Rapid Database Frontend Tools

Tool Name URL UI Type License Databases Supported Suitable to Run on a PI 5 Cloud Version Self Hostable
Adminer https://www.adminer.org Server-rendered web UI Apache 2.0 MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite Yes (very lightweight) No Yes
phpMyAdmin https://www.phpmyadmin.net Server-rendered web UI GPL v2 MariaDB Yes No Yes
pgAdmin 4 https://www.pgadmin.org Web UI (Python/JS) PostgreSQL License PostgreSQL Yes (moderate footprint) No Yes
DBeaver CE https://dbeaver.io Desktop GUI Apache 2.0 MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, DuckDB Yes (desktop) No Yes
Metabase https://www.metabase.com Web dashboard / query UI AGPL / Commercial MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite Yes (needs JVM) Yes Yes
Supabase Studio https://supabase.com Web admin UI Apache 2.0 PostgreSQL Yes (Docker) Yes Yes
Directus https://directus.io Headless admin UI GPL v3 / Commercial MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite Yes Yes Yes
NocoDB https://nocodb.com Spreadsheet-style UI AGPL v3 MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite Yes Yes Yes
Hasura Console https://hasura.io GraphQL admin UI Apache 2.0 PostgreSQL Yes Yes Yes
Retool (Self-Hosted) https://retool.com Low-code UI builder Commercial MariaDB, PostgreSQL Maybe (resource heavy) Yes Yes
Appsmith https://www.appsmith.com Low-code UI builder Apache 2.0 MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite Yes Yes Yes
Baserow https://baserow.io Spreadsheet-like UI MIT / Commercial PostgreSQL Yes Yes Yes
DuckDB CLI / UI https://duckdb.org CLI / minimal UI MIT DuckDB Yes No Yes
Lightdash https://lightdash.com Analytics UI Apache 2.0 PostgreSQL Yes Yes Yes

Rapid Database Frontends (MariaDB, PostgreSQL, DuckDB, SQLite3)

The following table focuses on "rapid" frontends—tools that allow you to connect an existing database and immediately get a user interface (Admin Panel, Spreadsheet View, or Internal App) without extensive coding.

Note: DuckDB support is the primary differentiator here. While most tools support MariaDB/Postgres/SQLite, DuckDB (being an OLAP/Analytics DB) is supported by fewer general-purpose CRUD tools and is best handled by DbGate, CloudBeaver, or Metabase.

Tool Name URL UI Type License Databases Supported Suitable to Run on a PI 5 Cloud Version Self Hostable
CloudBeaver dbeaver.com Web DB Admin Apache 2.0 All (MariaDB, Postgres, DuckDB, SQLite) Yes (Docker ARM64) No (Ent only) Yes
DbGate dbgate.io Modern Admin MIT All (MariaDB, Postgres, DuckDB, SQLite) Yes (Lightweight) No Yes
NocoDB nocodb.com Spreadsheet / Airtable-like AGPLv3 MariaDB, Postgres, SQLite Yes (Node.js) Yes Yes
Directus directus.io Headless CMS / App Framework BSL 1.1 MariaDB, Postgres, SQLite Yes (Docker) Yes Yes
Metabase metabase.com BI / Dashboards AGPL All (DuckDB via driver) Yes (Java heavy, rec. 8GB) Yes Yes
Budibase budibase.com Internal Tool / Low Code GPL v3 MariaDB, Postgres, SQLite Yes Yes Yes
Appsmith appsmith.com Internal Tool / Low Code Apache 2.0 MariaDB, Postgres Yes (Heavy, rec. 8GB) Yes Yes
Baserow baserow.io Spreadsheet / Database MIT Postgres, MariaDB Yes Yes Yes
Evidence evidence.dev BI as Code (Markdown) MIT All (Strong DuckDB support) Yes Yes Yes

Key Takeaways for Raspberry Pi 5 Usage

Quick PI-5-Friendly Picks (Opinionated)

If you want, I can: