MySQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

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MySQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

PostgreSQL and MySQL are widely used open-source relational database management systems that compete in the database market. PostgreSQL seems to have the upper hand in terms of advanced functionalities and SQL compliance, while MySQL is noted for its speed and performance, particularly in web applications.

Features: PostgreSQL is known for following SQL standards closely and offers advanced features such as full-text search, GIS capabilities, and extensive support for various programming languages. It excels in scalability and robustness for handling large datasets. MySQL, on the other hand, is celebrated for its speed in web applications and provides flexibility with multiple storage engines, making it a favored choice for small to medium applications.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL could enhance its handling of certain SQL operations, such as 'INSERT IGNORE' and add support for unsigned integer data types. It has a reputation for a steeper learning curve. MySQL lacks some features like robust replication and transaction handling, and it faces performance issues with intensive InnoDB use compared to MyISAM, which are areas under development.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both PostgreSQL and MySQL are versatile in deployment, supporting various environments with increased popularity in cloud settings. PostgreSQL offers community-based support, though it can lack formal customer service. MySQL also benefits from a large community, but additional support might be necessary for enterprise setups. Both rely on external resources for technical support.

Pricing and ROI: PostgreSQL is completely open-source, providing a high ROI due to the absence of licensing fees, appealing to cost-conscious organizations. Costs may arise in training and support. MySQL is also open-source for base deployment, but enterprise features might incur additional expenses. Both solutions present excellent ROI, making them suitable for startups and businesses looking to avoid proprietary software costs.

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

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MySQL vs. PostgreSQL

June 2025

Helped 856,873 peers since 2012

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

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

149

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (5th)

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 (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MySQL is 10.4%, down from 17.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 17.9%, down from 20.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

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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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

"Fully scalable and stable SQL-based RDBMS, with a straightforward and easy setup."

"MySQL is an open-source product and has good community support. If you encounter any problem, you can easily ask other members of the community to help. They help you a lot. On top of being free, MySQL is a cross-platform database, meaning it can work on both Windows and Linux. It is very good for us."

"One of the most valuable features is MySQL's ability to run our email system. We use a system called Colab."

"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."

"MySQL has cross-platform support for multiple operating systems. The backups on a Linux machine can be restored on a Windows machine, and vice versa."

"I am totally satisfied with MySQL."

"The IO segregation in CGE is valuable."

"One of the best features is this solution is easy to use."

More MySQL pros

"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."

"It is very simple to manage."

"The initial setup is quick and easy."

"The built-in code procedural language is the most valuable. It has a built-in layer for code procedures. Its installation is very easy and quick, and it is free. It is also stable, and its performance is also good."

"The PostgreSQL database is similar to the SQL Server but has a slightly different technology that has similar resources as well. If the customer has the confidence using SQL Server, they will be fairly comfortable using this solution."

"Postgres is rock solid when deployed according to best practices as documented by the PostgreSQL community. When it's installed correctly, PostgreSQL is an enterprise-grade solution."

"The solution provides complete support in terms of the SQL dialect and behaves nicely when it comes to transactions."

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

Cons

"The replication needs improvement. It's becoming a native cloud product like Oracle DB or Cockroach DB."

"The GUI interface probably can be improved. Let us say I want to see the relationships in the database. In the query analyzer, I would like to go and drop the tables and create relationships between the tables. I haven't found a feature like that in MySQL. It was a shortcoming even in SQL Server. MySQL can have more performance monitoring tools. I know Google has these tools, but within MySQL, there are not that many tools to monitor things like performance and database locking. They might be in there, and I might not be familiar enough to know where they are. I am a pretty new user of MySQL."

"Sometimes, not because the version is not the latest version, there are some issues with it. Sometimes there's an issue with the server which creates issues with it."

"When working with a cluster wide, I have to use the MySQL cluster version."

"The availability of tools could be improved in the MySQL open-source platform. They can provide more analytical tools. I haven't had any particularly difficult issues to troubleshoot on MySQL, but in the past, on Microsoft SQL Server, I had to troubleshoot some difficult issues, and better tools were in place to see what was going on in real-time on the server. So, that's the bit that is lacking on the MySQL open-source platform."

"The manuals or documentation could be better."

"It does not stand out regarding scalability. When the company size increases, the user base having actual experience with (very) large MySQL solutions is reduced."

"At times, the autoscaling does not happen when there is a surge in load."

More MySQL cons

"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."

"The performance of PostgreSQL could improve."

"PostgreSQL could improve by adding data warehousing tools."

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

"PostgreSQL could improve by providing a geographical solution for tracking trucks and people in the field. They might already have features similar to this and I have not found them. I haven't done research about this topic."

"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."

"PostgreSQL doesn't have a feature for temporal SQL, which is useful for gathering versions of data. This feature should be included in PostgreSQL. This feature is available in MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle Database, and DB2."

"If it was free to use, it would be the perfect solution."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"It is open-source."

"We've never bought a commercial license. We just use the open-source community edition."

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

"We are using the free community edition of MySQL."

"I think that MySQL is a premium product."

"This is an open-source product that can be used free of charge."

"We pay a yearly subscription fee."

More MySQL pricing and cost advice

"The solution requires a license."

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

"We use the open-source version of PostgreSQL and not the enterprise edition."

"There is an annual license."

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

"We are using the free version of PostgreSQL."

"It is an open-source platform."

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

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

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

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 26% of the time

SAP HANA vs MySQL

Compared 9% of the time

MariaDB vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

SQL Server vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

Teradata vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

Compared 35% of the time

EDB Postgres Advanced Server vs PostgreSQL

Compared 11% of the time

MariaDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 8% of the time

Chroma vs PostgreSQL

Compared 8% of the time

LanceDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

Product Reports

Download MySQL product report

MySQL

May 2025

Download PostgreSQL product report

May 2025

Overview

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.

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