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Citus Data vs MySQL comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Citus Data
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
32nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MySQL
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
152
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Citus Data is 2.0%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 6.1%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MySQL6.1%
Citus Data2.0%
Other91.9%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Arucy Lionel - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Founder at Afriziki
Efficiently handles high-traffic scenarios and compatible with PostgreSQL extensions, offering flexibility in database management
There are many areas of improvement , especially in terms of DDL query routing. Even though it's masterless, DDL queries need to be sent to the coordinator node. Also, setting up a multi-node environment could be more straightforward. Currently, setting up a multi-node environment is challenging. It's a bit tricky. Installation on each PostgreSQL node can lead to communication issues between nodes. An automatic rebalancing feature would be a significant improvement. Currently, I have to manually command the rebalance. It would be more convenient if it was rebalanced automatically. The dashboard and monitoring capabilities are good, but it would be helpful to have an integrated availability dashboard.
Amandeep Pawar - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer Technology at Iris Software Technologies Private Limited
Careful data design has delivered consistent transactions and supports reliable microservices
MySQL is a reliable and mature relational database, but there are a few areas where it could be improved. One area is horizontal scalability. While MySQL supports scaling for applications, handling write-heavy workloads often requires additional solutions such as sharding, which adds complexity. Another area where it could improve is in native support for advanced analytics and large-scale distributed processing, which may require specialized databases. Changing the database schema on large tables can also be challenging and may require careful planning to minimize downtime. Performance tuning is powerful, but identifying and optimizing slow queries often requires manual analysis and experience. Having more built-in performance insights and automated optimization recommendations would be helpful for administrators. In terms of documentation and security, I think MySQL could be improved in those areas. While the official documentation is comprehensive, it can sometimes be difficult for beginners to navigate, especially for advanced topics such as application partitioning and query optimization. More practical examples and architecture-focused guides would be beneficial. On the integration side, MySQL already works well with frameworks such as Spring Boot and Hibernate, but enhancing support for modern cloud-native deployments, Kubernetes, and automated observability would simplify operations. MySQL is a mature and dependable database, and I hope to see improvements primarily around administration, better operational tooling, and a smoother developer experience rather than fundamental database capabilities.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's very straightforward to implement the solution. It took us two days to set up everything."
"The solution is competitive with Mongo, MySQL, and maybe even Oracle."
"You can use Citus Data to write complex scripts. I like its version upgrades and disaster recovery as well."
"Its distributed processing capabilities are a standout feature. It requires minimal changes to get up and running if you already have a system on PostgreSQL. Citus can run in its natural state."
"I am totally satisfied with MySQL."
"The most valuable feature is the fact that the product is cross-platform, because it reduces server TCO, for my small company."
"Now we use something where we can share the instances of the database which were created virtually, which is a very good feature, which I felt has improved our organization."
"Stick with the source, stick with Oracle MySQL as the leading vendor for MySQL technology."
"A good traditional database that supports JSON."
"As long as your application supports it well, and you are familiar with the scaling options and its limitations, you can’t go very wrong with MySQL, as it is a very mature product by now."
"MySQL is indeed the world's most popular open source database."
"It's a mature solution that's been around for decades."
 

Cons

"There are many areas of improvement , especially in terms of DDL query routing. Even though it's masterless, DDL queries need to be sent to the coordinator node. Also, setting up a multi-node environment could be more straightforward."
"More features in monitoring and the reporting could make it better."
"Citus Data needs to improve its stability. Do not consider this product if you have the budget. It is still developing and has a lot of issues."
"The dynamic scalability, clustering, dynamic replicas safeguard against failures, ease of setup and use all need to be improved."
"The analytics features are in need of improvement. They aren't as far along as the capabilities that you have in terms of analytics for SQL Server and Oracle."
"MySQL tutorials and guides could be improved. Often they are too complex for someone with no database experience to understand."
"I would like to see additional side management tools and IDEs."
"It requires a training platform."
"Mostly they will just choose the Oracle database. Why? Because of Oracle database's capability to handle the big workload for enterprise businesses. I think that will become their priority and MySQL will not be an option for them."
"The version of the product with free licensing does not offer stellar scalability support."
"The replication needs improvement. It's becoming a native cloud product like Oracle DB or Cockroach DB."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Citus Data is an open-source product."
"The solution’s pricing depends on customer requirements. A license is not required for the community edition."
"MySQL is a free and open-source solution."
"Can range from free to quite expensive, depending on the environments and requirements, so better to really set goals ahead of setting it up."
"MySQL Enterprise Support is not cheap, though might still be cheaper than Oracle or SQL Server. They may not have local support depending on where you’re based, but there are many smaller agencies out there that will readily provide support. You’ll need to spend some time looking around."
"There is not a license required for this solution."
"When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support."
"For the on-premise version, no license is required."
"I use a free version at present."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business75
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise64
 

Questions from the Community

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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...
 

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Find out what your peers are saying about Citus Data vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.