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Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs MySQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.6
Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers significant cost savings and efficiency improvements, reducing ownership costs by eliminating expensive licenses.
Sentiment score
6.3
Users experience varied ROI with MySQL due to its open-source nature, cloud or local use, and operational benefits.
It offers at least 25 percent cost savings compared to maintaining on-premises databases.
Now, we use embedded PostgreSQL vectors, which will undoubtedly reduce the TCO by using a much more cost-effective solution.
We've reduced our total ownership cost because we are not spending on expensive SQL server licenses.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Users praise Microsoft Learn's documentation, benefit from fast support response, and find engineering engagement insightful for urgent issues.
Sentiment score
6.8
MySQL support is mostly community-driven and free, but Oracle's support, while effective, can be costly for smaller businesses.
Once we open a support case, we have people engaged within about 20 minutes, especially for a Sev 1 issue.
The documentation and training we've received through Microsoft Learn on how to migrate, deploy, and manage the solution is exceptional.
We handle most implementations in-house, without extensive reliance on Microsoft's technical support.
We have no issues and usually receive timely responses.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Azure Database for PostgreSQL efficiently scales workloads with FlexServer, offering easy resizing for large enterprises and government projects.
Sentiment score
6.7
MySQL is scalable for small to medium projects but requires enhancements and tools for effective large-scale deployment.
However, we can see how well it scales after we deploy it for some large enterprise customers or big government organizations.
The scaling options with FlexServer provide us with the flexibility we need based on application complexity.
We can scale up compute and scale it down, but once storage is allocated, there is no way to scale it back down.
Meeting scalability requirements through cloud computing is an expensive affair.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
Azure Database for PostgreSQL is stable with no latency issues, though it may crash during peak usage without auto-healing.
Sentiment score
7.7
MySQL is widely praised for reliability and performance, but occasional issues with large tables require proper maintenance and configuration.
There is a stability issue where, if the database usage peaks quickly, it may crash and require intervention to restore functionality.
We have generative AI applications, and we have not noticed any latency.
Overall, I have not encountered any real latency issues or stability concerns.
We face certain integration issues, especially when we integrate the database with security solutions like IBM QRadar.
 

Room For Improvement

Azure Database for PostgreSQL needs faster scaling, better reliability, extensions, user management, cost efficiency, support, and error detection.
MySQL needs scalability improvements, better replication, enhanced security, integration, and upgraded tools, procedures, user interface, and documentation.
It does not presently support knowledge graph functionalities as Neo4j does.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL can be improved by allowing quicker scaling without blips.
I believe there could be improvements in the mirroring part and Change Data Capture (CDC).
It could be more beneficial if MySQL can enhance its data masking functionality in the same way it has improved data encryption.
Oracle could improve on scalability.
The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers appreciate Azure's cost-efficient, pay-as-you-go pricing for PostgreSQL, reducing on-premises database costs significantly.
Enterprise buyers appreciate MySQL's flexible pricing, noting affordable options compared to Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle.
We've reduced costs by 60 percent compared to maintaining on-premises solutions.
The pay-as-you-go pricing model positively affects database-related costs by allowing us to start small and scale as needed.
The pay-as-you-go model works well for us.
Oracle has different components, so if you need security, you have to procure a different license, but here everything is inbuilt and it's not costly.
 

Valuable Features

Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers seamless integration, robust networking, efficient AI tools, and strong security with a positive cost-benefit ratio.
MySQL is popular for being open-source, SQL-compatible, scalable, easy to manage, cross-platform, with strong integration capabilities.
My takeaway as a CTO is that they're comfortable with the security posture, the features, the observability, alerts, and now it integrates into the rest of the Azure landscape.
The query analyzers help me find out what's happening in each of the queries.
The most valuable features of Azure Database for PostgreSQL are its networking capabilities, which allow for integration with other Azure services.
With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment.
It allows programming, writing stored procedures, creating views, constraints, and triggers easily.
My experience with MySQL is very good for organizations that consider database security and availability as priorities.
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Database as a Service (DBaaS) (7th)
MySQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
150
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Azure Database for PostgreSQL is 0.4%. The mindshare of MySQL is 8.9%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
MySQL8.9%
Azure Database for PostgreSQL0.4%
Other90.7%
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Daniel Amini - PeerSpot reviewer
An incredibly powerful industry leader that enabled us to build critical pieces of national infrastructure
Azure Database is simple and easy to use. We followed the prescribed training and upskilled 10 engineers. They think it's straightforward. They've already got PostgreSQL skills to optimize the solution, so they know what to do. It was easy to get started quickly and become effective. My team speaks highly of the platform's observability and monitoring features. It's as efficient as an enterprise needs it to be and. has all of the tooling and telemetry necessary to run an enterprise database. We take security seriously. The team has looked at the security features, and nothing has been flagged to us. My takeaway as a CTO is that they're comfortable with the security posture, the features, the observability, alerts, and now it integrates into the rest of the Azure landscape. The OpenAI integration and extensions have massively simplified integrating AI into a database. PostgreSQL's native vector capabilities are also incredibly powerful.
Prabir Kumar Kundu - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers robust security and availability with impressive replication capabilities
Regarding their documentation and interface, there is room for improvement. Documentation is definitely required when running multiple databases on a cluster system. The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation. When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly. It's there, but only technical persons with deep knowledge of the MySQL database can implement it. Most of the community users or ISVs who use MySQL don't have many technical persons or DBA experts, so they face some challenges for the high availability of connecting high available databases from high available applications. That documentation should be simplified.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Marketing Services Firm
15%
Educational Organization
9%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business73
Midsize Enterprise31
Large Enterprise61
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Database for PostgreSQL?
Pricing is affordable for us. PostgreSQL is good and affordable for our needs.
What needs improvement with Azure Database for PostgreSQL?
While the flexibility of the server for financial reasons is understandable, better switching between primary and backup would make transitions smoother. I noticed an issue where the primary refuse...
What is your primary use case for Azure Database for PostgreSQL?
We started using Azure Database for PostgreSQL ( /products/azure-database-for-postgresql-reviews ) about five to six years ago. Initially, we were doing an on-premises Kubernetes ( /products/kubern...
Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.