Best Open Source Databases

PostgreSQL is a versatile and reliable database management system commonly used for web development, data analysis, and building scalable databases.  It offers advanced features like indexing, replication, and transaction management. Users appreciate its flexibility, performance, and ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. Its robustness, scalability, and support for complex queries make it highly valuable.  Additionally, PostgreSQL's extensibility, flexibility, community support, and frequent updates contribute to its ongoing improvement and stability.

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) owned by Oracle. Before Oracle acquired the product, it was completely free for users. After the merge, the solution started offering paid services with more features, alongside a free version. MySQL can easily integrate with a wide variety of programming languages, which makes it one of the most flexible and reliable products among its competitors. This cost-effective solution helps users deliver high-performance and scalable database applications through several products. They include: MySQL HeatWave: This is an in-memory query accelerator for MySQL. It is a parallel, columnar, hybrid query-processing engine with algorithms for distributed query processing. This database service is used for transactions, analytics, and machine learning (ML). It offers simplified, secure real-time analytics. It can be deployed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Amazon AWS, Azure, and users' data centers. My SQL Enterprise Edition: This edition of the solution includes the most comprehensive set of advanced features, technical support, and management tools. The combination functions achieves security, scalability, reliability, and uptime, while reducing risk, cost, and complexity, in managing MySQL applications. MySQL Standard Edition: This edition utilizes industrial-strength performance and reliability to help users deliver high-performance and scalable Open Transaction Processing (OLTP) applications. MySQL Classic Edition: This is an embedded database for independent software vendors (ISVs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and value-added resellers (VARs), that are developing applications using the MyISAM storage engine. MySQL Community Edition: This is the free version of the product, which is supported by a large active community of open-source developers. MySQL Cluster CGE: This is a distributed database that combines linear scalability and high availability. It offers in-memory real-time access across partitioned and distributed databases. MySQL Embedded: This product offers MySQL as an embedded database and is most widely used by ISVs, OEMs, and VARs. It is utilized for making applications, hardware, and appliances more competitive by bringing them to market faster while lowering their cost of goods sold (COGs). My SQL Features The characteristics of each MySQL edition differ depending on what it offers and what clients it is catered towards. But the main features of the product include the following: Internals and portability: These capabilities allow MySQL to work on multiple platforms and provide transactional and non-transactional storage engines. This set of features is tested with Purify, Vilgrind, and a broad range of different compilers. Data types: Due to the flexibility of the data types feature of MySQL, the product is compatible with a very wide variety of data types, including fixed-length and variable-length string types. Statements and functions: This feature allows MySQL full operator and function support. It supports a wide variety of functions and allows users to refer to tables from different databases in the same statement. Security: The security features of MySQL provide users with a flexible privileged password system that enables host-based verification. The product offers encryption of all password traffic when users connect to a server. Scalability and limits: MySQL supports large databases with up to approximately 50 million records and up to 64 indexes per table. Connectivity: The connectivity features of the product allow clients to connect to MySQL using several protocols, providing them with freedom of choice in terms of which ones to use. Localization: Through this feature, the product offers availability to users in many languages. The server time zone can be changed dynamically and allows clients to specify their own time zone for their convenience. Clients and tools: The product includes several client and utility programs among its capabilities. MySQL Benefits MySQL brings many benefits to organizations that use it for their data. The most common ones include: Due to its initial open-source nature, MySQL is an easy to understand and beginner-friendly product. The solution still supports an open-source version as well, which means users can download, use, and modify it based on their requirements. MySQL ensures the consistency of data by storing it efficiently and minimizing redundancy. This is considered one of the fastest solutions on the market, a fact which is backed by many benchmark tests. MySQL is very flexible and supports a large number of embedded applications. The solution is compatible with many operating systems. This product offers clients the option to roll back transactions, as well as commit, and crash recovery. Reviews from Real Users According to a database engineer at a retailer with more than 10,000 employees, MySQL is a great open-source product that offers great scalability and compatibility. Yong S., a solutions specialist, system integration, appreciates this product because it has different licensing options and is easy to set up.

MariaDB is an open source relational database created by the original founders of MySQL. It is considered one of the most popular and trusted database servers throughout the world. MariaDB is a valued component found in most cloud offerings and is the default in many Linux tools. It is also widely used by Wikipedia, WordPress, and Google, among other well-known sites. Maria DB easily melds data into concise information from a vast array of applications, such as banking, online shopping, websites, and more. MariaDB was originally created to improve MySQL performance. It is the most widely chosen database server due to the solution being super fast, robust, user-friendly, and easily scalable. MariaDB also offers a substantial ecosystem of plugins, storage engines, and numerous other valuable tools that make it very attractive for a significant offering of use cases. The solution’s newest functionalities include compatibility with Oracle Database and Temporal Data Tables, and advanced clustering with Galera Cluster 4, which make it easier for users to research data history from any point in the past. Additionally, the most recent versions include JSON and GIS features. MariaDB is committed to staying an open source solution. MariaDB Features More storage: MariaDB works with more storage engines than MySQL and most other database servers available. Some storage options include, but are not limited to ARCHIVE, MERGE, CSV, MEMORY, BLACKHOLE, MyISAM, ColumnStore, MyRocks, and Cassandra. Super fast: MariaDB offers faster authentication checks. The FlushSSL permits SSL certificates to be reloaded without a server restart, resulting in huge time savings. Improved testing: MariaDB offers an extending testing suite that runs faster and can test more than ever before. Bugs can be easily fixed and invalid tests removed. Genuinely open source: Every code in MariaDB is GPL, LGPL, or BSD. Client libraries [for Windows (ODBC), Java (JDBC), or C] allow linking to closed source software. All fixed bug cases and development plans are completely public. MariaDB is a community-developed solution representing the true spirit of open source products. Reviews from Real Users Faustine C., Engineering Supervisor- Corporate Data Solutions and Services at TZ Telecoms Corporation, shares, “The software provides a lot of information on what is happening inside the database. For most performance parameters it is easy to know if something is not right in the configuration or optimization which helps engineers take remedial fine-tuning measures. For example, if the database is underperforming it is easy to know which performance parameter can be adjusted to handle the workload. It is difficult to troubleshoot database issues if many performance parameters can not be monitored or debugged which is the case with some database management systems. It provides great monitoring of data storage, processing, and performance stability which is really important for real-time data storage and processing. It's a user-friendly product.” A PeerSpot user who is a Senior Engineer at a tech services company relates, “ The solution's high availability is its most valuable aspect. We have found the product to be stable and the initial setup is pretty simple. I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten. I'm very happy with it overall. I would recommend the solution to others. It's easy to find details about the product online and to learn about it.”

Firebird is an open source SQL relational database management system that runs on Linux, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and a variety of Unix.

EDB Postgres Advanced Server is a powerful and reliable database management system designed for production workloads. It offers a range of advanced features, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to scale their operations. With support for multi-tenancy, JSONB, and production features similar to Oracle, the solution is versatile and can meet the needs of a wide range of organizations.  Overall, EDB Postgres Advanced Server is a robust and flexible database management system that can help businesses achieve their goals and stay competitive in today's fast-paced digital landscape.

Oracle MySQL Cloud Service delivers a secure, cost-effective and enterprise-grade MySQL database service. Built on MySQL Enterprise Edition and powered by the Oracle Cloud, it provides a simple, automated, integrated and enterprise ready MySQL cloud service, enabling organizations to increase business agility and reduce costs.

SQLite is a software library that implements a self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine

Percona Server for MySQL is a free, fully compatible, enhanced, open source drop-in replacement for MySQL that provides good performance, scalability and instrumentation. With over 3,000,000 downloads, Percona Server for MySQL's self-tuning algorithms and support for extremely high-performance hardware delivers excellent performance and reliability.