Calíope is a SwiftUI-native MariaDB and MySQL client for macOS and iPad — the only one with desktop widgets, Home Screen widgets, a schema-aware AI assistant, and iCloud-synced connection profiles. One subscription, both platforms, $34.99 a year.
We're not trying to support every database engine on Earth. We focus on MariaDB and MySQL, and we build the parts the Apple ecosystem expects but no one else delivers.
The only MariaDB or MySQL client with widgets on every Apple surface:
3 sizes on macOS desktop, 4 sizes on iPad Home Screen (incl. Extra Large),
and 3 iPad Lock Screen accessories (Rectangular, Circular, Inline).
Live Threads_connected, QPS, InnoDB hit rate and uptime — no app launch required.
Ask in plain English. The assistant sends the active database's tables, columns and foreign keys as context to OpenAI, Google Gemini, or Anthropic Claude, so the SQL it returns is runnable against your data — not a hypothetical schema.
Unique among native clientsSequel Ace has no iPad. TablePlus treats it as a second-class device. Calíope's iPad app is 100% SwiftUI — DDL Hint Bar, drag gestures, Extra Large widgets and AppIntents for Siri.
UniqueVerified July 2026. Subscription prices for the MariaDB / MySQL-targeted SKU of each vendor.
| Product | Price | Platforms | iPad native | Widgets | AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calíope | $34.99 / year | macOS + iPad | Yes | Mac + iPad + Lock Screen | Yes — BYOK (OpenAI, Gemini, Claude) |
| TablePlus | $99 perpetual + $39–49/yr updates | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS | Minimal iOS app | No | Yes — BYOK (v6.6.4+) |
| Sequel Ace | Free (MIT) | macOS only | No | No | No |
| Navicat for MySQL | $799.99 / year | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS | Separate basic app | No | Add-on |
| DBeaver Lite | $113 / year | macOS, Windows, Linux (Java) | No | No | Yes — AI assistant |
| DB Pilot | $79 one-time (BYOK) or $20 / mo | macOS only (Swift) | No | No | Yes — BYOK (OpenAI only) |
| Beekeeper Ultimate | ~$7 / mo (Electron) | macOS, Windows, Linux | No | No | Yes — AI Shell BYOK |
| DB Compass (iPad) | Freemium + Pro IAP | iPad only | Yes | iPad only (chart widgets) | Yes — query scripts |
| SQLPro Studio | Subscription / lifetime | macOS, iPadOS, Windows | Touch-adapted | No | No |
Calíope ships with the same depth you'd expect from a premium desktop client — plus the parts only Apple platforms make possible.
DELETE/UPDATE without WHEREStrictHostKeyCheckingALTER scriptcaliope://server/<uuid>): tap widget → dashboard.sql files from FinderThese are the actual workspace tabs shipped in Calíope — not a marketing tour. Every one is native SwiftUI, works on macOS and iPad, and opens as a dedicated tab you can pin, reorder or close.
Schema-aware autocomplete, SQL linter, formatter and multi-statement Player that runs the whole script or steps through it one query at a time.
Live server pulse: Threads_connected, QPS, InnoDB buffer pool hit rate, uptime and slow queries per second, polled at your chosen interval.
Plain-English prompts against the active database's schema. Bring your own OpenAI, Gemini, or Anthropic Claude key; only metadata leaves the app — never rows or credentials.
Full database → table → column tree with dedicated tabs for indexes, foreign keys, views, routines, triggers and events.
Visual constructor: drag tables to a canvas, pick columns and WHERE conditions, and watch the SQL preview update as you build.
Global and session variables, live status counters and HDD usage — all browseable in one panel with a filter box on top of every list.
Running threads with filters, guided KILL QUERY / KILL CONNECTION and bulk kill of idle or busy sessions — with confirmation before every destructive action.
Custom health checks: define SQL probes, thresholds and operators, and get alerted when a metric crosses the line — long before your dashboard notices.
Granular selection of databases, tables, views and routines. Daily or weekly scheduler with retention rules and optional gzip compression.
Create and modify users, manage grants by scope and switch auth plugins — no more hand-writing GRANT / REVOKE by memory. Identifiers escaped end-to-end.
Run CHECK, REPAIR, OPTIMIZE and ANALYZE across a multi-selection, with progress and per-table error reporting.
Copy tables, views, triggers, events and stored procedures between two connected servers — without mysqldump | mysql.
Interactive relational diagram with draggable tables, editable foreign keys and PNG / PDF export. Understand a legacy schema in thirty seconds.
Compare two schemas side by side and generate the ALTER script that reconciles them. Sync staging with production without hand-writing migrations.
Master / replica state, replication lag and binlog coordinates, refreshed in real time — spot a stalled slave without SSHing into the box.
Read and filter binary log events without shelling into the server. Follow row-level changes, transactions and GTIDs from macOS or iPad.
Reusable SQL library grouped by engine (MariaDB / MySQL) with one-shot seeding of built-in defaults per engine. Categorized, searchable, and synced across every Mac and iPad on your Apple ID.
Persistent history of every executed query in local SQLite — searchable, filterable, exportable, and with opt-in iCloud sync.
Configurable alerts on server metrics — Calíope pings you before your external monitoring does. Runs in the background across sessions.
Two more contextual tools — Table Builder (visual create/alter) and Visual EXPLAIN (query plan viewer) — open in-line from Catalogs and the SQL Editor.
These are the same screenshots reviewed and approved by Apple. Every window is native SwiftUI — no web views, no cross-platform emulation.
Calíope's widget shows live metrics from your pinned profile — 3 sizes on macOS desktop, 4 sizes on iPad Home Screen and 3 iPad Lock Screen accessories. Tap the widget to jump straight to the dashboard of the right server.
Calíope sends table names, columns, and foreign keys of the active database to your chosen provider so the SQL it returns runs against your data, not a guess.
SELECT u.id, u.email, COUNT(o.id) AS total_orders, SUM(o.amount) AS total_amount FROM users u JOIN orders o ON o.user_id = u.id WHERE o.created_at >= DATE_SUB(NOW(), INTERVAL 30 DAY) GROUP BY u.id, u.email ORDER BY total_orders DESC LIMIT 5;
A full security audit was performed in July 2026. Identifiers are escaped centrally, TLS verifies by default, and the keychain stays local unless you say otherwise.
Native SSH tunnel with ed25519 and ECDSA P-256/384/521. No dependency on system ssh. Decrypted keys never written to disk.
The host fingerprint is stored in Keychain on first connection. If it changes, Calíope refuses to connect — same behavior as OpenSSH's StrictHostKeyChecking=yes.
When you enable SSL, certificate chain is fully verified by default against system trust roots. Accepting unverified certs requires an explicit, warned-toggle.
Database passwords stay on the device by default. iCloud Keychain sync is a deliberate choice, not an automatic side effect of using iCloud.
Values travel as native MySQLNIO prepared-statement bindings — never concatenated into the SQL. Identifiers (database, table, column names) flow through a centralized escape helper, so a malicious object name in the schema can't break out into your queries either.
A single button wipes profiles, Keychain entries, query log, snippets and widget cache. GDPR Article 17, in one tap.
Use Calíope on every Mac and iPad signed into your Apple ID. Cancel any time from the App Store.
Nineteen top-level workspace tools — each opens as a dedicated tab you can pin, reorder or close: SQL Editor, Dashboard, AI Assistant, Catalogs, Query Builder, Server Info, Process List, Connection Monitor, Backup, User Admin, Table Maintenance, Object Migration, ER Diagram, Schema Diff, Replication Monitor, Binlog Viewer, Snippets, Query Log, and Server Health Monitor. Two more — Table Builder and Visual EXPLAIN — open contextually from Catalogs and the SQL Editor. See the full inventory.
Not today — Calíope is a specialized client for MariaDB and MySQL, and that's where we put all of our depth. PostgreSQL is currently listed as Under consideration on our public roadmap: it's not committed work, but if enough customers ask for it we'll prioritize it in a future version. If you'd like to see it, send us a feature request — every request counts toward that decision. In the meantime, if you need a Swiss Army knife across engines, TablePlus or DBeaver are excellent alternatives.
The current Calíope is Mac and iPad only — its value is the deep integration with macOS, iPadOS, widgets, AppIntents, Keychain and iCloud, which a cross-platform port would lose. If you need Windows or Linux, the older Qt-based Calíope is still available as an unmaintained archive on the Legacy Qt builds page.
Your local data (profiles, query log, snippets) stays on your device. If you also want to erase it, use Preferences → Privacy → Erase all my data. iCloud-synced metadata can be managed from iCloud Settings.
Only if you turn on optional features. The query log is local by default. iCloud sync of the query log is opt-in with a clear warning that literal query text travels to your private iCloud. The AI assistant only sends what you type plus schema metadata — never row data or credentials.
No. The AI assistant is one of many features. If you don't configure an API key (OpenAI, Gemini, or Anthropic Claude), every other capability works as expected.
Yes — Calíope is built and audited for daily professional use. SSH tunnel, TLS verification, biometric auth, DDL audit log and the SQL linter exist precisely for that scenario. Subscriptions are per Apple ID; for team licensing, please contact us.
MariaDB 10.2.3 or newer, MySQL 5.7.5 or newer. Older versions
lack the CLIENT_DEPRECATE_EOF protocol flag that Calíope relies on.
