MySQL has been my database of choice for a long time. Just about every host supports it and it meets the requirements for just about every project I work on. When I've needed to be in the database to make changes during development I've used numerous programs over the years. Some of those have included phpMyAdmin, DBVisualizer, and the command line. Now that my full time development is on a Mac I've switched to Sequel Pro when I need to work in the database. Read more »