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phpMyAdmin works, has worked for two decades, and probably will work for two more. Don't switch tools without a reason.

Reasons to consider Ledger anyway:

• You want a modern AJAX interface instead of full-page reloads on every action.
• You want a real SQL editor with context-aware autocomplete that understands your table aliases.
• You want a zero-dependency install — no Composer, no config.inc.php ritual, no vendor directory.
• You're tired of the phpMyAdmin UI and want something that looks like it was built in this decade.

If none of those resonate, phpMyAdmin is still a great choice. We're not trying to talk you out of it.

For the same scenarios phpMyAdmin is used in, yes. Ledger ships a 12-layer security chain enabled by default: bcrypt passwords, TOTP 2FA per user, CSRF tokens on every mutation, brute-force lockout, IP whitelist with CIDR support, read-only mode, prepared statements throughout, security headers, session hardening, query audit log, and more.

That said, two important caveats apply to any web-based database admin tool — including phpMyAdmin, Adminer, and Ledger:

• Never expose it on a public URL without HTTPS. All three tools rely on session cookies. Without TLS, those are sniffable.
• Restrict access at the firewall or web server level too. Application-layer auth is one defense; network-layer restriction is another. The IP whitelist feature exists for a reason — use it.

This is a v1.0.2-beta release. The code has been in private development since December 2025 and used internally, but it hasn't had wide community review yet. If you find a security issue, please follow the disclosure process in SECURITY.md.

Almost certainly. If your host runs PHP 7.4+ with PDO and PDO_MySQL (every host does), Apache with mod_rewrite (every cPanel host does), and gives you access to htdocs/ via FTP or a file manager — Ledger will run.

Specific hosts verified to work include any standard cPanel host, DreamHost, SiteGround, Hostinger, and most national hosts. If yours has unusual restrictions (open_basedir, custom PHP sandboxes), see the troubleshooting section above.

MySQL 5.7+ and MariaDB 10.3+ are the minimum supported versions. Both are five-plus years old, so unless you're maintaining something legacy you should be fine.

Recommended versions: MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.11+. Tested primarily against these. Older versions work but some features (window functions, JSON paths, CTEs) won't be available because the server itself doesn't support them.

PostgreSQL and SQLite are not supported and aren't planned — Ledger is intentionally MySQL/MariaDB-focused. If you need a multi-database tool, use Adminer or DBeaver instead.

Yes. Ledger doesn't store anything in your databases that phpMyAdmin needs to know about — it keeps its own state (favorites, ER diagram layouts, query history) in flat files inside its own install directory. Run both side by side if you want.

Two specific migration points worth knowing:

• SQL dumps are interchangeable. Ledger's "phpMyAdmin-compatible" export mode produces byte-for-byte equivalent SQL dumps — useful when sharing dumps with anyone still on phpMyAdmin, or when restoring an older phpMyAdmin backup.
• User accounts are not shared. phpMyAdmin uses your MySQL user credentials directly; Ledger uses its own admin account layer on top. You set up Ledger admin users separately, which is intentional — keeps the MySQL root password out of session storage.

Deliberate. The whole project is one of Ledger's core principles: drop a folder, it runs.

Composer dependencies mean: developers have to install Composer, hosts have to allow CLI access, dependency conflicts become a thing, and security audits get harder because half the surface area lives in vendor/. Same logic for npm and a JS build step.

The downside is that some "obviously useful" libraries can't be used — every feature has to be either built from scratch or skipped. That's a real cost. It's also what keeps the entire codebase auditable in an afternoon.

Yes. v1.0.0-beta released May 11, 2026 as the first public version; v1.0.1-beta released May 19, 2026 with hardening fixes from the first round of real-world bug reports; v1.0.2-beta released June 12, 2026, a security release from a full self-audit. Development started December 2025 under the project's earlier internal name (DBForge) and has been continuous since.

This is a solo-maintained project. That means:

• Bug reports get triaged. Real reports get real responses.
• Feature requests get considered against scope — features that fit get accepted, features that don't get a polite "no" with reasoning.
• There's no SLA. If the maintainer takes two weeks to respond, it's because they took two weeks.

If you want a project with a larger team behind it, phpMyAdmin remains the right answer.

Yes. Ledger is MIT licensed. Use it commercially, fork it, embed it in your product, sell consulting around it — all fine. No royalties, no attribution required (though attribution is appreciated), no telemetry.

The full license is in LICENSE on GitHub.

The interface is responsive and usable on tablets. On phones, it's technically usable but database admin on a 380px screen is rarely a good idea regardless of the tool — there's just too much information to display.

For phone-based emergency access ("kill that runaway query"), the live process monitor and SQL editor work well on mobile. Browse / Structure / ER diagram are best on tablet or desktop.

Yes — there are 20 built-in themes (10 light, 10 dark) including Tokyo Night, Dracula, Catppuccin, GitHub, Gruvbox, Monokai, Nord, and Solarized. Switch from the header dropdown without a reload.

Custom themes are a folder of CSS variables — drop themes/your-theme/ with a theme.json and style.css and it appears in the dropdown. Override only the variables you care about.

Fonts can be customized per zone — body, headings, sidebar, table data, and SQL editor each have their own variable. 28 curated faces ship pre-configured, only fetched if you select them.

See /themes for the gallery.

Three honest catches:

• MySQL/MariaDB only. Not PostgreSQL, not SQLite, not anything else. If you work with multiple database engines, Ledger isn't your tool.
• v1.0.2-beta. Stable enough to use, but expect rough edges on PHP version matrices, MariaDB forks, and hosting environments other than the development setup. Bug reports welcomed.
• Solo-maintained. One person can only respond so fast. If you need enterprise support, this isn't it.

If those don't bother you, install it and let me know what breaks.

The comparison matrix on the Features page covers ~30 specific features in detail. The short version:

• vs phpMyAdmin: Ledger is lighter (~2 MB vs ~50 MB), more modern UX (AJAX everywhere), themed by default. phpMyAdmin has more features, FIDO U2F support, and a larger team behind it.
• vs Adminer: Adminer wins on file size (single 500 KB file) and multi-database support. Ledger wins on modern UX, built-in 2FA, themes, and depth of MySQL-specific features.
• vs DBeaver: Different category. DBeaver is a heavyweight desktop tool with 80+ database types and advanced features. Ledger is a web tool you SSH-deploy. Use DBeaver if you need cross-database; use Ledger if you need to admin MySQL/MariaDB from any browser.