Overview

sqlfmt applies a river-aligned style, padding clause keywords to a shared column. That makes SQL structure easy to scan, but leaves teams with one defined style rather than a choice of formatting conventions. The style draws on 343 SQL files from The Art of PostgreSQL query corpus, and the tool is intended for that book and its courses as well as standalone SQL formatting.

The CLI reads files or standard input and writes formatted SQL to standard output. It can also rewrite files in place, list files that need changes, emit unified diffs and print its version. Those options suit both personal cleanup and scripted checks. Deeply nested subqueries and less common upsert or DDL forms are best-effort cases; teams should review changes to those queries rather than assume formatting will be reliable.

Key features

Formatting across tools

The browser formatter runs sqlfmt through WebAssembly and needs no installation. Go programs can call the format subpackage's Format(io.Reader) (string, error) function, while browser JavaScript can use sqlfmt.format(sql) and sqlfmt.version. The TinyGo and wasm-opt build is about 330 KB, compared with about 2.9 MB for the standard Go WebAssembly target. Building the WebAssembly version requires tinygo and wasm-opt on PATH, a consideration for teams maintaining their own build.

The repository includes an Emacs mode and a Vim integration through formatprg and equalprg. That gives editor users a route to consistent formatting without making the browser or CLI the only workflow. PostgreSQL is the sole supported dialect, so teams working across SQL dialects will need another formatter for the rest of their codebase.

EXPLAIN plan tools

The explain subcommand formats PostgreSQL plan text and offers advice, diff and canonical operations. Advice describes join order, join method, access method and parallelism, but omits costs, row estimates and timing. It is useful for comparing plan structure, not a substitute for quantitative performance analysis.

Explain diff exits 0 when plans are structurally identical and 1 when their structures differ, which makes it straightforward to use in scripts and CI. The -canonical option normalizes ordering and schema-qualification differences when comparing advice from different sources. Together, these features make sqlfmt relevant to teams checking plan changes as well as SQL formatting, provided their review is focused on structure rather than runtime metrics.

Pricing

sqlfmt is free. The Browser formatter plan costs 0.00 USD per free and runs in a browser through WebAssembly without installation. There are no paid tiers or seat or quota terms in the stated plan. The PostgreSQL Licence also makes the project available as free software.

Platforms

sqlfmt is available through its CLI, browser, Go library, WebAssembly API, and Emacs and Vim integrations. Its listed platform coverage includes API, Linux, self-hosted and web use. Automatic fixes and CI/CD integration support routine formatting and structural plan checks in team workflows.

Who it's for

sqlfmt fits PostgreSQL-focused developers, educators and teams that want a single opinionated format across scripts, editors and browser use. It is particularly useful when plan structure is part of code review or CI. It is a weaker fit for mixed-dialect SQL, or for workflows that depend on guaranteed handling of deeply nested queries and unusual upsert or DDL syntax.

Pros and cons

Pros: CLI modes cover standard input, in-place rewriting, change listing and unified diffs, supporting both individual edits and automation.
Pros: EXPLAIN advice and structural diffs add a CI-friendly way to spot changes in PostgreSQL plan shape.
Pros: Browser use needs no installation, and the compact WebAssembly build can suit browser integrations.
Cons: PostgreSQL is the only supported dialect, limiting its usefulness in repositories with varied SQL.
Cons: Deeply nested subqueries and uncommon upsert or DDL forms are best-effort, making unchecked rewriting risky for those cases.
Cons: Plan advice excludes costs, row estimates and timing, so it cannot by itself assess the performance impact of a plan.

Alternatives

SQL Linters and Formatters is the broader category for teams comparing tools beyond a PostgreSQL formatter.

Choose pgFormatter instead if you want another free formatter distributed under the PostgreSQL Licence. Consider Poor SQL when its online and offline formatting or SSMS and Visual Studio plugin better fits a Windows-oriented workflow. SQLFluff is the alternative to consider when an open-source SQL linter is a better match than a formatter alone. For a web-and-API option with a stated limit of 500 requests per hour per IP, consider SQLFormat.org. Squawk is another free option if its broad platform coverage better matches your environment. Consider Sleek as a free open-source SQL formatter with Linux, macOS and Windows coverage. SQLint is a Linux-only alternative described as a MIT-licensed Python package with a Standard SQL (BigQuery) parser and linter. Sqruff is another free option with extension, desktop, self-hosted and web platform coverage.

Verdict

Choose sqlfmt if your SQL is PostgreSQL and you want a free, opinionated formatter that also supports editor workflows and structural EXPLAIN checks in CI. Its combination of format modes and plan comparison is the clearest reason to choose it. Look elsewhere if your repository spans dialects, or if best-effort treatment of complex queries is not acceptable in your formatting workflow.

	sqlfmt	sqlfmt
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, Linux, self-hosted, Web	Web
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Supported SQL dialects	PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server (T-SQL), BigQuery
Automatic fixes	Yes	Yes
Editor extensions	Yes	No
CI/CD integration	Yes	Yes

sqlfmt vs sqlfmt

sqlfmt

sqlfmt