I need recommendations for collaborative database schema design tools that support multiple users working together.
My team is building a MySQL database and we need a way to design the schema collaboratively. The tool should allow several people to work on the same schema at once and keep track of changes over time.
Right now we’re using Google Docs and spreadsheets to plan our database structure, but it’s getting messy. We have to manually draw relationships between tables and it’s hard to keep everything organized.
I found some standalone schema designers that work well for single users, but nothing that handles team collaboration properly. We really need something that can track who made what changes and when.
Has anyone used Google Sheets effectively for this kind of work? Maybe there are some plugins or creative ways to make it work better for database design. Or are there dedicated tools specifically made for team-based schema planning?
Any suggestions would be helpful. We’re open to both free and paid solutions as long as they support real collaboration features.
Went through this same thing two years ago when we were scaling. We picked draw.io (now diagrams.net) and hooked it up to our Google Workspace. The collaboration stuff works great and handles database ERDs no problem. Changes sync instantly and there’s solid revision history. Zero learning curve - everyone already knows basic diagramming. We tested a bunch of dedicated database design platforms but they were either too pricey or way too complicated. MySQL export works fine and you can embed diagrams straight into Confluence or whatever docs you’re using. Only thing missing is the fancy auto-relationship detection from premium tools, but honestly the simplicity has been better than having all those bells and whistles.
lucidchart’s awesome! my team switched to it from docs and it’s way smoother for db design. real-time collab is super handy, plus you can see who made what changes. beats the messy sheets anyday!
We hit this same issue six months ago when our team jumped from two to six developers. Tried a bunch of tools and landed on dbdiagram.io - it’s been a total game changer. The interface is clean and intuitive, and multiple people can work on it at once without stepping on each other’s toes. What sold us was the version control - it automatically tracks every change with timestamps and shows who made what edits. Export options are solid too, including SQL scripts for MySQL. Free tier handles basic collaboration just fine, but we upgraded for better sharing features and priority support. Best part? New team members pick it up way faster than our old hack job with shared docs.