MariaDB vs PostgreSQL comparison

MariaDB and PostgreSQL are both solutions in the Open Source Databases category. MariaDB is ranked #4 with an average rating of 7.9, while PostgreSQL is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.4. MariaDB holds a 6.7% mindshare in OSD, compared to PostgreSQL’s 17.7% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of MariaDB users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of PostgreSQL users who would recommend it.

MariaDB

Read 59 MariaDB reviews

3,181 Views
1,758 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

PostgreSQL

Read 125 PostgreSQL reviews

7,459 Views
3,894 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

MariaDB

PostgreSQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

PostgreSQL and MariaDB are leading contenders in the open-source database category, enhancing database management with their unique strengths and features. PostgreSQL appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced features which cater to complex corporate needs, although MariaDB holds a niche for users transitioning from MySQL with its simplicity and performance.

Features: PostgreSQL is recognized for its advanced SQL standards support, scalability, and concurrency which make it ideal for complex corporate environments. Its open-source nature and diverse extensions boost adaptability. MariaDB, known for its simplicity and efficiency, may not have the feature depth of PostgreSQL but excels particularly in aiding MySQL users switching to open-source.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL could improve performance on read-only queries and support for certain SQL functions. Additionally, its setup complexity and limited replication features could be enhanced. MariaDB might benefit from improved scalability and robustness for large-scale environments, especially with extensive clustering and replication needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL supports a range of deployments including cloud solutions but often requires technical expertise. While community support is strong, centralized tech support is lacking without third-party options. MariaDB offers seamless deployment in similar environments and eases transitions for MySQL users. While it enjoys community-driven support, paid services are available for quick issue resolution.

Pricing and ROI: Both PostgreSQL and MariaDB offer cost-effective solutions being open-source with no licensing fees. PostgreSQL’s rich features may incur higher implementation costs due to the expertise required, whereas MariaDB is more economical in setup and operation thanks to its user-friendly interface and compatibility with existing MySQL installations.

To learn more, read our detailed MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

June 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:

Categories and Ranking

MariaDB

Ranking in Open Source Databases

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (4th)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 6.7%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 17.7%, down from 20.3% 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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PavithrarajShetty

Software Architect at Tetherfi

Offers simplicity and is cheaply priced

I haven't gone through the scalability aspect since I was using MySQL Server. I haven't worked to a high level in PostgreSQL, but with MySQL Server, I have managed clustering and partitioning. I think I haven't put much focus on PostgreSQL, so I am not sure how it behaves or how it works.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Installation is straightforward."

"The documentation is quite straightforward."

"The solution is very stable. It was originally built under MySQL. It has a similar level of stability."

"I would say that for most use cases it works fine."

"The integration with other products is seamless."

"For non-production purposes. I'm just using it for my personal project, so it works quite well. I haven't faced any errors yet."

"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is an open-source product and offers its users great online community support."

"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the power it provides. It is a powerful solution."

More MariaDB pros

"The system can perform faster analysis by providing it with a lot of memory. Speed is crucial for analytics. Currently, the main reason we haven't adopted Elasticsearch is that we lack the necessary expertise to manage it."

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

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

"It's a standard reliable database management system."

"The solution is scalable, it is very good."

"The solution is open-source and free to use."

"It's a useful solution, that can be widely used."

"The main value is that it is open source, which means it is free. Our organization has the initiative to go to open source to cut down on cost. Oracle costs us $6 million a year right now, which is killing us, and Postgres costs nothing. So, there is a big push to go to Postgres."

Cons

"Replication could be better, and it's not so simple. It would be better if they had a replication server. It would make things a lot easier. You need to have that replication server, but not in the same server farm. Then there will be a bit of latency between both because you should have one in one city and another one in a different city. That kind of solution should be more baked into every single database today. Mirroring the database in a live environment where any record written on the production server replicates instantly across the fiber on the other server wasn't easy. Many people don't even bother with that, and they just run one server."

"When we have had issues with accidental computer shutdown or a power outage, our MariaDB database was corrupted."

"The license should be cheaper and closer to that offered by MySQL, Oracle and other products."

"I'd like to see improved materialized views, like the ability to save select queries. This feature is missing in MariaDB compared to other relational databases like Oracle and SQL Server."

"The dashboard and pricing need improvement."

"The PL/SQL performance is slow if you have big batch jobs running overnight."

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

"Document caching is an area of concern in the product, where improvements are required to help MariaDB improve on the previous queries as they are retained, and you can roll back to them."

More MariaDB cons

"PostgreSQL could improve by being more user-friendly. In SQL Server they have a studio where you can easily do management but not in this solution."

"The price could be better."

"There could be a plugin to distribute the data on servers for the product."

"I have noticed that user and access management should be improved."

"I'm not really able to customize it."

"It could be improved by using parallelization. You want basically, distributed computing."

"I find it difficult to get connectors on the tool. For example, .NET has only one free provider in PostgreSQL. I need to pay the provider if I need something more sophisticated features. Other languages like PHP and Java have good community support. We need community support for .NET."

"It would be good to have machine learning functionality in this solution, similar to Microsoft SQL Server and other solutions. Machine learning capability for a basic level or a common user would be useful. It can also have good reporting capabilities."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is free, but if you want the enterprise version you will need to pay for some licenses but the cost is less than other solutions, such as Oracle."

"The tool is open-source."

"We use the solution's free version."

"MariaDB is available for free."

"It is an open-source solution."

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

"We pay for a yearly license."

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

More MariaDB pricing and cost advice

"The solution requires a license."

"There is an annual license."

"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."

"It is also open-source so it is free."

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

"The need for our customers to pay for licences is contingent on their projects and budgets."

"PostgreSQL is open-source, so if capable admins are available then the setup cost can be $0."

"Affordable solution."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

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 prefer the Community Edition because it's free.

See all answers

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 bit cheaper.

See all answers

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 cheap and easy-to-use solution. It gives you the ability to redesign and audit yo...

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 willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.

See all answers

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB

Compared 24% of the time

SQL Server vs MariaDB

Compared 24% of the time

Oracle Database vs MariaDB

Compared 9% of the time

MySQL vs MariaDB

Compared 9% of the time

Percona Server vs MariaDB

Compared 5% of the time

More MariaDB Competitors

Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 35% of the time

MySQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 11% of the time

EDB Postgres Advanced Server vs PostgreSQL

Compared 10% of the time

Chroma vs PostgreSQL

Compared 8% of the time

LanceDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB

June 2025

Download MariaDB product report

Buyer's Guide

PostgreSQL

June 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

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

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

MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

June 2025

Free Report: MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

Find out what your peers are saying about MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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