Side by side
Alembic vs dbmate
Both stand on database migration tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan Self-hosted
Alembic provides migration scripting for SQLAlchemy projects, including schema comparison and offline SQL generation. Users need to review generated changes and account for the requirements and offline-mode limits.
Visit Alembic Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1
dbmate provides migration management through a standalone CLI, with broad database and language coverage. Check the documented client-tool requirement for schema dumps and the Spanner dump limitation against your workflow.
Visit dbmateThe facts
| Alembic | dbmate | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Self-hosted | Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | alembic.sqlalchemy.org | github.com |
| On database migration tools | #8 of 32 | #4 of 32 |
Alembic: what it does well
- Free and self-hosted
- Generates candidate migrations from schema metadata
- Can produce offline SQL scripts
- Batch operations support SQLite migrations
- Documents several database dialects
What to know first
- Rename detection is unreliable in autogeneration
- Candidate migrations require manual review
- Offline SQL cannot handle scripts needing database access
- Requires Python 3.10+ and SQLAlchemy 2.0.0+
dbmate: what it does well
- Free and open source under an MIT license
- Plain SQL migrations use timestamp-versioned files
- Supports migration rollback and status checks
- Can maintain schema.sql for source control review
- Offers multiple installation options
What to know first
- Schema dumps rely on database client tools
- Spanner schema dumps are not supported
Alternatives to Alembic Alternatives to dbmate The whole list