pt-online-schema-change

Plans and prices

Every plan, in full

On the record

Chunked copying

It copies rows in small chunks and uses triggers to apply changes made to the original table during the copy.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Cluster support

For Percona XtraDB Cluster 5.5.28-23.7 and newer, only InnoDB tables can be altered and wsrep_OSU_method must be TOI.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Execution safety

The tool does not modify a table unless the --execute option is specified; --dry-run and --execute are mutually exclusive.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Foreign-key handling

Foreign keys that reference the table require a specified foreign-key method, and their handling introduces additional risk.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Installation telemetry

The installer stores an instance UUID for toolkit usage statistics and states that no other information is gathered for that purpose.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Install platforms

Percona documents package-manager installation for Debian or Ubuntu and RHEL or CentOS, plus package downloads and a tar.gz release.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Intended users

Percona describes the Toolkit as advanced open-source command-line tools for DBAs and database operations.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Key requirement

In most cases, the table needs a PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE INDEX for the tool to operate.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

License

The program is free software under either the GNU General Public License version 2 or the Perl Artistic License.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Load and replication checks

It can pause or abort when server load is too high and pause copying when it detects delayed replicas.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Purpose

pt-online-schema-change alters MySQL table structures without blocking reads or writes by building and populating a copy of the table, then replacing the original.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Requirements

The tool requires Perl, DBI, DBD::mysql, and MySQL 5.0.2 or newer, along with specified MySQL privileges.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Support

Percona says its Community Forum service is free and response times vary with the complexity of the question.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Trigger limitation

The tool will not work on a table that already has triggers defined because it uses triggers to keep the replacement table updated.docs.percona.com · read 8 Oct 2026

Alternatives to pt-online-schema-change

A AtlasWebWindows+4 S SkeemaWindowsMac+1 D DeepFilterNetWindowsMac+3 P pgrollWindowsMac+2 BE Bytebase EnterpriseWebAPI+1 D dbmateWindowsMac+2 F FluentMigratorWindowsMac+2 G GooseWindowsMac+3

Every alternative, ranked