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Sequel Pro is the first thing you should install if you're administering a MySQL server on a Mac
February 15, 2017

Sequel Pro is the first thing you should install if you're administering a MySQL server on a Mac

Anand Chhatpar | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Sequel Pro

Sequel Pro is my MySQL client of choice. I use it on my Macbook and it is used to administer my databases, both locally and on our servers via an SSH tunnel. The main business problem it solves is to provide a GUI-based client for managing and administration of MySQL databases.
  • Very easy to do backups and restore of MySQL databases using their SQL export function. The function also compresses the output so you can create a .gz file. Multiple formats of export are supported, including CSV and SQL.
  • Connecting to remote databases using SSH tunnels works great with Sequel Pro. It automatically establishes the SSH tunnel to the correct port and logs you in seamlessly.
  • Seeing all currently running queries and all processes on the server is easy with Sequel Pro. It also allows you an auto-refresh option so you can constantly monitor the queries coming in. This is very useful when diagnosing MySQL query bottlenecks for web application databases.
  • I don't see a way in Sequel Pro to easily see and monitor MySQL's MyISAM keybuffer usage and InnoDB's buffer pool usage.
  • The tool currently doesn't help you optimize your MySQL configuration variables. It would be very useful to be able to keep the client open for monitoring a DB server for a long time and then based on query usage, the tool could provide you with optimum variable settings for your server.
  • The Query window that lets you write a SQL query by hand is not particularly smart. It doesn't autocomplete your queries or show you any syntax help or suggestions. When you try to run a bad query, you simply get back the error that MySQL would throw -- Sequel Pro will not help you debug the query.
  • Saves time in connecting to server-side MySQL databases because it remembers key info needed to set up the SSH tunnels.
  • Makes it easy to do backup and restore of MySQL databases with minimum downtime.
  • Provides a quick and easy way to access, review and edit the underlying data in any MySQL database or table using behind any of our company's web applications.
  • SQLyog, MySQL Workbench, Postico and Querious
Sequel Pro has a fully functional free version which is fast and unlimited. None of the others let you get to your data as quickly and directly as Sequel Pro does. With the exception of the default tools provided by MySQL, Sequel Pro is probably the client that remains most up to date to the latest editions of every MySQL server that is released.
Sequel Pro is a great client for MySQL databases used for web applications. If you do development on your local machine, and your local machine is on Mac OS, installing Sequel Pro is a no-brainer first choice. Once you get used to it, you can even use it for administration of server-side databases.
Where I would not recommend using Sequel Pro would be for architecture-level configuration or setting up the structure for new databases. Their interface is not particularly helpful for configuring DB server variables or scanning through server-side logs.