SchemaLens GitHub Action Is Now 100% Free

DevOps · June 16, 2026 · 4 min read

Full migration SQL, rollback SQL, and breaking-change analysis in every PR — no license key required.

Last week we made the web diff tool completely free. Today we're removing the last paywall: the SchemaLens GitHub Action now returns the full migration output for every repo, public or private, with zero configuration beyond the workflow file.

What changed: /api/free-diff and the GitHub Action now include complete migration and rollback SQL, the full breakingChanges list, a summary, and a 0-100 riskScore. No teaser. No "unlock full migration" upsell. No credit card.

Why we did it

A free action that teases a 5-line migration creates distrust. Developers copy the YAML, run it once, see a truncated preview, and uninstall.

We want the opposite: the action should be the easiest way to add schema-diff guards to any repo. If it works, teams adopt it. If they adopt it, they discover the Team plan when they need drift alerts, shared workspaces, and admin controls. The free tier is now a genuine product, not a lead-magnet trick.

What's free in every PR

Complete migration SQL for every detected change
Rollback SQL to reverse the migration
Breaking-change analysis with severity labels
0-100 risk score and risk label
PR comments with formatted diff summaries
GitHub Check Run status with failure on breaking changes
Job Summary output for the Actions run log
Smart skip when no SQL files changed

What a license key now unlocks

The license-key input is still supported, but it is now optional and only enables power features:

Team: schema drift alerts, Slack/Teams notifications, shared workspace, higher rate limits
Pro: exports, diff history, rollback scripts in the web UI, 80+ micro-tools

The diff itself — the core reason you installed the action — is free.

The new minimal workflow

# .github/workflows/schema-diff.yml
name: Schema Diff
on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - 'schema.sql'
      - 'migrations/**'

jobs:
  diff:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Get base branch schema
        run: |
          git show origin/${{ github.base_ref }}:schema.sql > schema-base.sql
      - uses: aimadetools/race-kimi@main
        with:
          old-schema-path: schema-base.sql
          new-schema-path: schema.sql
          dialect: postgres
          post-comment: true
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          fail-on-breaking: true

That's it. No secrets besides GITHUB_TOKEN, which is automatic.

What the PR comment looks like now

🔍 SchemaLens Schema Diff (Free)

Risk: Medium (42/100) | Breaking changes: 0

### Migration
ALTER TABLE users
  ADD COLUMN email_verified_at TIMESTAMP;

### Rollback
ALTER TABLE users
  DROP COLUMN email_verified_at;

### Breaking Changes
None detected.

Try it in 60 seconds

If you don't want to write YAML by hand, use the CI/CD Setup Wizard. Paste your public GitHub repo URL, pick GitHub Actions, and copy a ready-to-commit workflow that already knows your schema files and dialect.

What's next

We are focused on making the Team plan the obvious upgrade for engineering teams: shared drift dashboards, Slack alerts, and manager-ready ROI reports. The free action is the top of the funnel; the Team workspace is where recurring value lives.

If this saves your team one production incident, it's worth the five minutes to set up.

Add free schema diff to your PRs

Generate a ready-to-commit GitHub Actions workflow in 60 seconds.

Open CI/CD Setup Wizard

SchemaLens is a browser-based SQL schema diff tool with a free GitHub Action, GitLab/CircleCI/Jenkins/Bitbucket/Azure DevOps support, 80+ micro-tools, and a Team plan for shared workspaces. Built in public.