Adminer Review, Pricing & Features

Free, open-source, single-file PHP database management tool supporting MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MS SQL, Oracle, and more.

Category
Databases
Pricing
Free (open source), from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 18, 2026
Founded
2007
Web AppOpen SourceSelf-Hosted

Overview

Adminer is a free, open-source database management tool created by developer Jakub Vrána and first released in 2007 as a lightweight alternative to phpMyAdmin. Its defining feature is that the entire application ships as a single PHP file.

Because it requires no separate install process beyond uploading that file to a PHP-enabled server, Adminer is especially portable and easy to deploy on shared hosting or alongside other web applications.

Key Features

Adminer supports browsing and editing table structures and data, running raw SQL commands, exporting databases, and managing indexes, foreign keys, views, stored procedures, triggers, and user/rights management.

It natively supports MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MS SQL, Oracle, and CockroachDB, with plugin-based support for additional systems like MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, and Firebird.

Deployment

Adminer runs on any server with PHP 5.3+ and sessions enabled. Community-maintained packages make it easy to deploy via Docker, Debian, WordPress, Drupal, and other platforms.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Extremely lightweight and portable as a single PHP file
  • Free and open source under Apache 2.0 / GPL 2 dual license
  • Broad database support, including through plugins
  • Actively maintained with regular releases

Cons

  • Requires a PHP server environment to run
  • Less feature-rich UI than dedicated desktop database clients
  • Care is needed when exposing it on a public-facing server, as with any web-based DB admin tool

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Adminer free?

Yes, Adminer is free and open source, licensed under Apache 2.0 / GPL 2, for both commercial and non-commercial use.

What databases does Adminer support?

It natively supports MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MS SQL, Oracle, and CockroachDB, with plugins for others like MongoDB and Redis.

How is Adminer installed?

It's a single PHP file that you upload to any PHP-enabled server; no separate installation process is required.

How does Adminer compare to phpMyAdmin?

Adminer was created as a lighter-weight, single-file alternative to phpMyAdmin, supporting more database engines out of the box.

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