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Director - Software Development at PRI
Is very simple to install, and the commands are exactly the same as MySQL
Pros and Cons
- "It is very simple to install, and the commands are exactly the same as MySQL."
- "It should work across all fields like SQLite, as it is the basis of any application, even apps for phones and the like."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
It is very simple to install, and the commands are exactly the same as MySQL.
The learning curve is small and standardized, and not anything complicated. Other than that, it isn’t much different than other solutions. It's very similar to MySQL, but a little bit more light-weighted compared to it. Unless you do a very heavy login of data, it will be fine. It is based on AWS, and MariaDB is good for certain things.
What needs improvement?
It should work across all fields like SQLite, as it is the basis of any application, even apps for phones and the like.
How are customer service and support?
Usually, we are capable of handling our programs. We rarely use customer support. One time I got in touch with Oracle's customer service, but it was just one time. In general, we can handle the issues by ourselves. We are not really lower-level users and are all skilled with the programs.
Buyer's Guide
MariaDB
July 2025

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Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used PostgreSQL and Oracle. PostgreSQL and MariaDB are quite similar and we still use it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very simple. The deployment was done within a few minutes.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I always use the free version.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate MariaDB almost an eight out of ten.
I think it's a pretty useful database. It's very simple to install and that's one of the very positive things about it because sometimes if you go into tools like Oracle, it is more difficult. It is not just the downloading of the installer on any computer from Linux or Mac or Windows. MariaDB works in a blink of an eye, and the database runs right away.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

A scalable tool that helps with the deployment of web applications
Pros and Cons
- "It is an absolutely stable solution."
- "The difficult part related to the product stems not from the tool itself but is related to learning how to implement the product in the right way without creating any wrong configuration that could cause security issues or performance issues."
What is our primary use case?
I use MariaDB in my company for the deployment of web applications. MariaDB serves as a database software for web applications.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are that it is very stable and reliable. I like the fact that MariaDB is an open-source product and not resource-intensive. MariaDB runs on most of the operating systems of Linux. MariaDB is a cross-platform product, making it a great database choice.
What needs improvement?
MariaDB is a bit technical product, so whoever uses it will have to read a lot of documentation, which I don't think is a disadvantage of the product as it is just its nature. I believe that open-source products, in general, are a bit more advanced than regular systems. The difficult part related to the product stems not from the tool itself but is related to learning how to implement the product in the right way without creating any wrong configuration that could cause security issues or performance issues.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MariaDB for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is an absolutely stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution.
Two or three people in my company use MariaDB.
How are customer service and support?
I never had the need to contact the technical support team of MariaDB. I would usually find MariaDB's documentation and details online to read about how to deal with issues. Usually, issues in MariaDB are related to configurations more than stability as long as you make sure you install or use the stable version, which is considered to be a long-term supported system.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I moved from MySQL to MariaDB. MySQL is less maintained compared to MariaDB. Feature-wise and stability-wise, MariaDB is way better than MySQL from Oracle.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment process of MariaDB is easy, provided you go through its documentation.
The solution can be deployed in ten to fifteen minutes.
Users can take care of the deployment part of the product by themselves, though, at times, it may depend on the project size that you plan to support with the software. If a project demands software that offers scalability and very high availability, the deployment process may take an entire day with many experienced engineers. If the deployment process is carried out for a single small system, it takes around fifteen to thirty minutes.
The solution is deployed on both the cloud and on-premises.
What other advice do I have?
Quarterly maintenance is required for the solution. When some security incidents occur, the solution's maintenance may be required. If a security issue related to the system is revealed online, it would need immediate maintenance. Maintenance is required depending on the updates provided by the product, which usually occurs once a month or once a quarter.
One person in the company can take care of the maintenance phase of the product.
I rate the overall product a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
MariaDB
July 2025

Learn what your peers think about MariaDB. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Project Manager at Leyton & Associés, SAS
Powerful, reliable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the power it provides. It is a powerful solution."
- "MariaDB could improve by adding support for non-relational structures and new data types."
What is our primary use case?
MariaDB is mainly used for current applications where there are connectors already in place with CROs that create everything in the architecture.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the power it provides. It is a powerful solution.
What needs improvement?
MariaDB could improve by adding support for non-relational structures and new data types.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MariaDB for approximately two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The way we configure MariaDB, it's very scalable and there is no performance issue.
We have approximately 10,000 end-users using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
I have not used the technical support from MariaDB.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used MySQL. I switched from MySQL to MariaDB because there are more updates with MariaDB
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of MariaDB was simple. It took a few hours. We started with one server and then we did monitoring of the platform to see if the performance was adequate or not. If it was a bit underperforming, we would add resources, such as CPU and memory. If it was a larger gap, we would add a new server to the cluster.
What about the implementation team?
We have approximately 10 people in the DevOps team that look after the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
MariaDB is a free-to-use solution.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others.
I rate MariaDB an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Operations Manager Uganda at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
A great language that has PL/SQL compatibility
Pros and Cons
- "The solution has PL/SQL compatibility."
- "The PL/SQL performance is slow if you have big batch jobs running overnight."
What is our primary use case?
We develop financial software such as credit management solutions for banks, financial institutions, and telcos, basically anyone who deals with credit. We are users of this product and resell to our customers. I'm the operations manager.
What is most valuable?
The solution is valuable because it has PL/SQL compatibility. Our base was previously on Oracle and we wanted to change our solution to a DBS which meant finding something compatible with that language. It's really a great language, especially as it's one that you can get for free. If we build our technical knowledge, then we won't need third-party support which is a strong plus.
What needs improvement?
The PL/SQL performance is slow. If you have big batch jobs running in the middle of the night for a bank doing its end-of-day audits, then MariaDB will take three times longer than using Oracle. The product lacks sufficient detail in its reports. MariaDB has many extra features that would help to optimize the DB in the enterprise version and it would be helpful if it were possible to add some of those features in the open source version.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable in the right perameters. If I have a customer looking for something that's not batch job heavy, then we use MariaDB. If I have a core system that's going to take a ton of records and go through all these in the batch jobs at night, then we default to Oracle, because it's faster. We've proposed it to enterprise clients and we've proven to them that it's stable enough.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's probably one of the most used RDBMS's for scalability. We haven't really tested it on millions and millions of customers but there's no problem with scalability.
How are customer service and support?
We use the community for support. If we were to purchase support, the cost would be around 5k per year. It's a big difference. We usually just use the after-market support and haven't required any direct support from the company. We've been able to handle it internally.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
When I compare MariaDB to Oracle, an industry leader, the big difference we found is performance in the PL/SQL mode. With Oracle, regular queries get executed at the same level with no issues. For ease of use and the setup, they're pretty similar. We also looked at IBM DB2 but there were compatibility issues and it was significantly slower.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is really easy for our team. It's a quick download and configuration. We have set parameters.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use the open source edition which doesn't require licensing. We don't offer the enterprise edition, because if we're taking the customer off Oracle, for the additional benefits, we have to optimize the cost. If we have a customer with budget constraints, it's saving hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes millions, if we use MariaDB instead of Oracle.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution nine out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Manager at Melones Oil Terminal
Open-source, very similar to MySQL and easy to deploy
Pros and Cons
- "It's open source."
- "I’m not sure if it can scale."
What is our primary use case?
I installed the solution here in the company when they required MySQL. I tried MariaDB instead, and it works fine due to the fact that MariaDB is an exact clone of some parts of MySQL. It also has a database for a help desk solution, called a GPLI.
What is most valuable?
It's open source. It's freeware. It's very similar to MySQL. MySQL is a very good database management system, a relational database management system. However, the problem, or the potential problem with MySQL, is that it is under Oracle's umbrella, and I want to be prepared in case it's being commercialized and closed.
MariaDB was created by the same creator of MySQL. However, before he sold it to, at that time, Sun Microsystems, it was later acquired by Oracle. It's the same creators. It's the same programmer. That's what I like.
It's a one-time installation and configuration, and then I almost forgot about it. What I like is that it's very easy to configure, and just from time to time, you can make your backups, and that's it.
What needs improvement?
I don’t have any particular issue with the solution. It works well for my purposes.
I’m not sure if it can scale, so I’m not sure how it would fare for significant companies. I know that MariaDB has a cluster solution that I don't need at the moment. Probably, it would be a good idea to have a way just to confirm that the cluster is available for when I require scaling.
For how long have I used the solution?
We’ve been using the solution for one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It’s quite stable. I haven’t had issues with bugs or glitches. It doesn’t crash or freeze. It’s reliable. It’s very similar to MySQL.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I’m not sure if it is scalable. Scalability doesn’t affect me as I am only using one application. I don’t require any scaling capabilities.
Indirectly through the help desk solution, the whole company has about 60 plus users on this product.
How are customer service and support?
It's open source and freeware. The support that I receive is in the forums and the blocks in the internal information. You can’t call or email someone at MariaDB.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use SQL Server Express, MySQL Fork, and SQLite.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is simple. It’s as easy as setting up MySQL.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This product is open-source and free to use.
What other advice do I have?
I am just a customer and an end-user.
I'm not sure right now which version we are on.
Whether or not this is a good solution for a user depends on usage. You need to be sure that this is the solution for you. I'm not going to scale up, which is why it's my current solution. If I had to scale, I’m unsure if this would fit.
I’d rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Helpful support, open-source, and reliable
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of MariaDB is that it is open-source and we can easily migrate from other databases, such as Oracle to MariaDB."
- "MariaDB can improve by adding more features. There are a lot of features, which are available in Oracle, and which are not available in MariaDB. We hope they will introduce the features soon."
What is our primary use case?
We are currently doing UAT testing with MariaDB. Production has not started.
We will be using MariaDB in a complex project for the airlines.
How has it helped my organization?
MariaDB has helped our organization because we are able to use the solution more for projects. We do not have to pay a lot for licensing as we did before.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of MariaDB is that it is open-source and we can easily migrate from other databases, such as Oracle to MariaDB.
What needs improvement?
MariaDB can improve by adding more features. There are a lot of features, which are available in Oracle, and which are not available in MariaDB. We hope they will introduce the features soon.
In a future release, MariaDB should add more collections. We want parallel processing.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MariaDB for more than 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
MariaDB is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
MariaDB is scalable, but it could improve horizontal scaling.
We have approximately 150 end users using this solution in the organization.'
We have 10 applications lined up to add to the solution, and we plan on increasing usage.
I rate the scalability of MariaDB a three out of five.
How are customer service and support?
The support from MariaDB has been very good. They are helpful.
I rate the support MariaDB a five out of five.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously use Oracle and we switched to MariaDB because the licensing cost for Oracle was too much.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of MariaDB is simple. The full implementation took little time compared with similar solutions.
I rate the initial setup of MariaDB a five out of five.
What about the implementation team?
We have an in-house team that does the implementation and support of MariaDB. MariaDB has been providing us with some training.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investment because we are going to save a lot of revenue from not having to use Oracle licenses.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated other options, such as PostgreSQL, before choosing MariaDB.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is best for medium-sized businesses. If you have a very large business I would recommend looking at an alternative. Oracle is better for large businesses.
I rate MariaDB an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Senior Database Administrator at Türk Telekom
Open-source, easy to set up, and offers community support
Pros and Cons
- "It's a very easy product to set up."
- "The solution should do some fine-tuning on maybe the transaction per second so that users can get more than they can on the Microsoft SQL Server."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is primarily a database. There are lots of telco operations coming there, including log files, operations like SMS Firewall, and lots of rules that have been passing through the database. Almost 10 terabytes of database is available in MySQL.
What is most valuable?
The product is open-source and free to use.
If you know the parameters and combine those parameters, you have a lot of advantages over the Microsoft SQL Server.
With MariaDB, you can use it as a column store database. This means you replicate your data, transactional data, as columnar data, and then you can use it as a sort-of business intelligence.
It's a very easy product to set up.
What needs improvement?
The solution should do some fine-tuning on maybe the transaction per second so that users can get more than they can on the Microsoft SQL Server.
If you want to gain more transactions at MariaDB over the Microsoft SQL Server, you have to do lots of fine-tuning and combine a lot of parameters to get more transactions per second over the Microsoft SQL Server or another database. I reach the limits of MySQL at 15,000 transactions per second. MariaDB should aim to be better.
They should have more integrations with BI tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for three or four years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is quite scalable. It's not a problem.
How are customer service and support?
You need to rely on the community for support. If you are using the system at the mission-critical level, some companies don't want to use it as the response from the community edition is a bit slower.
I don't have any issue with the community edition. For me, it's fine. I'm not taking support from MariaDB. I only get support from Oracle to MySQL. We have a consolidated platform and we are using Oracle MySQL. MariaDB is open-source so we don't deal with technical support directly from them.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is very straightforward and simple to set up. I'd rate the general ease of setup at a five out of five.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's a free solution. It's completely open-source. We do not have to pay anything.
What other advice do I have?
We're just end-users.
I would rate the solution nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
It's a fast and flexible tool
Pros and Cons
- "MariaDB is a fast and flexible tool."
- "Integration with AWS could be improved."
What is our primary use case?
My company provides solutions for banks, credit card companies, and other enterprises in the financial industry.
What is most valuable?
MariaDB is a fast and flexible tool.
What needs improvement?
Integration with AWS could be improved.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate MariaDB nine out of 10 for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate MariaDB eight out of 10 for scalability. It's relatively good.
How are customer service and support?
We do not have paid support because we use the open-source version. If we have questions, we can look for answers online. MariaDB has an active user community.
How was the initial setup?
I rate MariaDB seven out of 10 for ease of setup. Deployment is easy. We deploy it on-prem and on AWS. I am on a team of seven people, but one person is sufficient to set it up in two hours.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use the community version of MariaDB. We don't have an enterprise license.
What other advice do I have?
I rate MariaDB eight out of 10. I recommend MariaDB depending on the use case.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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