SeedBase
SeedBase, a hosted and maintained Neosync alternative
Neosync was a strong open-source tool: synthetic data, anonymization of production records, and FK-consistent subsetting. It was acquired in September 2025 and its repository was archived, which leaves a lot of teams looking for a stable replacement. SeedBase is hosted, maintained, bootstrapped, and EU-based, and you can export everything at any time, so there is no second tool death to plan around.
What Neosync got right
- PII anonymization: detect sensitive fields in a production database and mask them while keeping the data usable.
- FK-consistent subsetting: carve a smaller, referentially complete slice of a real database for dev and CI.
- Synthetic generation: produce relational test data when you do not want to touch production at all.
- Open source (Go, MIT) and self-hostable, with a clean separation of these three jobs.
If you used Neosync, you already understand the value of those three jobs. The idea was never the problem. The problem now is that the repository is archived, so the maintained, hosted future is unclear.
The state of Neosync in 2026
Neosync was acquired in September 2025 and its repository was archived. An archived repo means no maintained releases, no fixes for new database versions, and no clear hosted path going forward. It can still run if you self-host the last published version, but you are building on a frozen dependency, and for many teams the open question is who keeps the lights on. That is exactly the situation that pushes people to look for a stable, hosted, maintained replacement.
Neosync vs SeedBase: where they differ
| Neosync (archived) | SeedBase | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Repository archived after acquisition in September 2025; hosted future unclear | Hosted and actively maintained; bootstrapped and independent; EU-hosted |
| Hosting | Self-host the last published version, or a hosted offering with an uncertain future | Fully hosted, nothing to patch; full export (SQL/CSV/JSON) at any time, no lock-in |
| Databases | Primarily PostgreSQL and MySQL | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, SQL Server, plus NoSQL targets MongoDB, Redis and Elasticsearch |
| Synthetic generation | FK-consistent synthetic data | FK-consistent generation from your schema across hundreds of tables, realistic distributions, deterministic by seed |
| Anonymization | PII anonymization of production data (a core strength) | PII detection + format-preserving masking, with a privacy report of what was masked |
| Subsetting | FK-consistent subsetting (a core strength) | FK-complete subsetting into a smaller, referentially valid database |
| Interface | Web UI and CLI, open-source self-host | Web app (visual FK editor, live preview) plus CLI, Node/PHP SDKs, pytest plugin, VS Code & JetBrains plugins, and MCP for AI assistants |
Migrating from Neosync
Migration is mostly a matter of mapping Neosync's three jobs onto SeedBase. Point SeedBase at the same schema or live database, and each job has a direct home:
- Anonymization → SeedBase masking. Where Neosync anonymized production records, SeedBase detects PII and applies format-preserving masking, then gives you a privacy report of what changed. See GDPR anonymization.
- Subsetting → SeedBase subsetting. Where Neosync carved an FK-consistent slice of a real database, SeedBase does FK-complete subsetting into a smaller, referentially valid copy for dev and CI.
- Synthetic generation → SeedBase schema generation. Where Neosync generated relational synthetic data, SeedBase reads your schema (SQL dump, Django models, Prisma, or a live DB) and generates FK-consistent data with realistic distributions. See generate test data.
You keep FK-consistent data without depending on an archived repository, and you can export everything as SQL/CSV/JSON or push straight into a database whenever you want.
When to pick which
Stay on Neosync if you specifically want self-hosted, open-source tooling, and you are comfortable running and pinning an archived version yourself.
Pick SeedBase when you want a hosted, maintained alternative that will not be the next tool to go dark: FK-consistent generation from your schema, masking with a privacy report, FK-complete subsetting, broad database support, generation from your IDE or AI assistant, and full export at any time so you stay lock-in free.
Move off an archived tool, free.
Point SeedBase at the same schema or live database, generate FK-consistent data, mask production records with a privacy report, or carve an FK-complete subset, then export it or push it into your dev or CI database. No card required, no sales call, and full export at any time.
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