MariaDB vs MySQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

MariaDB and Oracle are both solutions in the Open Source Databases category. MariaDB is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.9, while Oracle is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6. MariaDB holds a 6.7% mindshare in OSD, compared to Oracle’s 10.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of MariaDB users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

MariaDB

Read 59 MariaDB reviews

4,149 Views
3,815 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

MySQL

Read 148 MySQL reviews

7,469 Views
5,812 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

PostgreSQL

Read 125 PostgreSQL reviews

8,785 Views
7,651 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

MariaDB

MySQL

PostgreSQL

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between MariaDB, MySQL, and PostgreSQL based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about PostgreSQL, Oracle, Firebird and others in Open Source Databases.

To learn more, read our detailed Open Source Databases Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Open Source Databases

April 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 6.7%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 10.8%, down from 17.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 18.0%, down from 20.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

KumarManish

Senior Technical Manager at Johnson Controls, Inc.

Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products

We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

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Muzzamil Hussain

Assistant Vice President at National Bank of Pakistan

Native encryption ensures secure data management with a simple deployment

The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities. By default, we can provide encryption, and this feature in MySQL is why we prefer it over other databases. The native encryption in MySQL encourages us to use this database model more frequently compared to Oracle and other databases. With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment. It perfectly supports our ROI, and we have no issues with its functionality.

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AdityaSharma3

Vice President Business at Techmagnate: Digital Marketing Agency

Transaction processes are fast and good replication capability

Use cases include querying data warehouses and databases to fetch data for clients already working on PostgreSQL. We also use Postgres for building reports It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping. The query speed is fast, and the…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The performance is very good."

"It's easy to set up."

"MariaDB has a straightforward initial setup with easy-to-understand documentation."

"The integration with other products is seamless."

"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the replication mode."

"I haven't faced any technical issues with the product, and it works fine."

"It is an absolutely stable solution."

"The product has good documentation and you can find many examples online."

More MariaDB pros

"The solution is free to use, which is its most valuable aspect."

"The feature that I have found most valuable is its ubiquity. MySQL is everywhere, so if I need to find a developer to do things to it that I don't know, it's very easy to find someone who has expertise in it."

"When comparing MySQL to other solutions it is easier to use and boots up faster. Additionally, when you want to query a lot of data, MySQL is better in performance."

"The one interesting thing about this product is that it is open source. It comes from an open source product. MySQL has been positioned as open source, but it also provides support."

"However, it is easy to scale MySQL using the functions provided with the product."

"MySQL's clustering features are very strong, and you can automate scripting, so that helps. We wrote a Terraform script and ran it."

"It has a remote access feature to manage the database from a remote location. This enables in-work collaboration."

"I like MySQL because of its community."

More MySQL pros

"Scalable, stable, and easy to manage database system, with a straightforward installation."

"It is very simple to manage."

"The community support and the open-source community for it are good."

"What I like is that it's quite powerful in terms of performance."

"Initial setup is simple."

"It has completely met our needs. It works, and it is robust. We haven't had any problems with what PostgreSQL does for us and the way it does it. That's why we've been using it for so long. We understand it, and it does the job."

"The product is very similar to the SQL Server."

"The most valuable features are the price, stability, it is scalable and is used by our clients in small business environments, and it is a simple product to use."

Cons

"The ability to create stored procedures in MariaDB is an area where the tool lacks a bit."

"A well-known issue for a lot of different users is associated with write-intensive applications."

"The scaling for database online transactions needs improvement."

"The performance could be a bit better."

"The configuration could be improved. It should be easier."

"In future releases, mainly the addition of security features would be beneficial for MariaDB."

"Maria DB has to improve from a management perspective."

"The dashboard and pricing need improvement."

More MariaDB cons

"The GUI could improve to make MySQL better."

"The data masking functionality should be improved as well as the native encryption functionality in the MySQL database."

"The GUI could improve in MySQL."

"The auto-tuning and NDB cluster has some limitations regarding foreign keys."

"Since we upgraded from 8.0.12 to 8.0.22, it has had some slowness-related issues. Some of the queries that were fast previously are quite slow now. I did some research, and I found many people complaining about it."

"As an open-source product, there isn't really any technical support available if you get into trouble or have issues."

"The solution is expensive."

"It should have some code analytical functions. It can also have a monitoring tool."

More MySQL cons

"The interface could be much better."

"The search option is not very good."

"Postgres should focus on building a stronger knowledge base. They also need to expand their integration capabilities, so more tools and resources are available to manage it."

"When you get a large number of records in a database and start doing various queries, it can adversely impact the performance of the live running systems. That's an area we continue to look at and mean to improve, but it is not only because of PostgreSQL. It is also because of the way the schemas are put together, and certain events are triggered. So, it is because of both parties."

"PostgreSQL’s performance could be improved."

"Instead of the installation agent downloading all the packages for the install, it should allow the user to download the packages separately on their own to do the install."

"It needs more integration."

"The solution needs to improve the query, documentation, and JSON data functionality."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is quite good. You can have the open source, free version, which has adequate capacity."

"The tool is open-source."

"The product is not expensive."

"The licensing cost is approximately $4000.00 per year and the licensing is based on the software and the number of posts that you make."

"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."

"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."

"It is an open-source solution."

"We pay for a yearly license."

More MariaDB pricing and cost advice

"I would rate the solution’s pricing a six out of ten. The solution is not cheap but it’s a fair value. The pricing depends on the use cases of our customers. Some of our customers use the community edition which is license free and a good fit for their use cases. However, we encourage our bigger customers to sign up because of the scalability issues. The paid versions get direct technical support from Oracle."

"There is not a license required for this solution."

"I use a free version at present."

"There is a licensing cost because we are going for a proprietary product. There are some other versions for which there is no licensing cost."

"The solution does not come with a licensing fee."

"The tool is open source."

"There is a license needed for this solution."

"It has a community version."

More MySQL pricing and cost advice

"It is free, but if you need support, you can go for the commercial version called EnterpriseDB. They provide paid support, and they can even do hosting for you if you want standby and support."

"The solution requires a license."

"There is an annual license."

"The licensing model is good."

"The tool is cheaply priced compared to other RDBMS providers in the market."

"We do not pay for licensing."

"It is open source. There is no licensing."

"It could be much cheaper. If you would like to build an application on Amazon today, PostgreSQL is the standard database with Redshift. If you want other databases, you can add them, but PostgreSQL is the basis of everything. It's a question of money, that's it."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MariaDB?

The integration with other products is seamless.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?

I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often pref...

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What needs improvement with MariaDB?

The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a...

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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 y...

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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 version...

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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 ...

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How does Firebird SQL compare with PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL was designed in a way that provides you with not only a high degree of flexibility but also offers you a c...

See all answers

What do you like most about PostgreSQL?

It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?

The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers ...

See all answers

Comparisons

SQL Server vs MariaDB

Compared 24% of the time

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB

Compared 23% of the time

Oracle Database vs MariaDB

Compared 10% of the time

Percona Server vs MariaDB

Compared 5% of the time

SQLite vs MariaDB

Compared 3% of the time

More MariaDB Competitors

Firebird SQL vs MySQL

Compared 26% of the time

SAP HANA vs MySQL

Compared 9% of the time

Teradata vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

SQL Server vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle Database vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 36% of the time

EDB Postgres Advanced Server vs PostgreSQL

Compared 11% of the time

Chroma vs PostgreSQL

Compared 8% of the time

LanceDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

OpenSearch vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB

April 2025

Download MariaDB product report

Buyer's Guide

MySQL

April 2025

Download MySQL product report

Buyer's Guide

PostgreSQL

April 2025

Download PostgreSQL product report

Overview

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.”

MariaDB

MySQL is a cost-efficient and scalable relational database management system widely used in web, mobile applications, and academic projects.

MySQL is utilized for backend operations, data analysis, reporting, financial transactions, and ERP databases. It supports deployment on local servers, Cloud, and Kubernetes. Its free, open-source nature along with strong community support make it popular among companies. MySQL's compatibility with multiple platforms and programming languages enhances its appeal. While it remains stable and easy to use, areas such as replication, clustering, and backup require improvement to better serve enterprise applications. Enhanced security, error messages, and monitoring tools are also desired for a better user experience.

What are the most important features of MySQL?

Free and Open-Source: No licensing costs, perfect for budget-conscious projects.
Compatibility: Works with multiple platforms and programming languages.
High Performance: Efficient performance across large datasets.
Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing business needs.
Clustering and Replication: Ensures data availability and redundancy.
Easy Installation: Quick setup process on various operating systems.
Community Support: Extensive resources and community assistance.
Cross-Platform: Operates seamlessly on different operating systems.
Data Management Interface: Simplifies data handling and manipulation.

What are the benefits of using MySQL?

Cost Efficiency: Reduce expenses with a free, open-source database.
Scalability: Adapt to increasing data demands effortlessly.
Performance: Handle large datasets with ease and speed.
Community Support: Access a vast pool of knowledge and resources.
Flexibility: Integrate with various platforms and languages for diverse use cases.
Data Reliability: Clustering and replication for high data availability.

In multiple industries, MySQL supports internal applications, billing systems, academic teaching purposes, and ERP databases. Companies leverage MySQL for Cloud and local deployments, ensuring effective data manipulation and backend operations in diverse projects. Its role in financial transactions and reporting further emphasizes its versatility.

Oracle

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.

PostgreSQL

Sample Customers

Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.

1. Apple 2. Cisco 3. Fujitsu 4. Instagram 5. Netflix 6. Red Hat 7. Sony 8. Uber 9. Cisco Systems 10. Skype 11. LinkedIn 12. Etsy 13. Yelp 14. Reddit 15. Dropbox 16. Slack 17. Twitch 18. WhatsApp 19. Snapchat 20. Shazam 21. SoundCloud 22. The New York Times 23. Cisco WebEx 24. Atlassian 25. Cisco Meraki 26. Heroku 27. GitLab 28. Zalando 29. OpenTable 30. Trello 31. Square Enix 32. Bloomberg

Buyer's Guide

Open Source Databases

April 2025

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