Widen

Widen is a native macOS application that lets developers query PostgreSQL databases using plain English instead of writing SQL by hand. You type a question, and the app generates, verifies, and executes the query. It's open source under the MIT license and completely free, with no paid tiers or usage limits baked into the tool itself.

The text-to-SQL pipeline works in four steps. First, it searches your schema to find relevant tables rather than dumping the entire schema into a prompt. Then it inspects the columns and relationships it needs. It drafts the SQL with an explanation of what the query does. Finally, it verifies the statement against PostgreSQL in a read-only transaction before showing it to you. If parsing fails, it tries one automatic repair and then stops rather than looping indefinitely. This review-before-run model means you always see the SQL and confirm before anything touches your data.

There are two processing modes. On-device mode runs entirely offline using Apple Intelligence on macOS 26 or later with Apple Silicon. Cloud mode uses your own OpenRouter API key to access frontier models. Either way, your query results stay on your Mac. The on-device option is limited to simpler SELECT queries over a few tables, while cloud mode handles more complex operations including INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE.

The interface is built in Swift, so it feels native to macOS rather than an Electron wrapper. You get schema browsing, session persistence, query timeouts, row limits, and confirmation prompts before any data modification. It doesn't yet have a table structure editor or SQL syntax highlighting in results, and query results themselves don't persist across restarts, though your conversation transcripts do.

Widen is strictly a PostgreSQL tool for now. There's no MySQL or SQLite support. It's an early release, so the feature set is narrower than established database GUIs, and the community around it is still small. That said, the combination of verified text-to-SQL, local-first processing, and zero cost makes it worth trying if you manage Postgres databases on a Mac and want faster query drafting with a safety net.

Requirements depend on which mode you use. On-device needs macOS 26 or later, Apple Silicon, and Apple Intelligence enabled. Cloud mode works on any supported Mac with an OpenRouter key. Both require an accessible PostgreSQL server.