MySQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

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MySQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

PostgreSQL and MySQL are both prominent contenders in the open-source database management system category. While PostgreSQL often has an edge due to its advanced functionality and compliance with standards, MySQL attracts users with its speed and ease of deployment.

Features: PostgreSQL is known for comprehensive SQL standard support, robustness, and advanced functionality, ideal for feature-rich applications. It handles complex queries and data integrity well. MySQL excels in speed and reliability for web applications, integrates well with programming languages, and is known for fast transaction handling and web integration.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL lacks MySQL's broad compatibility with open-source applications, struggles with read-only queries, and does not support some SQL operations like 'INSERT IGNORE'. It also has challenges in user-friendliness and documentation complexity. MySQL faces limitations in standard SQL compliance, complex features like clustering, and lacks advanced replication features available in premium offerings.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL offers a wide deployment range, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, supported by a strong community but lacking formal technical support. MySQL provides similar deployment flexibility, enhanced by extensive community and enterprise-level support options from Oracle.

Pricing and ROI: Both PostgreSQL and MySQL are open-source with a low total cost of ownership. PostgreSQL's costs are mainly in training and implementation, with support available through consultancy. MySQL offers a free community version and a commercial enterprise edition with advanced features and support, delivering high ROI due to its functionality and cost-effectiveness.

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

MySQL vs. PostgreSQL

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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

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)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MySQL is 8.9%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 16.6%, down from 19.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
MySQL	8.9%
PostgreSQL	16.6%
Other	74.5%

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Prabir Kumar Kundu

SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd

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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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.

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

"It is easy to use."

"The way that MySQL has improved my organization is that it comes free and also works fine on the technical side."

"The initial setup was easy. I work in an agile way, which means coding and deploying quickly."

"MySQL gives us all of the critical features that we need in a database, but without the costs."

"Compared to other databases, MySQL is cheaper and we were using the community edition which was free of cost. ML is fully integrated with the database in HeatWave. It has also many other features. MySQL is a far better solution in terms of pricing."

"Like other databases, it has a rich set of functions, such as stored procedures and its own procedural language, which is akin to Oracle SQL. It also has trigger and cursor commands you would expect with a good database language."

"The initial setup for the SQL database is not complex and it even integrates into the platform. You set up the recipe and then just follow the runbook, the build book. Then it works as long as you follow the procedures."

More MySQL pros

"PostgreSQL is very powerful, easy to manage, and has many features."

"Postgres has some functions called JSONB aggregators or other aggregators, which are quite useful."

"We often use PostgreSQL for operations monitoring because we are a manufacturing company."

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

"PostgreSQL is stable. It's available, stable, and reliable."

"The initial setup is quick and easy."

"It is very useful for both structured and unstructured data. You can store unstructured and structured data in PostgreSQL. It is easy to use. You can easily manage things through PostgreSQL Admin. It is cost-effective. Its on-premise version is free. It is agnostic of on-premise or cloud. You can install it on the cloud or on-premises. It is available with all clouds, and you can also install it on desktop or Windows Servers."

"The most valuable feature is the performance."

Cons

"I would like to improve the solution’s pricing for licenses."

"It is not as powerful as SQL Server. It can be more powerful. It is not scalable and has certain limitations, which is not the case with SQL Server."

"I would like to see more integrations of the solution with other platforms and improve the support on different data types."

"We want to continue using MySQL but it merged with Oracle and the scalage changed."

"Improvements to MySQL depend on the specific use case. For example, in my scenario, I frequently need to maintain and store data, which can then be utilized to generate reports. On the other hand, others may suggest incorporating a feature that allows for easier visualization of the data, such as what is available in Power BI or other similar tools."

"I am looking for the Temporal SQL feature, which basically means that there is complete history for each table. This feature is currently available in MariaDB. PostgreSQL has something called a foreign-data wrapper, which is another way to access external data from inside. MySQL could have a similar feature."

"Improvements are required in character set support, scalability, and big data sets."

"It requires a training platform."

More MySQL cons

"It could be more secure."

"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 uses high memory compared to its counterparts when a highly demanding load is involved, especially one that makes many concurrent connections to the database."

"As PostgreSQL is an open-source product, you do have to do a bit more configuration and management yourself."

"There are several features I would like to improve that aren't working as expected. It's likely that the latest version is doing something that was missed in the previous versions. For example, the output parameters — the stored procedures — is something new in PostgreSQL that Firebird has already had for a long time."

"The performance of PostgreSQL could improve."

"The user interface for the clients could be easier to use as they are small businesses. From a technical support perspective, the documentation could be improved."

"There are some products out there that have a slightly different method of implementation for the SQL language. Some of those are slightly better in some areas, and PostgreSQL is slightly better in some areas. I would probably like to match all of those products together. It is just down to the functionality. For example, Oracle has a number of options within SQL that are outside of what you would class as the SQL standard. PostgreSQL misses some of those, but PostgreSQL does other things that are better than what Oracle does. I would like to merge those two products so that there is a certain amount of functionality in a single product."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft licensing for SQL Server is probably ten times more expensive. I used to work for the government, and I remember when we were looking into upgrading to the enterprise version of SQL Server 2019, the licensing was going to cost 350,000. To get the equivalent in the cloud, it was going to be about four grand to get the same processing power and everything else. With MySQL, it was going to be about 300 for the same licensing. Cost-wise, for sure, there is a huge difference. Would you prefer to pay 300 a month or 3,000 to have the same amount of data resources? You might lose a few options that you need, but it isn't worth the price difference."

"MySQL is a free and open-source solution."

"MySQL is cheaper than Microsoft SQL Server."

"We are using the licensed version of MySQL."

"I use a free version at present."

"I am using the Community Edition, which is available free of charge."

"The price of the solution is good because we have a good partner."

"MySQL is very cheap. It could be free. It also has a yearly licensing option."

More MySQL pricing and cost advice

"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."

"This solution can offer a cheaper choice for customers since it is open-source."

"The licensing model is good."

"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 free. In terms of operating costs, it basically needs the same platform on which Oracle runs."

"We are using the free version of PostgreSQL."

"The solution requires a license."

"There is an annual license."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	73
Midsize Enterprise	31
Large Enterprise	61

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	58
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	45

Questions from the Community

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...

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...

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.

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.

Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MySQL

Compared 22% of the time

SAP HANA vs MySQL

Compared 7% of the time

SQL Server vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

MariaDB vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

Oracle Database vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

Compared 31% of the time

MariaDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 7% of the time

EDB Postgres Advanced Server vs PostgreSQL

Compared 7% of the time

Chroma vs PostgreSQL

Compared 6% of the time

LanceDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

Product Reports

MySQL

Download MySQL product report

Download PostgreSQL product report

Overview

MySQL is an open-source database known for its ease of use and high performance. It offers features like replication and clustering, making it ideal for diverse applications. Its cost-effectiveness and LAMP integration are key advantages for businesses.

MySQL supports a variety of languages and platforms, providing reliable, scalable data management. Its graphical interface and LAMP architecture integration enhance its usability, while community support further strengthens its appeal. Challenges include scalability issues with large databases, lack of advanced clustering, and limited high-availability features. Complex queries may affect performance, and integration can pose difficulties. The outdated interface and insufficient documentation are also concerns, along with replication and backup reliability issues.

What are MySQL's key features?

Open-source nature: Freely available and customizable.
Cross-platform compatibility: Supports multiple operating systems.
Scalability: Capable of handling large volumes of data.
Replication and clustering: Ensure data redundancy and load balancing.
Full-text search: Provides powerful search capabilities.
LAMP integration: Seamlessly integrates with Linux, Apache, and PHP.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost-effectiveness: Reduces expenses due to its open-source nature.
High performance: Efficiently processes large volumes of data.
Active community support: Access to a wide range of resources and expertise.
Versatile use cases: Suitable for varied applications including web development and IoT.

MySQL is widely implemented in industries such as web development, e-commerce, and finance. It's used for managing dynamic websites, powering e-commerce platforms, and supporting financial applications. Its compatibility with PHP and cost-effectiveness make it suitable for CMS platforms like WordPress. With cloud services integration, MySQL is a backend choice for scalable applications in various sectors.

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.

Sample Customers

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

MySQL vs. PostgreSQL