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MariaDB vs SQL Server 2014 Express 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

MariaDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (8th)
SQL Server 2014 Express
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
24th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 3.7%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SQL Server 2014 Express is 0.4%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
MariaDB3.7%
SQL Server 2014 Express0.4%
Other95.9%
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

AB
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
Has supported web application data needs but requires design adjustments to manage complex queries efficiently
Complex queries in MariaDB where the query needs to parse thousands of lines or data values face some performance issues. For small and medium-size volume, it is pretty good. If it goes beyond certain data and complex queries, we see performance issues. We tried the advanced replication feature between different regions, replicating data specifically residing on MariaDB to two different regions of MariaDB data, and there were some technical snags in terms of slowness and longer processing time. Point-in-time recovery in MariaDB is good for small databases. When data volume increases beyond 5 GB or 10 GB per day or runs into double-digit GBs, we found some performance issues. For data below 10 GB, it works fine. Performance is the primary focus area for MariaDB, particularly during transactions or complex query jobs where slow performance is observed. MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.
reviewer2805456 - PeerSpot reviewer
Student at a university with 501-1,000 employees
Practical database projects have strengthened my query skills and improved real data handling
However, I also realized its limitation when I tried working on a large database. It is not perfect because it provides 10 GB per database. If we are storing a large database or large data, 10 GB is not proper for storing. Overall, I would recommend SQL Server 2014 Express for a student and as a free version you can use it, but not for a large database or a company database. There are also performance issues. SQL Server 2014 Express is fast, but it is not perfectly scalable because it provides only 10 GB per database size. However, it has proper error handling. I think SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved by first improving the database size. Making the maximum size a user can have per database is needed. Right now it is 10 GB. Increase it to a maximum so a user can save as much data as they want, approaching unlimited data storage. Additionally, the operating system should be supported on every Windows variation, including Linux and every other operating system. A backup option is also needed because SSMS is not providing built-in backup features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I recommend this solution; it's great for web applications and it just works."
"With MariaDB, you can use it as a column store database, which means you replicate your transactional data as columnar data and then you can use it as a sort-of business intelligence, and it's a very easy product to set up."
"The stability of MariaDB is good, it has high availability."
"One of the great features of MariaDB is its scalability. It's easy to handle even with large databases."
"What I like best about MariaDB is that it is open-source and reliable."
"We use MariaDB for identity provider services. Most of the things that we are doing are deployed in the container mode. All such solutions require a database, and MariaDB is easier to use for these kinds of deployments."
"I like the global transaction IDs (GTIDs) feature. It's quite reliable for replication between a master and a replica server, and it's a feature that MySQL also has but implemented differently."
"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the power it provides."
"SQL Server 2014 Express has impacted my organization positively because it is time-saving."
"SQL Server 2014 Express helped me gain a real-world application and practical database skills."
"SQL Server 2014 Express has provided a return on investment by saving money and time compared to other SQL servers such as MySQL and PostgreSQL, which are similar but more expensive and less user-friendly for non-technical clients."
"SQL Server 2014 Express has positively impacted my organization by improving my knowledge in SQL coding and making my work faster."
"The best features of SQL Server 2014 Express are that it can be downloaded, it is open source, can be downloaded on any desktop, and it is a free version with no charge for downloads, making it highly useful for students and developers building applications for standalone or enterprise applications."
 

Cons

"MariaDB has to improve from a management perspective."
"The stability could always continue to be improved upon."
"It requires enterprise integration improvements from the security, and audit perspective (AD integration etc.). Also, existing integration into BI tools is not present."
"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."
"It's not very stable. It needs improvement."
"Could have more integration with user platforms."
"MariaDB could improve by adding support for non-relational structures and new data types."
"Integration with AWS could be improved."
"SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved by increasing the maximum 10 gigabytes for a database, as it would be better if this limit were increased."
"SQL Server 2014 Express can be improved as there are some resource limits. There are limitations on database size, memory, and CPU usage which restrict scalability."
"SQL Server 2014 Express could be improved by offering multiple authentication methods."
"However, I also realized its limitation when I tried working on a large database. It is not perfect because it provides 10 GB per database."
"Whenever we put more data, the query time is more because it is not an Enterprise version and the data storage is limited to 10 GB, which is the only drawback I can identify."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source solution."
"MariaDB is available for free."
"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."
"The product is not expensive."
"MariaDB is a free-to-use solution."
"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."
"When it comes to MariaDB, it should have a more cost-effective license."
"We pay for a yearly license."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
9%
Construction Company
38%
Healthcare Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data. The cost depends on the volume of data and different features enabled during configuration, such as backup ...
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
Sometimes, complex queries that were supported in Oracle are not available in MariaDB. Advanced indexing is not available. Oracle is very advanced compared to MariaDB, and those advanced features a...
What needs improvement with SQL Server 2014 Express?
However, I also realized its limitation when I tried working on a large database. It is not perfect because it provides 10 GB per database. If we are storing a large database or large data, 10 GB i...
What is your primary use case for SQL Server 2014 Express?
My main use case for SQL Server 2014 Express is that I use it for my internship. In the company, I am also working with SQL Server 2014 version, and I also use it for my academic project. As a stud...
What advice do you have for others considering SQL Server 2014 Express?
Overall, I would recommend SQL Server 2014 Express for a student. I advise others looking into using SQL Server 2014 Express that if you are storing a structured database, then you have to use SQL ...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about MariaDB vs. SQL Server 2014 Express and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.