Platform · Relational model

A real database,
not a spreadsheet.

Saltcorn organises your data with the relational model — tables linked by foreign keys — so complex relationships stay consistent and every screen is built on solid, structured foundations. Runs on PostgreSQL, or SQLite for development.

Try it now Read the docs →

PostgreSQL · SQLite Tables · foreign keys · integrity

01 / Why relational

Robust data management with the relational model.

A proven way to organise data: tables linked by foreign keys that represent the real relationships in your business, while keeping everything consistent.

Complex relationships

Links, not copies

Represent the real-world connections in your data — customers to orders, projects to tasks — through tables and foreign keys, instead of repeating values across sheets.

Data integrity

Consistent as it grows

The relational model keeps your data clean and coherent as the application expands, so records stay trustworthy over time.

Structures your screens

Data and interface, together

This proven model shapes not just how your data is stored, but the forms, lists and dashboards your team uses every day.

02 / Manage the database

Manage the relational database.

A spreadsheet-like admin interface lets you see your whole database — its structure and its content — in one place.

Define and edit the fields on each table, pick the right type for every field, and manage the rows directly. No SQL, no migrations to hand-write — Saltcorn keeps the database in step as you go.

Saltcorn's admin interface for a table, showing its fields and their types — The table admin — define fields, choose types, manage rows.

A field type for every kind of value

TextShort text, or a choice from a fixed list.

NumberWhole numbers or decimals.

DateDates and times, with a calendar picker.

Yes / noA checkbox or toggle.

ColourA colour value with a swatch picker.

JSONFlexible, structured data in one field.

FileA link to an uploaded image or document.

KeyA link to a row in another table.

CalculatedA value worked out from other fields.

…and moreExtra types arrive as add-ons.

03 / Relationships

Your interfaces follow the relationships.

Because your tables are linked by foreign keys, the screens you build can follow those links.

Show a customer next to their orders, a project alongside its tasks, or drill from a summary into the detail behind it — all driven by the relationships in your data. And Saltcorn can draw the whole structure back to you as a live relationship diagram.

Saltcorn relationship diagram showing tables joined by foreign-key lines — The relationship diagram — every table and link in one view.

04 / Built in

More than a place to keep rows.

Version history

Undo, at the row level

Turn on version history for a table to automatically save past versions of each row — and restore a row to its earlier content whenever you need to.

Flexible JSON fields

Room for the irregular

Capture complex, highly heterogeneous data with the entity-attribute-value pattern using JSON fields — without a column for every possibility.

Import & export CSV

Move data in and out

Import a spreadsheet into a table — or create a brand-new table straight from the upload — and download any table back out as a CSV file.

— Learn as you build

A proven model that structures both your data and your interfaces — and teaches you relational data modelling as you build.

Learn relational data modelling with Saltcorn

05 / Engine & API

PostgreSQL or SQLite — with a REST API.

Saltcorn runs on PostgreSQL, the battle-tested open-source database, with SQLite available for development on Windows and Mac.

A simple JSON REST API is built in, so other systems can read and write your data straight away. Need something more specialised? Run a dedicated API server such as Hasura or PostgREST alongside Saltcorn.

Saltcorn admin managing an application over a relational database — One admin over a real relational database.

Next in the platform

Try it now

Start with a database of your own.

Spin up Saltcorn and model your first tables in minutes — free, open-source, running on PostgreSQL.

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Rather not build it alone?

Model your data with us.

The Saltcorn team can design the database and build the application around it with you.

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