MySQL WorkBench is part of MySQL database and it provides a full featured administrative interface to execute SQL queries and MySQL management where as phpMyAdmin is a web based tool to administer the MySQL database. Following are the some of the key differences in both interfaces.

• Supported Versions − phpMyAdmin supports MySQL 5.5 onwards whereas MySQL Workbench can support any version of MySQL database.

• Graphical Interface phpMyAdmin provides an easy to understand graphical interface to run SQL commands and do SQL operations and makes it quite easy to use as compared to MySQL workbench which is quite complex for beginners.

• Script Interface phpMyAdmin provides script interface to run PHP scripts to connect to databases and do customized operations. MySQL workbench has no such option.

• Web Based phpMyAdmin is web based and may be slow and depends upon web browser heavily where as MySQL workbench is a specilized software to work with databases.

• Code Highlight phpMyAdmin does not have smart code highlight capabilities or auto-complete functionalities whereas MySQL workbench provides code highlighting and auto-complete features.

• Pricing phpMyAdmin is completely free to use. It is open source and is provided by almost all hosting service providers whereas MySQL Workbench has a community based version which is free and open source. There are other commercial versions for enterprises which are subscription based. These commercial versions have enterprise level features and support.