SQL Explain Plan Visualizer
Paste a text EXPLAIN plan and see costs, rows and the most expensive step at a glance.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded — your input is processed on this device and discarded when you close the tab.
SQL Explain Plan Visualizer
How to use this tool
- Paste the text output of EXPLAIN (not EXPLAIN ANALYZE timing lines) into the box.
- Press Format / Visualize — or just type — to build the table.
- Read the summary: total upper cost and the single most expensive operation are shown first.
Worked example
Paste the sample plan: a Seq Scan costing up to 1834.00 rows 10000 and an Index Scan costing up to 8.31 rows 1. The summary reports 2 operations, total upper cost 1842.31, and the Seq Scan as the most expensive step.
What this tool does not do / Limits
This tool reads the common text form cost=a..b rows=n only. It does not run queries, does not read JSON or YAML EXPLAIN output, and does not know your database, indexes or actual runtimes — costs are planner estimates, not measured times.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the total just a sum of upper costs?
Because each step's upper cost already includes the cost of its children in most planners, a plain sum double-counts. Treat the total as a rough comparison figure and the per-step ranking as the useful signal, not an exact query cost.
Does it work with EXPLAIN ANALYZE?
Partly: cost and rows are still read, but actual time and rows-removed lines are ignored. Use plain EXPLAIN for the cleanest table.
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