10 Best Database Migration Tools (2026)

Database migrations are the kind of thing nobody thinks about until they go wrong. Then you're staring at a production database with a half-applied schema change at 2 AM, trying to figure out if you can roll back without losing the last four hours of customer data.

The tooling has gotten significantly better in the past two years. But it's also gotten more complicated. Flyway changed its licensing. Liquibase switched to the Functional Source License. Cloud providers launched managed migration services that work great within their ecosystem and terribly outside it. And a new generation of declarative tools (Atlas, Bytebase) is challenging the whole concept of writing migration scripts manually.

Here's what I've found works -- and what doesn't -- across different stack sizes and team structures.

Quick comparison

1. Flyway

Flyway has been the default migration tool for Java teams for over a decade. It's simple: you write numbered SQL files (V1__create_users.sql, V2__add_email_column.sql), Flyway tracks what's been applied, and runs what hasn't. That simplicity is its greatest strength.

The licensing situation got messy in 2025. Redgate (Flyway's owner) discontinued the Teams tier for new customers and pushed everyone toward Enterprise. The Community Edition remains free and open-source under Apache 2.0, but it's limited -- no undo migrations, no dry runs, no Oracle/SQL Server support in the free version. Teams/Enterprise pricing starts around $915/year for 10 schemas.

For teams using PostgreSQL or MySQL with straightforward schema changes, Community Flyway is still excellent. It integrates with Maven, Gradle, Spring Boot, and every CI/CD system. The learning curve is essentially zero if you can write SQL.

Where Flyway struggles: complex rollback scenarios, team collaboration (no merge conflict detection), and anything beyond relational databases. If your team frequently deals with competing migration branches, look at Liquibase or Atlas instead.

2. Liquibase

Liquibase takes a different approach: instead of raw SQL, you define changes in XML, YAML, JSON, or SQL "changelogs." This abstraction layer means one changelog can theoretically work across PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and SQL Server. In practice, database-specific SQL still creeps in, but the multi-database support is real and useful for enterprise environments.

Liquibase switched to the Functional Source License (FSL) with version 5.0 in 2025. The OSS edition is free for production use but restricts some features. Pro starts at $1,259/target/year and adds rollback, drift detection, and policy checks.

The standout feature is the diff command. Point Liquibase at two databases and it generates the changelog needed to make them match. This is invaluable for environments where someone made manual schema changes in production (don't pretend it doesn't happen).

The downside is complexity. Liquibase's XML changelogs are verbose and error-prone. The documentation is extensive but disorganized. And the Java dependency means even Node.js or Python teams need JVM on their build servers. If you're running multiple database types in production, Liquibase handles that better than anything else. If you're running one PostgreSQL instance, it's overkill.

3. Prisma Migrate

Prisma Migrate is tightly integrated with the Prisma ORM for Node.js and TypeScript. You define your schema in Prisma's declarative format, run prisma migrate dev, and it generates the SQL migration files. You get the readability of a declarative schema with the predictability of versioned SQL.

Prisma ORM 7.0 (released 2025) was a major rewrite: the Rust-based query engine was removed in favor of pure JavaScript/TypeScript. This cut cold start times dramatically (important for serverless) and simplified the build process. The ORM now uses driver adapters, connecting directly through pg, mysql2, or @libsql/client.

Prisma Migrate is free and open-source. Prisma also offers Prisma Postgres (a managed database starting at $0/mo with usage-based pricing) and Prisma Optimize for query analysis.

The limitation is ecosystem lock-in. Prisma Migrate only works within the Prisma ORM. If you later switch to Drizzle, Knex, or raw SQL, your migrations don't come with you. Also, Prisma's migration workflow assumes a single source of truth (the schema file), which doesn't work well when multiple teams need independent schema changes.

4. Atlas

Atlas is the most interesting newcomer. Built by Ariga, it takes a declarative approach inspired by Terraform: you define your desired schema state in HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language), and Atlas computes the migration plan to get there. No more writing individual migration files by hand.

But Atlas is flexible. You can also use it in versioned mode with traditional migration files, or mix both approaches. It supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, SQL Server, and ClickHouse. The atlas schema diff command is exceptional -- it compares any two schema sources (live database, HCL file, SQL file, ORM schema) and generates the migration.

The open-source edition is free under Apache 2.0. Atlas Cloud (the managed service) starts at $100/month with CI/CD integration, schema visualization, and team collaboration. Atlas also integrates with Kubernetes via SchemaHero-style CRDs.

Why I'm bullish on Atlas: it eliminates the manual step of writing migration SQL while preserving the auditability of versioned migrations. The "plan, review, apply" workflow feels like the future of schema management.

5. AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

AWS DMS is specifically designed for migrating databases to AWS -- not for ongoing schema management. If you're moving from an on-premise Oracle database to Amazon RDS PostgreSQL, or from a self-hosted MySQL to Aurora, DMS handles the heavy lifting including continuous replication during cutover.

Pricing is usage-based. A replication instance starts at about $0.018/hour (t3.micro), but real migrations typically use larger instances at $0.15-$0.50/hour. Data transfer within AWS is free; incoming data from outside AWS is also free. You pay for the compute time.

DMS supports 20+ source/target combinations and handles schema conversion through the AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT). For heterogeneous migrations (Oracle to PostgreSQL, SQL Server to MySQL), SCT converts stored procedures, views, and functions -- though it typically handles 80-90% automatically, leaving the rest for manual work.

The limitation: DMS is an AWS product. It works well for migrations into AWS. It doesn't work for GCP, Azure, or on-premise targets. And it's a migration tool, not a day-to-day schema management tool. Once your data is in AWS, you'll still need Flyway, Liquibase, or Prisma for ongoing schema changes.

6. Azure Database Migration Service

Azure's DMS is free as part of your Azure subscription and supports migrations to Azure SQL Database, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Azure Cosmos DB. It handles both online (minimal downtime) and offline migrations.

The service is tightly integrated with Azure Data Studio, which provides a graphical migration wizard. For SQL Server to Azure SQL migrations specifically, the tooling is mature and reliable. Cross-platform migrations (Oracle to Azure PostgreSQL, for instance) require more manual work.

Like AWS DMS, this is a one-time migration tool, not ongoing schema management. Use it for the move to Azure, then switch to Flyway or Liquibase for daily development.

7. Google Database Migration Service

Google's DMS is the newest of the cloud migration services and currently supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and AlloyDB as targets. The migration itself is free -- you only pay for the destination Cloud SQL or AlloyDB instance.

Google's approach emphasizes continuous replication. You can keep source and target databases in sync indefinitely, which makes cutover planning more flexible. The service also integrates with Datastream for real-time change data capture (CDC).

The scope is narrower than AWS DMS. Fewer source databases are supported, and heterogeneous migrations (Oracle to PostgreSQL) require Striim or similar third-party tools. If you're already on GCP, it's the obvious choice. If you're evaluating cloud providers, AWS DMS supports more scenarios.

8. golang-migrate

golang-migrate is the standard migration library for Go projects. It's a CLI tool and Go library that runs versioned SQL migrations against any supported database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, CockroachDB, and 15+ others via database drivers).

It's free and open-source under the MIT license. The API is minimal: create a migration, run up/down, and check version. That simplicity is the point -- if you want a migration tool that does exactly one thing and does it well, golang-migrate delivers.

The tool supports multiple migration sources (filesystem, GitHub, AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage) and can be embedded directly in your Go application. For Go microservices that each own their database, golang-migrate is the natural choice.

No GUI, no team features, no drift detection. It's a command-line tool for developers who prefer working in the terminal. If you need collaboration features or a web interface, look at Bytebase.

9. Bytebase

Bytebase is the odd one out. It's not a migration library you add to your project; it's a full web platform for database change management. Think of it as a "GitHub for database changes" -- developers submit schema changes through a web UI, DBAs review and approve them, and Bytebase handles the deployment.

The free Community plan covers 1 instance with core features. Pro is $150/instance/month and adds approval workflows, RBAC, slow query analysis, and audit logs. Enterprise adds SSO, custom approval policies, and data masking.

For teams where developers can't (or shouldn't) run migrations directly against production, Bytebase fills a real gap. It supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MongoDB, Redis, Snowflake, and more. The SQL review engine catches common mistakes (missing indexes, dangerous ALTER statements) before they hit production.

The tradeoff: Bytebase adds process overhead. If your team ships fast and trusts developers to manage their own migrations, it'll feel heavy. If you've been burned by a bad migration in production and want guardrails, it's exactly what you need.

10. Alembic

Alembic is the migration tool for Python projects using SQLAlchemy. It generates migration scripts from your SQLAlchemy models, supports auto-generation of migrations, and handles both upgrade and downgrade paths.

It's free and open-source. The autogenerate feature compares your models to the database and produces migration code automatically, though you should always review it before applying. Alembic handles branching (parallel migration paths) better than most tools, which is useful for teams with multiple active branches.

The weakness is the same as Prisma Migrate: ecosystem lock-in. Alembic is inseparable from SQLAlchemy. If you switch ORMs or languages, you leave your migration infrastructure behind. For Python shops committed to SQLAlchemy, Alembic is the obvious and correct choice.

How to choose

Single database, small team: Flyway (Java), Prisma Migrate (Node.js), golang-migrate (Go), or Alembic (Python). Pick the tool that matches your language.

Multiple databases or database types: Liquibase or Atlas. Both handle multi-database environments; Atlas is newer but more intuitive.

Moving to the cloud: Use your target cloud's DMS for the migration itself, then adopt a code-level tool for ongoing schema management.

Regulated environment or large team: Bytebase for approval workflows and audit trails. Or Liquibase Pro for drift detection and policy enforcement.

Want declarative (no manual SQL): Atlas or Prisma Migrate. Both let you define the target state and compute the migration automatically.

FAQ

Should I use declarative or versioned migrations?
Versioned migrations (Flyway, Liquibase) give you explicit control over every SQL statement. Declarative tools (Atlas, Prisma) compute the SQL for you. For small schemas with a few developers, declarative is faster. For complex schemas with many contributors, versioned migrations provide more predictability.

Is it safe to use auto-generated migrations in production?
Always review them first. Tools like Prisma and Alembic do a good job, but they can miss nuances -- like whether a column rename should be a rename or a drop+create. Auto-generate the migration, read the SQL, then apply it.

What happens if a migration fails halfway through?
Most tools support transactional migrations for databases that allow DDL in transactions (PostgreSQL). MySQL doesn't support transactional DDL, so a failed migration can leave your schema in a partially applied state. Always test migrations against a copy of production first.

How do I handle data migrations alongside schema changes?
Keep schema and data migrations separate. Schema changes should be reversible; data transformations often aren't. Tools like Flyway and Liquibase support callback hooks for data migrations, but the best practice is to run them as distinct steps in your deployment pipeline.

The right migration tool is the one your team will actually use consistently. A simple tool used properly beats a sophisticated tool used sporadically. Start with whatever matches your tech stack and add complexity only when you hit real problems.