SQS GUI Tools Compared

We make Tarmac, so read this page with that in mind. Every claim about another tool comes from that tool's own site, README, or docs, checked in September 2026. Where a tool's docs say nothing about a feature, this page says "not documented" and does not guess.

What to look for

• Real AWS or local only. Some SQS viewers work only with LocalStack.
• Search. SQS has no search API. A tool either searches the messages it received, or it does not search.
• Safe changes. Delete and send change shared queues. Look at how the tool protects you from a wrong click.
• What happens after you look. Every view is a receive. It hides the message and raises its receive count. See How to View SQS Messages Without Deleting Them.
• Still maintained. Several SQS GUI projects on GitHub have had no commits for years.

At a glance

All of these work with real AWS. Commandeer and Tarmac also work with LocalStack.

AWS Console

The SQS console polls up to 10 messages at a time and shows each one in a dialog. You can delete the messages you polled, and you can start a DLQ redrive for a whole queue. It has no search and keeps nothing after you leave the page.

Pick it for a quick look at a few messages, with nothing to install.

AWS Toolkits for IDEs

The AWS Toolkit for JetBrains can view messages and send messages from your IDE. Its docs do not describe search or message delete.

The AWS Toolkit for VS Code has no SQS message view. It shows SQS queues only as generic resources with their properties.

Pick it for sending a test message without leaving JetBrains.

QueueB

QueueB is a free, open-source desktop app (Apache-2.0) for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It uses your local AWS profile. It views messages and searches body text. Its README lists delete and send as to-do items.

Pick it for a free, open-source viewer with text search.

SQSCLI

SQSCLI comes from the same publisher as QueueB. Its launch post (2022) describes a desktop app for Windows and macOS that uses your AWS CLI profile. It is free up to 100 messages a session, with a $10 one-time upgrade. It is read-only by design and cannot delete messages.

Pick it for a small, read-only viewer.

Commandeer

Commandeer is a paid desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux that covers many AWS services, SQS among them. It works with real AWS and LocalStack. Its docs show creating queues, adding messages, and viewing messages. Pricing is $30 per user a month after a one-week trial.

Pick it for one app across many AWS services and LocalStack.

sqs-grep

sqs-grep is an open-source command-line tool (MIT) that is actively maintained. It scans a queue for messages that match a regex on the body or attributes. It can delete, move, or copy the matches, or publish them to SNS. It can save matches to a file and search that file again.

Pick it for scripted, repeatable scans and bulk actions on the matches.

Tarmac

Tarmac is a desktop client for macOS and Windows. It receives messages into a local cache on your machine, so you search, filter, and read them again without another receive.

• Free: list queues, fetch and inspect messages, full-text search, filters built from your JSON fields, and Live Tail. Tarmac releases the messages it holds when you quit.
• Pro: delete, send, and edit and send, all staged. Nothing changes on the queue until you review the batch and publish it. Pro also starts DLQ redrives.

It works with your AWS CLI profiles, AWS SSO, and LocalStack.

Pick it for incident work on real queues: search a DLQ, find the pattern, and fix a few messages with a review step before anything runs.

Which one to pick

• Look at a few messages once: the AWS Console.
• Scan a queue from a script: sqs-grep.
• Stay inside JetBrains: the AWS Toolkit for JetBrains.
• Open source, or you use Linux: QueueB.
• Search, filter, and fix messages on real queues, with a review step: Tarmac.

For the search methods step by step, see How to Search an SQS Queue for a Message.