DumpCat
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DumpCat vs Navicat

Navicat for MySQL is a full database client from PremiumSoft, and backup is one of its many features. DumpCat does only backups and restores, as a service on the server. If you mostly use Navicat to schedule backups, this is how the two compare.

Download DumpCat Source on GitHub

At a glance

DumpCatNavicat
Price and licenseFree and open source (Apache-2.0). No account, no license key.Perpetual: Standard US$419, Enterprise $559, Non-Commercial $279, each with a year of maintenance. Subscription: from $13.99/month (Non-Commercial) or $20.99/month (Standard).
How it runsSelf-hosted: one binary with a web UI, running as a systemd or Windows service next to your database.A desktop client; scheduled backups are batch jobs run by Windows Task Scheduler, or from the command line on macOS and Linux.
PlatformsLinux (amd64, arm64) and Windows (64-bit).Windows, macOS and Linux (plus iOS).
DatabasesMySQL 5.7, 8.0, 8.4, Percona Server, MariaDB 10.x and 11.x.MySQL and MariaDB (other Navicat editions cover more engines).
Backup methodsLogical with mysqldump / mariadb-dump or parallel mydumper; hot physical backups with XtraBackup / MariaBackup, including incrementals. No locks on InnoDB.Navicat's own backup format, per object, with "Lock All Tables" or "Use Single Transaction" (InnoDB only). Not in the Essentials edition.
Point-in-time recoveryYes. Continuous binlog archiving; restore to a timestamp, a binlog position or just before a GTID.No binlog backup or point-in-time recovery documented.
StorageLocal disk / NFS, S3 and compatibles, Google Drive, OneDrive, SFTP, FTP / FTPS, WebDAV, Backblaze B2, Azure Blob, Dropbox and every rclone backend; several per job.Files in a local folder (the Settings Location). No cloud upload documented.
Encryptionage encryption on your server before anything is uploaded; zstd compression; SHA-256 for every file.No compression or encryption documented for backups.
Scheduling and retentionCron-style schedules; retention per storage by count, age or GFS (daily / weekly / monthly).Batch jobs on the computer's own scheduler; no retention documented.
RestoreFrom the web UI: restore under a new database name, test-decrypt every file before dropping anything, integrity checks after each run.Into an existing or a new database; restore drops and recreates the selected objects.
Where your data goesStraight from your server to the storage you choose. Nothing passes through a third party.To the computer running Navicat.
NotificationsEmail, Telegram, Slack, Discord and HMAC-signed webhooks.Email over SMTP for batch jobs.

Choose Navicat if

  • You want a full database IDE for queries, modelling and data transfer, and occasional backups are a bonus.
  • You back up small databases by hand from your workstation.

Choose DumpCat if

  • You want backups to run on the server, not on a desktop that has to stay on.
  • You want backups compressed, encrypted and copied to S3, Google Drive, OneDrive or SFTP automatically.
  • You need retention, alerts on Telegram, Slack or Discord, and point-in-time recovery.
  • You want hot physical backups with XtraBackup / MariaBackup for large databases. And it is free.

Sources

Facts about Navicat were checked on October 18, 2026 against the sources below. Products change: if something here is out of date, please open an issue on GitHub.

  1. Navicat for MySQL release notes
  2. Navicat store: Navicat for MySQL
  3. Navicat store: subscription plans
  4. Navicat manual: backup
  5. Navicat manual: automation

Navicat is a trademark of its owner. DumpCat is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with it.

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