Enterprise Oracle Database licenses can cost a fortune, but your SQL editor doesn’t have to. We rounded up the top 10 FREE Oracle SQL clients—from Oracle’s own SQLcl to open‑source stalwarts like SQuirreL SQL—and broke down release history, core features, and honest pros & cons.
Oracle DBAs and developers often lean on heavy, paid IDEs like Toad or DataGrip. But if budgets are tight—or you just prefer open source—you can still snag a powerful Oracle SQL editor for exactly $0. Below are ten options that cover command‑line warriors, GUI aficionados, and lightweight VS Code extensions.
Oracle SQL Developer remains the vendor‑blessed GUI for schema design, PL/SQL debugging, and migration to PostgreSQL or MySQL.
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SQLcl is a drop‑in, modern replacement for sqlplus
, boasting inline history, command completion, and Liquibase integration.
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DBeaver CE offers a robust Oracle driver with ER diagrams, data import/export, and SQL formatting.
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SQuirreL’s Swing interface may scream retro, but its Oracle plugin handles PL/SQL, explain plans, and session stats.
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TOra bundles session manager, explain plan, and PL/SQL debugger in a Qt GUI.
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If you live in VS Code, the Oracle DevTools extension adds Database Explorer, SQL worksheet, and PL/SQL debugging.
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The free tier of DbVisualizer supports basic query editing, table browsing, and explain plans for Oracle.
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NetBeans isn’t just a Java IDE—install the Oracle JDBC plugin and gain a basic SQL editor plus ER visualization.
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SQLTools is an agnostic VS Code extension supporting Oracle via community driver.
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APEX’s browser‑based SQL Workshop lets you run queries, build RESTful services, and explore tables inside any APEX workspace—free with Oracle DB XE or ATP.
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Galaxy already delights MySQL and PostgreSQL users with AI‑powered autocompletion, Collections, and granular access control. Our roadmap includes Oracle Database support in 2025, bringing the same speed and context‑aware copilot to PL/SQL aficionados. Stay tuned—and join our waitlist to shape the beta!
No, SQL Developer remains free and fully supported by Oracle in 2025.
SQLcl is a 30 MB CLI tool offering scripting and modern JSON support.
Yes—use read‑only connections and limit privileges; DBeaver simply issues JDBC calls like any other client.