SqlDBM Alternatives for Cloud Data Modeling

SqlDBM is a browser-based data modeling tool for cloud warehouses and transactional databases, and it is still sold and developed. The SqlDBM pricing page lists Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, Redshift, Azure Synapse and Microsoft Fabric, plus PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle, AlloyDB and MySQL. There is one plan with every feature included. Price scales with seats, AI features are billed separately, and you only see a number after a sales quote.

That quote-only model is the main reason people look elsewhere, followed by Git and CI workflows that need custom scripts. The eight picks below include tools with public prices, desktop modelers that work offline, and code-first options for dbt teams. Prices are listed as each vendor states them, in US dollars or euros. For the classic enterprise modelers, our erwin Data Modeler alternatives page goes deeper.

Prices below are as of November 8, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

Hackolade Studio

Hackolade covers the same cloud warehouses as SqlDBM and keeps going into NoSQL, APIs and streaming schemas. Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery and Redshift sit next to MongoDB, Avro, JSON Schema and Parquet in one tool, so a team that models a lakehouse and its event feeds no longer needs two products. Models are stored as files you commit to Git, and the Workgroup edition adds Git integration inside the app.

Unlike SqlDBM, the price is on the page. The Hackolade pricing page lists Workgroup at EUR 175 per seat a month or EUR 1,750 per seat a year, which works out to two months free. A 14-day trial needs no credit card.

Best for: Data platform teams that model Snowflake or Databricks alongside JSON, Avro or MongoDB.

Pricing:

• Community: free in the browser
• Workgroup: EUR 175 per seat a month, or EUR 1,750 per seat a year
• Floating seats: contact sales
• Personal and Professional: prices not published

Watch out for:

• Community has no forward or reverse engineering and caps models at 50 objects, so real warehouse work needs a paid seat.
• It is a desktop app first. SqlDBM users used to sharing a browser link will need the paid editions to collaborate.

Official site: Hackolade Studio.

Ellie

Ellie starts higher up than SqlDBM. Its focus is the conceptual and logical model that business people can read, tied to a business glossary, with physical models and DDL export coming after. AI-assisted modeling is included on every plan, which helps when a domain is new to the team.

The Ellie pricing page lists Solo at EUR 49 a month for one modeler, excluding VAT, and Enterprise from EUR 1,200 a month billed yearly. Enterprise adds team roles, version history, SSO, an API and integrations with Collibra, Microsoft Purview, dbt and Azure DevOps. Yearly billing saves 15%.

Best for: Data governance and analytics teams that want business-readable models and a glossary in one place.

Pricing:

• Solo: EUR 49 a month excluding VAT, one modeler
• Enterprise: from EUR 1,200 a month, billed yearly, excluding VAT
• Trial: on request

Watch out for:

• Solo has no team collaboration, so any shared use jumps to the EUR 1,200 a month Enterprise plan.
• Trials are by request rather than self-serve, so testing it on your own schema takes a conversation with the vendor first.

Official site: Ellie.

Redgate Data Modeler

Redgate Data Modeler is the former Vertabelo, the browser modeler many SqlDBM users compared it with. Redgate closed the purchase on September 17, 2025 and relaunched the product under its own name on October 7, 2025, per its press release. It supports 10 database types, among them SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL and MySQL, and Redgate plans links to its DevOps tools.

Prices are public and per user per year. Standard costs $189 and allows 20 models of up to 100 tables, physical design only, with sharing limited to five users. Pro costs $303, removes those caps, adds logical design and API access, and has a 14-day trial.

Best for: Teams on SQL Server, Oracle or PostgreSQL that want a browser modeler with a known price.

Pricing:

• Standard: $189 per user a year
• Pro: $303 per user a year, 14-day trial
• SQL Toolbelt Essentials with Data Modeler Pro: $1,410 per user a year

Watch out for:

• Standard is physical-only and capped at 20 models and 100 tables per model, which a warehouse team outgrows quickly.
• Its database list leans toward transactional engines, so check Snowflake or Databricks support before you move a warehouse model.

Official site: Redgate Data Modeler.

erwin Data Modeler

erwin is the long-standing enterprise modeler, now owned by Quest. It handles conceptual, logical and physical models, and the erwin product page lists Snowflake, Databricks and BigQuery as targets next to Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Teradata, MongoDB and Neo4j. Version 15.2, released on January 6, 2026, added conceptual modeling, a REST API and AI-assisted DDL validation.

Large companies pick it for model governance: the Workgroup edition stores models in a shared mart with check-in and versioning, and a read-only Navigator edition lets others view them. It comes as a Windows app, and Quest also ships a macOS build.

Best for: Enterprises that already run a data governance program and need models in a central repository.

Pricing:

• No public price; quotes from Quest sales
• Editions: Standard, Workgroup and read-only Navigator

Watch out for:

• It is no cheaper or more transparent than SqlDBM. Pricing, trial length and edition costs all need a sales conversation.
• It is a desktop app, so the shared-browser workflow SqlDBM users know is replaced by a mart server.

Official site: erwin Data Modeler. Our listing: erwin Data Modeler.

ER/Studio Data Architect

ER/Studio, from Idera, competes with erwin for large modeling teams but shows its prices. Data Architect covers logical and physical design, reverse engineering and comparisons between model and database, and the Enterprise edition adds a shared repository and team server for business glossaries.

The ER/Studio pricing page lists Data Architect at $2,687 per user and Data Architect Pro at $3,693 per user as total subscription prices. Enterprise needs a quote, and a free trial is available.

Best for: Modeling teams that need enterprise features and want a price before calling sales.

Pricing:

• Data Architect: $2,687 per user, total subscription price
• Data Architect Pro: $3,693 per user
• Enterprise: contact sales; free trial

Watch out for:

• It is a Windows desktop application, which is a step back for a team used to SqlDBM in the browser.
• Confirm the subscription term with sales.

Official site: ER/Studio Data Architect. Our listing: ER/Studio Data Architect.

DbSchema

DbSchema moves modeling back to the desktop. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, keeps the model in a file you can commit to Git, and connects to the live database through JDBC to compare and deploy changes. Visual query building, a data generator and HTML documentation are part of the paid editions.

The DbSchema purchase page lists Pro at $294 and Architect at $470.40 as perpetual licences with the first year of updates. After that, updates cost $75 or $120 a year. An optional AI Assistant costs $9 a month, and the trial lasts 15 days.

Best for: Small teams that want to own a licence and work offline instead of renting seats.

Pricing:

• Community: free
• Pro: $294 one-time; updates $75 a year after year one
• Architect: $470.40 one-time; updates $120 a year
• AI Assistant: $9 a month

Watch out for:

• Community cannot save a design to a file or work offline, so the free edition is a viewer more than a modeler.
• There is no business glossary or governance workflow, which Ellie and erwin offer.

Official site: DbSchema. Our listing: DbSchema.

dbdiagram.io

dbdiagram.io turns a few lines of DBML, a small open source schema language, into an ER diagram in the browser. You type tables and references, the diagram redraws, and SQL import and export work on every plan. For quick design reviews it is faster than any full modeler.

dbdiagram.io has a free plan with up to 10 diagrams and one editor, Personal Pro from $8 a month, and Team at $75 a month with three editors and $5 a month per extra editor. Annual billing saves up to 42%.

Best for: Developers who want to sketch or document a schema in minutes for little money.

Pricing:

• Free: up to 10 diagrams, one editor, unlimited viewers
• Personal Pro: from $8 a month
• Team: $75 a month with 3 editors; extra editors $5 a month
• Custom: contact sales

Watch out for:

• There is no logical or conceptual layer. DBML maps straight to physical tables, so it cannot hold the warehouse design work SqlDBM does.
• The free plan has no version history and only 14 days of schema changelog.

Official site: dbdiagram.io.

dbt Catalog

For many analytics teams the model already lives in dbt code, and dbt Catalog renders it as lineage graphs and documentation. Instead of drawing a model and generating DDL, you write models in SQL, add descriptions and tests in YAML, and the platform shows how every table depends on the others. dbt Core, the open source engine, also generates static docs.

The dbt pricing page lists a free Developer plan with one seat and 3,000 models built a month. Starter costs $100 per user a month for up to five seats and includes lineage in dbt Catalog. Column-level lineage needs Enterprise, which is quoted.

Best for: Analytics engineering teams whose source of truth is already a dbt project.

Pricing:

• dbt Core: free, open source
• Developer: free, 1 seat, 3,000 models a month
• Starter: $100 per user a month, up to 5 seats
• Enterprise and Enterprise+: custom quotes

Watch out for:

• It documents what exists rather than designing what should exist. There is no ER diagram editor or forward engineering.
• Column-level lineage is an Enterprise feature, so Starter users only see table-level dependencies.

Official site: dbt Catalog.

How to choose

When to stay with SqlDBM

Stay with SqlDBM if your quote is acceptable and your team values one browser workspace for Snowflake or Databricks models with every feature included. Few tools here match its focus on cloud warehouses with physical settings per platform. If CI is the pain point, reviewers on G2 mention that deployment steps often need custom scripts, so ask SqlDBM about that before you renew rather than after.

Frequently asked questions