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Comparison

Inlet vs pgAdmin

pgAdmin 4 is the free, open-source PostgreSQL administration tool, with a web interface that runs on a server or as a desktop app on Windows, macOS and Linux. Inlet is a free native Mac app for PostgreSQL and four other engines; it’s new and covers less of PostgreSQL’s admin surface, but it’s built for day-to-day work on a Mac.

Updated 9 October 2026

In short

pgAdmin 4 is a free, open-source administration and development tool for PostgreSQL, released under the PostgreSQL licence. It’s a Python web application: you can run it on a server and use it from a browser, or install the desktop version, which wraps the same server and interface in Electron. Version 9.18 came out in September 2026 and supports macOS 14, 15 and 26.

Inlet is a free native Mac app for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite and MongoDB. It’s new (version 0.1) and needs macOS 26 Tahoe or later. If you want a pgAdmin alternative for Mac for everyday browsing, editing and querying, Inlet is built for that. For the full breadth of PostgreSQL administration, a PL/pgSQL debugger or a shared web install, pgAdmin does more.

At a glance

As of October 2026, from pgadmin.org and the pgAdmin 4 documentation.

InletpgAdmin 4
PriceFree: no account, no trialFree
LicenceFree to useOpen source, PostgreSQL licence
PlatformsmacOS 26 Tahoe or later (Apple silicon and Intel)Windows, macOS 14, 15 and 26 (Apple silicon and Intel), Linux; server mode in a browser; container image
Built withSwift (SwiftUI and AppKit)Python (Flask) server with a web interface; Electron for the desktop app
EnginesPostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, MongoDBPostgreSQL
SSH tunnelsThrough the system ssh: ~/.ssh/config, SSH agent, 1Password agentBuilt in, with a password or an identity file
Production safetyProduction-tagged connections open read-only; destructive statements ask you to type the table’s nameServer colours; no read-only option in the server dialog
Admin toolsEXPLAIN tree, Activity monitor, roles and grants, health check, schema compare, ER diagram, backupsGraphical EXPLAIN, dashboard, Grant Wizard, Schema Diff, ERD Tool, backups, PL/pgSQL debugger, pgAgent jobs, PSQL Tool
AIOptional, Anthropic key; sends schema and SQL, never rowsOptional AI Reports with Anthropic, OpenAI, Ollama or Docker Model Runner

Where pgAdmin is stronger

  • All of PostgreSQL. pgAdmin aims to let you create, browse and maintain every PostgreSQL object through its interface, and has done so for many years. Inlet covers the common objects (tables, indexes, constraints, extensions, functions, types, sequences, partitions) but not everything.
  • Tools Inlet doesn’t have. A debugger for PL/pgSQL functions, pgAgent job scheduling, a PSQL Tool inside the app, and AI Reports that review security, performance and schema design.
  • Windows, Linux and the browser. pgAdmin runs on all three desktop systems, or as a web server that several people can use, with servers shared between users. Inlet is Mac-only and has no team sharing.
  • Older Macs. pgAdmin supports macOS 14 and 15 as well as 26. Inlet needs macOS 26 Tahoe.
  • Open source, with a long history. The code is open under the PostgreSQL licence. Inlet isn’t open source, and at version 0.1 it has a much shorter track record.
  • Local AI. AI Reports can use local models through Ollama or Docker Model Runner, so nothing leaves your machine. Inlet’s Ask Claude uses Anthropic’s API.

Where Inlet is stronger

  • A native Mac app. Inlet is written in Swift with SwiftUI and AppKit. pgAdmin’s desktop app runs a Python server and shows its web interface in an Electron window.
  • SSH the way your Terminal does it. Inlet runs tunnels through the system ssh, so host aliases in ~/.ssh/config, the SSH agent and the 1Password agent work. pgAdmin’s tunnel takes a password or an identity file.
  • Read-only production connections. Tag a connection production and it opens read-only: the server refuses writes until you unlock it, for ten minutes. On protected connections, DROP, TRUNCATE, and DELETE or UPDATE without WHERE ask you to type the table’s name. pgAdmin’s server dialog offers colours, but no read-only setting.
  • Other engines. MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite and MongoDB in the same app, so you don’t need a second client for them.

Moving from pgAdmin

Inlet doesn’t read pgAdmin’s server list, but it reads the same password and service files pgAdmin can use:

  • If your servers use a .pgpass password file or a pg_service.conf service, open Inlet’s Welcome window and choose Import Connections › From ~/.pgpass or From ~/.pg_service.conf.
  • Otherwise, choose Connect from URL and paste a URL such as postgres://<user>@<host>:5432/<database>, or fill in New Connection with the host, port, user and maintenance database from pgAdmin’s server dialog.
  • For an SSH tunnel, add it in the connection form. If you already have the host in ~/.ssh/config, use that alias.
  • For TLS, Inlet supports every libpq sslmode, a custom CA file, and a client certificate and key; verify-full checks against the certificates macOS trusts.

Inlet’s backups use its bundled pg_dump and pg_restore, so you don’t need PostgreSQL’s client tools installed to back up or restore.

Which to choose

Choose pgAdmin if you administer PostgreSQL in depth (every object type, PL/pgSQL debugging, pgAgent jobs), need Windows, Linux or a shared web install, run macOS 14 or 15, or want local AI models. It’s free, open source and long-established.

Choose Inlet if you’re on macOS 26 and spend most of your time browsing, editing and querying, want a native Mac app with read-only production connections and SSH that uses your existing setup, or also work with MySQL, SQLite or MongoDB. Both are free, so you can keep pgAdmin for the jobs only it does.

Related

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