1.1 Overview of PawSQL
PawSQL is an enterprise-grade database performance-tuning platform that covers the entire SQL lifecycle—from development and testing to operations. It delivers:
- Automated query-rewrite optimization
- Smart index recommendation
- Rule-based SQL review for DDL,DDL and DQL
- Continuous monitoring & optimization
It supports all major open sourced and commercial engines (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server), providing developers and enterprises with a one-stop solution for innovative SQL optimization.
A case of optimizing a TPC-H query by PawSQL.
1.2 PawSQL Community Edition
The PawSQL Community Edition is tailored for individual developers and small teams. It offers a permanently free, self-hosted deployment that you can spin up locally or in your private cloud—no external dependencies required. One-click SQL optimization and built-in performance validation come out of the box. This edition supports MySQL and PostgreSQL, and grants each user up to 600 optimization runs per month, easily covering day-to-day development and testing needs.
2. Core Advantages
2.1 Permanent Free-of-Charge & Self-Hosted
- Forever-free: Same core SQL-review and optimization capabilities as our enterprise edition, ideal for long-term use by individuals and small teams.
- Self-hosted deployment: Available via Docker image or binary package for your local server or private cloud—never send your SQL logs or data to the public internet.
- No extra ops overhead: Deploy on any container-ready Linux host (4 GB RAM, 2 CPU), and you’re up and running.
2.2 Industry-Leading SQL Optimization Engine
The Community Edition ships with the exact same optimization core as our enterprise offering, giving you database-expert-level performance tuning.
Three Pillars of the PawSQL Engine
- Advanced Query Rewrites
- Built on our in-house parser and rewrite algorithms
- Performs deep AST-level transformations to produce semantically-equivalent, higher-performance SQL
- Implements commercial-grade logical optimizations (predicate pushdown, projection pushdown), plus cost-based rewrites (subquery unnesting, query folding)
Snapshot on PawSQL
- Smart Index Recommendations
- Proprietary multidimensional algorithm evaluates query patterns, data distribution, and workload characteristics
- Generates optimal index designs and flags redundant or overlapping indexes to reduce storage overhead
Snapshot on PawSQL
- Automated Performance Validation
- End-to-end verification pipeline compares execution plans and performance baselines
- Guarantees that every recommendation delivers measurable gains, with side-by-side visual plan comparisons
2.3 IDE Plugin Integration
PawSQL Community Edition integrates with popular IDEs—JetBrains (IntelliJ IDEA, DataGrip) and Visual Studio Code—so you can optimize your SQL with a single click, right in your editor.
3. Getting Started
3.1 Prerequisites
- Docker
- Linux or Windows host with ≥4 GB RAM, 2 vCPU
3.2 Deployment Steps
- Pull the image:
docker pull pawsql/pawsql-ce:latest
- Activate your instance: Visit https://pawsql.com/ce-activate and enter your activation code.
- Run the container:
docker run -d --name pawsql-ce \
-e activation_code=<yourCode> \
-e activation_email=<yourEmail> \
-e service_url=http://localhost:8080 \
-p 8080:80 pawsql/pawsql-ce:latest
- Access the UI at http://localhost:8080 (or adjust
service_url
as needed).
You’re now ready to optimize your SQL workloads with PawSQL Community Edition!
4. PawSQL Community Edition vs. EverSQL
Feature | PawSQL Community Edition | EverSQL Free Tier | EverSQL Starter |
---|---|---|---|
Monthly quota | 600 runs | 1 run | 10 runs |
Self-hosting | Supported | Not supported | Not supported |
Index advice | Yes (with redundancy checks) | Yes | Yes |
Query rewriting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Performance validation | Yes | No | No |
Cost | Free | Free | \$129/month |
5. PawSQL Editions
- Community Edition: Free, self-hosted, core optimization features
- Enterprise Edition: Full-suite SQL performance and quality management for large organizations
- Cloud Edition: Hosted SaaS with advanced monitoring, team collaboration, and auto-scaling
Conclusion
With the launch of PawSQL Community Edition, we’re making enterprise-grade SQL optimization accessible to every developer. By offering a free, full-featured, self-hosted solution, PawSQL lowers the barrier to performance tuning and empowers more teams to build high-speed, reliable applications.
Reference 1: https://www.pawsql.com/community
Reference 2: https://hub.docker.com/r/pawsql/pawsql-ce