PortBayvsDBngin
DBnginDBngin is a focused tool: a free app from the TablePlus team that launches multiple versions of PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and Redis side by side, natively, with no Docker and no virtual machine. PortBay runs those same engines per project, adds MongoDB, Memcached and SQLite, and brings everything else with it — web server, PHP, Node, HTTPS, real local domains, Mailpit and public tunnels — so your databases are part of your project rather than a separate app you remember to start.
Which one is right for you
You want the full stack, open source.
You want databases that boot with your project, with credentials injected into the project's environment and clean teardown when you remove the project. You want web, mail and tunnels in the same place — not three apps to remember.
It already fits your workflow.
You only need databases. You already use Valet or a hand-rolled stack for the rest, you live in TablePlus, and you want a free utility that does one thing. You are on Windows, where DBngin ships a build and PortBay does not.
Where PortBay and DBngin actually differ
The table below has the row-by-row detail. These are the three shapes it cannot draw: the job you already use one of them for, the job only one of them does, and what survives the move.
PortBay and DBngin overlap on the everyday job: a local site on a real domain, over HTTPS, with the services it needs. If that is all you need, either will do it.
Claude Code
Codex
CursorMove a card to To Do and PortBay launches Claude Code, Codex or Cursor against a project that is already running. DBngin has no board to dispatch from.
Point PortBay at the folders you already have. They stay where they are, .test domains are re-issued on the first run, and databases are imported rather than rebuilt.
Feature by feature
DBngin rows come from DBngin’s own site and docs, on the date below. PortBay rows come from the app’s source. We mark partial support honestly — including where the other side wins.
DBngin facts on this page were last checked against dbngin.com on . Pricing and limits change — check their site before you decide.
Coming from DBngin
PortBay's per-project databases replace DBngin's standalone instances. There is no DBngin importer — you move a database with a standard dump and restore: export from DBngin, create the project in PortBay, and import into the database it provisions. From then on the database boots and shuts down with the project, with credentials injected into the project's environment and cleaned up when you remove the project.
PortBay vs DBngin, in plain terms
Don’t see your question answered here? The docs go deeper — every feature, flag and failure mode.
Read the docsYes for most workflows. PortBay provisions MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB, Memcached and SQLite — 7 engines, per project, with credentials injected into the project's environment. That covers everything DBngin advertises on its site (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and Redis) and adds MongoDB, Memcached and SQLite. DBngin remains the lighter option if a standalone launcher is all you want — and it has a Windows build, which PortBay does not.
Yes. They bind to different default ports per project, so you can keep DBngin running for legacy connections while you migrate. Once your projects are in PortBay, you can stop or remove DBngin.
Yes. PortBay surfaces standard connection strings for every per-project database, so you can open the same database in TablePlus, Sequel Ace, DBeaver or any psql/mysql client — no special driver required.
PortBay is free for up to 6 projects with the full feature set — databases, HTTPS, mail and tunnels. The $10/month Pro plan removes the project limit. DBngin is free because its scope is intentionally limited to launching database engines; PortBay's pitch is replacing the whole local-dev stack.
No. Your DBngin instances stay exactly where they are — PortBay does not touch them. Moving a database means a standard SQL dump out of DBngin and an import into the per-project database PortBay provisions, so you keep both copies until you're satisfied.
Give your projects and your agents a real local home.
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