SwiftUI client for macOS that doesn’t ship a browser with it. Browse schemas, write queries, edit rows. Quiet, keyboard-first, free.

Native
SwiftUI+AppKit
SSL modes
6all
Dependencies
0npm
License
MITfree
SequelPG — main · prod-replica
⌘K
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
-- top signups in the last 7 days
SELECT u.id, u.email, count(o.id) AS orders
FROM public.users u
LEFT JOIN public.orders o ON o.user_id = u.id
WHERE u.created_at >= now() - INTERVAL '7 days'
GROUP BY u.id
ORDER BY orders DESC
LIMIT 5;
● success5 rows38ms
idemailorders
8f24[email protected]47
3c91[email protected]31
a710[email protected]22
d502noor.alm@protonmail18
f6e0[email protected]14
SSH tunnel
bastion.prod ↔ 5432
Keychain
credentials secured locally
II. The toolkit

Built like a native app,
because it is one.

Nine things SequelPG does well, and a couple it refuses to do on principle. No analytics. No login. No paid tier hiding behind “Pro”. Open the app, hit ⌘N, you’re connected.

01 / 09
Query editor
Autocomplete from your schema, not a generic SQL dictionary.

Highlighting for keywords, strings, comments, numbers, and operators. Suggestions pulled live from the database you’re connected to. to run. F to beautify.

autocomplete.sql
SELECT u.id, u.em
emailtext
email_verifiedbool
emit_event()func
embeddingvector
02 / 09
SSH tunnel
Reach the db behind the bastion.
your.mac
localhost:5432
bastion
ssh · key file
postgres
10.0.0.4:5432

Key file or password. SSL modes from Allow to Verify-Full. Configured in the connection form — no extra shell.

03 / 09
Secure
Zero outbound traffic.

Passwords live in the macOS Keychain, in separate items for database and SSH. No telemetry, no analytics, no auto-update pings phoning home.

Network activity
analytics.*
auto-update
postgres://● connected
04 / 09
Type-aware editor
Edit jsonb like jsonb, not text.
user_id: 8f24 · prefs (jsonb)
{
"theme":"dim"
"notify":true
"keymap":["vim","emacs"]
}

JSON, arrays, booleans get the editor they deserve. Single-click inline edits for scalars. DDL is one tab away.

05 / 09
Query history
Every query, with timing & row count.
Literals redacted by default — safe to screen-share.
timestatementrowsmssource
13:48:02SELECT id, email FROM users WHERE created_at > '••••••'1,28438editor
13:48:00UPDATE users SET last_seen = '••••••' WHERE id = '••••'16inline
13:47:51SELECT * FROM pg_stat_activity124system
13:47:48EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT count(*) FROM events1412editor

Press Y to dock the history panel. Click a row to load it back into the editor.

06 / 09
Object CRUD
17 object kinds. One consistent UI.
Tables
Views
Materialized
Functions
Sequences
Types
Domains
Indexes
Constraints
Triggers
Partitions
Roles
Privileges
Extensions
Schemas
Operators
Casts

Create, drop, alter. The Structure tab keeps columns, indexes, constraints, triggers and partitions together — where they belong.

07 / 09
Beautify
Format messy SQL into something you’d commit.
before
select id,email from users where created_at>now()-interval '7 days' order by id desc limit 5;
after ⌘⇧F
SELECT
  id,
  email
FROM users
WHERE created_at > now()
  - INTERVAL '7 days';

Mixed-case identifiers get auto-quoted. Indentation follows clause boundaries. Predictable, idempotent.

08 / 09 · 09 / 09
Roles, privileges, extensions.

A GRANT/REVOKE builder, an Extensions sheet, and ~50 built-in Postgres functions a click away.

50+
built-in fns
17
object kinds
6
SSL modes
0
telemetry
III. Connect in three

From zero to running a query
in under a minute.

No accounts. No project to set up. No “Sign in with GitHub”. Open the app, paste the connection string, browse.

i.

Open the connection form.

Host, port, database, user, password. Or paste a postgres:// URL and the fields auto-fill. SSL mode and SSH tunnel sit one click away.

$ open SequelPG.app
ii.

Browse the navigator.

Schemas, tables, views, functions — 17 object categories in a tree on the left. Click a table to see its columns; right-click to drop, rename, edit.

prod-replica / public / users
iii.

Run a query, edit a row.

Cmd+T for a new query tab, Cmd+Enter to run. Click any cell to edit it inline. Cmd+Shift+Y to peek at history. That’s the whole app.

⌘↵ SELECT * FROM ... ✓ 38ms
IV. The neighborhood

Against the usual suspects.

Filled in honestly. Where another tool does it better, we say so. Where we’re partial, the dot is half-full.

SequelPG
Free
pgAdmin
Free
DBeaver
Free
TablePlus
$89
Postico
$39.99
DataGrip
$99/yr
Navicat
$19.99/mo
Native macOS (not Electron)
Open source
Free forever
SSH tunnel built-in
Query history with redaction
Beautify w/ identifier quoting
No telemetry / no login
Cold start under 1s
SequelPG vspgAdminFree
SequelPGpgAdmin
Native macOS (not Electron)
Open source
Free forever
SSH tunnel built-in
Query history with redaction
Beautify w/ identifier quoting
No telemetry / no login
Cold start under 1s
SequelPG vsDBeaverFree
SequelPGDBeaver
Native macOS (not Electron)
Open source
Free forever
SSH tunnel built-in
Query history with redaction
Beautify w/ identifier quoting
No telemetry / no login
Cold start under 1s
SequelPG vsTablePlus$89
SequelPGTablePlus
Native macOS (not Electron)
Open source
Free forever
SSH tunnel built-in
Query history with redaction
Beautify w/ identifier quoting
No telemetry / no login
Cold start under 1s
SequelPG vsPostico$39.99
SequelPGPostico
Native macOS (not Electron)
Open source
Free forever
SSH tunnel built-in
Query history with redaction
Beautify w/ identifier quoting
No telemetry / no login
Cold start under 1s
SequelPG vsDataGrip$99/yr
SequelPGDataGrip
Native macOS (not Electron)
Open source
Free forever
SSH tunnel built-in
Query history with redaction
Beautify w/ identifier quoting
No telemetry / no login
Cold start under 1s
SequelPG vsNavicat$19.99/mo
SequelPGNavicat
Native macOS (not Electron)
Open source
Free forever
SSH tunnel built-in
Query history with redaction
Beautify w/ identifier quoting
No telemetry / no login
Cold start under 1s
V. Questions

Things people ask first.

Short answers. The docs cover the rest — link in the footer.

01Is SequelPG really free?
Yes. MIT-licensed, no paid tier, no trial, no telemetry. The repo is public on GitHub — build it yourself if you'd rather.

Free. Native.
No nonsense.

Open source on GitHub. Download the signed build, or clone and run. Either way, you’ll be talking to Postgres in about thirty seconds.