ERDism beta

What ERDism is

Updated 2026-10-30

ERDism is where a team keeps its database schema. Everyone who works with the database reads the same live schema, every change to it is recorded, and changes are reviewed before they are published.

Most teams design a schema once and then move on. The diagram drifts, the SQL in the repository becomes the only thing anyone trusts, and the question "what is this column, and who changed it?" goes to whoever has been around longest. ERDism is built for the years after the first design, while the service is live and the schema keeps changing.

Why teams keep it open

  • To understand the schema. Backend developers, QA, PMs, and new hires read the same tables, columns, keys, and relationships. A project can have several diagrams over the same tables, so each team sees the part it works on. Each table has doc pages you write in Markdown, kept with the table rather than in a separate wiki.
  • To see what changed. Every change is recorded on the project timeline, with who made it and when. Deletes and restores are on the timeline too. Undo and Redo act only on your own changes, and they reach every diagram in the project, not just the one you are looking at.
  • To control what is published. SQL blocks carry an approval state. A teammate approves or rejects them, and only approved SQL is published. Each publish is kept as a recorded version you can export.

What you can do today

  • Edit the schema three ways. Write the CREATE TABLE SQL, work on the canvas, or edit properties. They are three views of one model, so a change in one shows up in the others.
  • Import the schema you already run. Paste SQL or upload a file, see what it would change, and choose which tables land on which diagram before anything is applied. Clauses ERDism does not model are kept as written.
  • Check against your database version. Pick MySQL or MariaDB and a version. Types and features that version does not support are flagged as issues before you publish.
  • Work as a team. Invite members to a workspace and set their role. While someone is editing a table, everyone else sees it is taken.

What it does not do yet

We would rather tell you this here than have you find out after signing up.

  • MySQL and MariaDB only. Other engines are not supported. The SQL editor, the type catalog, and the import validator are all built on the MySQL family.
  • Publishing produces the full schema, not a migration. A published version is the complete CREATE TABLE SQL. ERDism does not yet write ALTER statements between two versions.
  • No reading back from a live database. Changes made directly in your database or by your migration tool are not picked up. You bring them in by importing the SQL again.
  • No code generation. ERDism does not produce or read application code.
  • No simultaneous editing of one table. Two people can work in the same project at the same time, but a table or SQL block is held by whoever is editing it until they move on.

Where to go next

How it works walks through a project from an empty diagram to a published version. Release notes lists what has changed and when.