> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bytebase.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What's Bytebase

**Bytebase: The standard for database governance**

Bytebase is the database governance platform, built by the team that previously led the engineering of Google Cloud SQL and Google's API infrastructure.

Databases hold your most sensitive data, yet how they get changed and queried is often the least governed part of the stack. **Database governance** closes that gap. Bytebase solves each problem with a dedicated pillar:

<div style={{ border: '1px solid #DBE0EA', borderRadius: '12px', overflowX: 'auto', margin: '1.5rem 0' }}>
  <table style={{ display: 'table', width: '100%', borderCollapse: 'collapse', margin: 0 }}>
    <thead>
      <tr style={{ background: '#E9EEF9' }}>
        <th style={{ padding: '10px 16px', textAlign: 'left', color: '#0B110F', fontWeight: 600 }}>Problem</th>
        <th style={{ padding: '10px 16px', textAlign: 'left', color: '#0B110F', fontWeight: 600 }}>Solution</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>

    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px' }}>Migrations applied by hand, approvals scattered over tickets and chat, no way back from a bad change</td>
        <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', fontWeight: 600, whiteSpace: 'nowrap' }}>Database Change Management</td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', borderTop: '1px solid #DBE0EA' }}>Credentials shared across SQL clients, no control over who can query what, standing access that never expires</td>
        <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', borderTop: '1px solid #DBE0EA', fontWeight: 600, whiteSpace: 'nowrap' }}>Database Access Control</td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', borderTop: '1px solid #DBE0EA' }}>Can't show the auditor who changed or accessed what, and when</td>
        <td style={{ padding: '12px 16px', borderTop: '1px solid #DBE0EA', fontWeight: 600, whiteSpace: 'nowrap' }}>Database Compliance</td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/dbx/3nvJJ5b10MY7pJ9H/content/docs/what-is-bytebase/house.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=3nvJJ5b10MY7pJ9H&q=85&s=d7761764d8c356af43f7afc55d8a4546" alt="house" width="840" height="496" data-path="content/docs/what-is-bytebase/house.svg" />

To deliver the three pillars, Bytebase acts as a single control plane between your users — humans and AI agents — and your databases. Every change and query routes through one place, where policies are enforced and every action is recorded.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/dbx/f3FN3s-uhcfmYJQg/content/docs/what-is-bytebase/middleware.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=f3FN3s-uhcfmYJQg&q=85&s=ea1769daaad9fdea4cbc8a26edf1fe21" alt="middleware" width="840" height="300" data-path="content/docs/what-is-bytebase/middleware.svg" />

AI agents are governed like human users: each connects with its own identity, over the API or an MCP server, and inherits the same access controls, data masking, and audit trail.

## Database Change Management

Governs how schema and data changes reach your databases, eliminating the need for engineers to make direct changes against them. Every change becomes a reviewed, approved, and recorded rollout. Learn more in [Database CI/CD](/change-database/change-workflow).

* **Automated SQL review**: Lint every proposed change against [100+ review rules](/sql-review/review-rules) before a human ever looks at it.
* **Risk-based approval flows**: Route changes through [multi-step approvals](/change-database/approval) scaled to their risk and target environment.
* **UI-driven or GitOps workflow**: Manage changes from the console, or entirely as code via [GitOps](/gitops/overview) with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps.
* **Fleet-wide batch changes**: Apply one change across a collection of databases in a single [coordinated workflow](/change-database/batch-change).
* **1-click rollback**: Recover instantly from unintended UPDATE or DELETE statements with [data rollback](/change-database/rollback-data-changes).

## Database Access Control

Governs who can query what data, replacing disparate SQL clients and shared credentials. Explore the full capabilities in the [SQL Editor](/sql-editor/overview) section.

* **Centralized permissions**: Grant query and export access [by role](/security/database-permission/overview), not by handing out database passwords — one place to manage who can see what.
* **Just-in-time access**: Let users [request time-bound access](/security/database-permission/just-in-time) that routes through the same risk-based approvals and expires automatically instead of holding standing privileges.
* **Dynamic data masking**: [Mask sensitive columns](/security/data-masking/overview) in query results, so PII stays protected even for users who are allowed to query the table.

## Database Compliance

Change management and access control only count if you can prove they happened. Bytebase records the evidence as a byproduct of the workflow — no separate bookkeeping.

* **Complete audit log**: Every change, approval, permission grant, and query is captured in the [audit log](/security/audit-log) — filterable, streamable to external monitoring systems, and exportable as evidence for SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA reviews.
* **Data classification**: [Classify columns by sensitivity](/security/data-masking/data-classification) and drive masking and access policies from the classification.
* **Policy as code**: Codify approval flows, access and masking policies, and SQL review rules with the [Terraform provider](/integrations/terraform/overview), so the controls themselves are version-controlled and consistent across environments.

In short, the three pillars consolidate what previously required stitching together migration tools, SQL clients, and ticketing systems — one platform governing how your databases are changed and accessed, with the records to prove it.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/dbx/f3FN3s-uhcfmYJQg/content/docs/what-is-bytebase/venn.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=f3FN3s-uhcfmYJQg&q=85&s=36d97f531fdc4f8c40a8abc67aafd259" alt="venn" width="520" style={{ display: 'block', margin: '0 auto' }} data-path="content/docs/what-is-bytebase/venn.svg" />

## Try Bytebase

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Bytebase Cloud" icon="cloud" href="/get-started/cloud">
    Sign up for a free workspace and start in seconds.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Self-host" icon="server" href="/get-started/self-host/deploy-with-docker">
    Deploy with Docker on your own infrastructure.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Compare

### Schema Migration Tools

While Liquibase and Flyway are powerful command-line migration tools (think Git), Bytebase provides the complete platform experience (think GitHub/GitLab). It wraps these migration capabilities in a collaborative interface with approval workflows, audit trails, and enterprise controls. As the fastest-growing open source solution in this space, Bytebase has become the top choice for teams seeking a unified database DevSecOps platform.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/dbx/vw8BbfZhlW9y-cr_/content/docs/what-is-bytebase/bytebase-vs-liquibase-flyway-schemachange.webp?fit=max&auto=format&n=vw8BbfZhlW9y-cr_&q=85&s=daa9fc18d5d75c26f8e98f5d08ae17dd" alt="bytebase-vs-liquibase-flyway" width="1832" height="1308" data-path="content/docs/what-is-bytebase/bytebase-vs-liquibase-flyway-schemachange.webp" />

* [Bytebase vs. Liquibase](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/bytebase-vs-liquibase/)
* [Bytebase vs. Flyway](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/bytebase-vs-flyway/)
* [Bytebase vs. schemachange](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/snowflake-schema-change/)

### SQL Clients

Traditional SQL clients like DBeaver, DataGrip, and Navicat excel at individual database access but weren't built for team collaboration or enterprise security. Bytebase transforms SQL access from a personal tool into an enterprise-ready platform—providing not just query capabilities, but also role-based permissions, data masking, audit logging, and centralized governance that eliminates the need to share database credentials.

* [Bytebase vs. DBeaver](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/bytebase-vs-dbeaver/)
* [Bytebase vs. DataGrip](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/bytebase-vs-datagrip/)
* [Bytebase vs. Navicat](https://www.bytebase.com/blog/stop-using-navicat/)