Flyway vs Liquibase

Flyway9.4Visit Liquibase9.1Visit

Higher score Flyway #1 in Database Migration Tools 9.4/10 Free plan · 28-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Flyway

vs

Liquibase #3 in Database Migration Tools 9.1/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Liquibase

• Flyway fits best

  Teams needing mature, broad migration automation

• Liquibase fits best

  Governed database delivery with a free tier

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Side by side

Feature	Flyway 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Liquibase 9.1/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	9.1
Ranking	#1 in Database Migration Tools	#3 in Database Migration Tools
Best for	Teams needing mature, broad migration automation	Governed database delivery with a free tier
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Starting price	—	—
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	28 days	—
Deployment	Self-hosted, Desktop	Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Email, Tickets, Community, Docs	Community, Docs · 24/7
Integrations	7 integrations	9 integrations
Built for	Solo, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Flyway 5/5 · Liquibase 5/5
Rollback support	✓	✓
Schema diff	✓	✓
CI/CD automation	✓	✓
Drift detection	✓	✓
Self-hosted option	✓	✓
Specs
Supported databases	Not checked yet	1
Migration format	Mixed	Mixed
Our review
Pros	Free Community edition includes core migration commands, CLI, and API. Supports versioned SQL and Java migrations with rollback workflows. Connects with CI/CD tools, Git, Docker, Maven, and Gradle.	Version-controlled changelogs support SQL, XML, YAML, and JSON Rollback, schema comparison, and drift detection support controlled delivery CI/CD integrations include GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and GitLab CI/CD
Cons	Schema diff and object-level versioning begin with the Teams edition. Drift detection and generated rollback scripts require Enterprise. The broad feature set may exceed the needs of simple migration projects.	Starter supports only one database type Secure tiers use quote-based pricing Advanced security and custom compliance are limited to Enterprise
Our verdict	Flyway is a database change management tool for developers, database teams, and enterprises managing versioned schema changes. It runs migration workflows through commands such as migrate, validate, repair, and baseline, while supporting… Read the review →	Liquibase is a database schema change management tool for developers, database administrators, and delivery teams. It defines changes in SQL, XML, YAML, or JSON changelogs, versions them, deploys them through CI/CD pipelines, and tracks… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Flyway — where it wins

  • Free Community edition includes core migration commands, CLI, and API.
  • Supports versioned SQL and Java migrations with rollback workflows.
  • Connects with CI/CD tools, Git, Docker, Maven, and Gradle.

  Where it doesn't

  • Schema diff and object-level versioning begin with the Teams edition.
  • Drift detection and generated rollback scripts require Enterprise.
  • The broad feature set may exceed the needs of simple migration projects.

• Liquibase — where it wins

  • Version-controlled changelogs support SQL, XML, YAML, and JSON
  • Rollback, schema comparison, and drift detection support controlled delivery
  • CI/CD integrations include GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and GitLab CI/CD

  Where it doesn't

  • Starter supports only one database type
  • Secure tiers use quote-based pricing
  • Advanced security and custom compliance are limited to Enterprise

• Flyway9.4/10 · Free plan · 28-day trial

  A broad migration platform with free core commands and deeper controls in paid editions.

  Visit FlywayFull verdict →
• Liquibase9.1/10 · Free plan

  A governed migration workflow with changelogs, rollback, drift detection, and a free tier.

  Visit LiquibaseFull verdict →