MySQL OverviewUNIXBusinessApplication

MySQL is the #1 ranked solution in top Open Source Databases and #3 ranked solution in top Relational Databases. PeerSpot users give MySQL an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. MySQL is most commonly compared to Firebird SQL: MySQL vs Firebird SQL. MySQL is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 61% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 18% of all views.
MySQL Buyer's Guide

Download the MySQL Buyer's Guide including reviews and more. Updated: March 2023

What is MySQL?

MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) owned by Oracle. Before Oracle acquired the product, it was completely free for users. After the merge, the solution started offering paid services with more features, alongside a free version. MySQL can easily integrate with a wide variety of programming languages, which makes it one of the most flexible and reliable products among its competitors. This cost-effective solution helps users deliver high-performance and scalable database applications through several products. They include:

  • MySQL HeatWave: This is an in-memory query accelerator for MySQL. It is a parallel, columnar, hybrid query-processing engine with algorithms for distributed query processing. This database service is used for transactions, analytics, and machine learning (ML). It offers simplified, secure real-time analytics. It can be deployed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Amazon AWS, Azure, and users' data centers.

  • My SQL Enterprise Edition: This edition of the solution includes the most comprehensive set of advanced features, technical support, and management tools. The combination functions achieves security, scalability, reliability, and uptime, while reducing risk, cost, and complexity, in managing MySQL applications.

  • MySQL Standard Edition: This edition utilizes industrial-strength performance and reliability to help users deliver high-performance and scalable Open Transaction Processing (OLTP) applications.

  • MySQL Classic Edition: This is an embedded database for independent software vendors (ISVs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and value-added resellers (VARs), that are developing applications using the MyISAM storage engine.

  • MySQL Community Edition: This is the free version of the product, which is supported by a large active community of open-source developers.

  • MySQL Cluster CGE: This is a distributed database that combines linear scalability and high availability. It offers in-memory real-time access across partitioned and distributed databases.

  • MySQL Embedded: This product offers MySQL as an embedded database and is most widely used by ISVs, OEMs, and VARs. It is utilized for making applications, hardware, and appliances more competitive by bringing them to market faster while lowering their cost of goods sold (COGs).

My SQL Features

The characteristics of each MySQL edition differ depending on what it offers and what clients it is catered towards. But the main features of the product include the following:

  • Internals and portability: These capabilities allow MySQL to work on multiple platforms and provide transactional and non-transactional storage engines. This set of features is tested with Purify, Vilgrind, and a broad range of different compilers.

  • Data types: Due to the flexibility of the data types feature of MySQL, the product is compatible with a very wide variety of data types, including fixed-length and variable-length string types.

  • Statements and functions: This feature allows MySQL full operator and function support. It supports a wide variety of functions and allows users to refer to tables from different databases in the same statement.

  • Security: The security features of MySQL provide users with a flexible privileged password system that enables host-based verification. The product offers encryption of all password traffic when users connect to a server.

  • Scalability and limits: MySQL supports large databases with up to approximately 50 million records and up to 64 indexes per table.

  • Connectivity: The connectivity features of the product allow clients to connect to MySQL using several protocols, providing them with freedom of choice in terms of which ones to use.

  • Localization: Through this feature, the product offers availability to users in many languages. The server time zone can be changed dynamically and allows clients to specify their own time zone for their convenience.

  • Clients and tools: The product includes several client and utility programs among its capabilities.

MySQL Benefits

MySQL brings many benefits to organizations that use it for their data. The most common ones include:

  • Due to its initial open-source nature, MySQL is an easy to understand and beginner-friendly product.

  • The solution still supports an open-source version as well, which means users can download, use, and modify it based on their requirements.

  • MySQL ensures the consistency of data by storing it efficiently and minimizing redundancy.

  • This is considered one of the fastest solutions on the market, a fact which is backed by many benchmark tests.

  • MySQL is very flexible and supports a large number of embedded applications.

  • The solution is compatible with many operating systems.

  • This product offers clients the option to roll back transactions, as well as commit, and crash recovery.

Reviews from Real Users

According to a database engineer at a retailer with more than 10,000 employees, MySQL is a great open-source product that offers great scalability and compatibility.

Yong S., a solutions specialist, system integration, appreciates this product because it has different licensing options and is easy to set up.

MySQL Customers

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.

MySQL Video

MySQL Pricing Advice

What users are saying about MySQL pricing:
  • "We are using the licensed version of MySQL."
  • "We're using the open-source version right now, which is free. I do see some value in some of the more enterprise functions. We're using the open-source version right now, and I was interested in the MySQL Enterprise version really for the tools that they provide, but we decided not to make the purchase."
  • MySQL Reviews

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    Database Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    A great open-source product that offers great scalability and compatibility
    Pros and Cons
    • "MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source."
    • "They should come up with a better solution than the NDB cluster for better scaling. If they could come up with a better solution for write scaling, apart from the NDB cluster, which is supported by all open source communities, that would be great. Although the NDB cluster, I believe, is an open-source tool, it's not widely supported as a solution."

    What is our primary use case?

    It's been used as a primary relational database for most applications. It's scalable and could easily be maintained and could be migrated to any Cloud-based Database as a Service solutions which are compatible with MySQL.e.g. AWS RDS MySQL, AWS RDS Aurora, Google SQL. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    It has improved scalability, easy-maintenance. It is open-source and is easy to use. 

    What is most valuable?

    MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source.

    The solution is also compatible with a lot of other databases, like Percona, and it's compatible with MariaDB. It's also compatible with a lot of other shared database solutions.

    Since MySQL is mostly used as a relational database in a lot of organizations, a lot of other solutions are being merged with MySQL and it's a rather easy process.

    Unlike a lot of closed source services, the new features are solely based on customer feedback. The customer feedback of open source is way larger than the closed source application.

    What needs improvement?

    The developers of MySQL, which are Oracle MySQL, Percona, and MariaDB, seem to not be focusing much on object-oriented replication. Basically, replication is based on a text level of replication. There is a text level replication in Oracle, that is so similar it can be implemented in MySQL, however, it needs to pull a lot of resources. They have altered their approach for replication. Still, more focus on object-oriented replication would be good. 

    They should come up with a better solution than the NDB cluster for better scaling. If they could come up with a better solution for write scaling, apart from the NDB cluster, which is supported by all open source communities, that would be great. Although the NDB cluster, is an open-source tool, it's not widely supported as a solution.

    The latest 8.0 version has come up with whole new features. 

    Buyer's Guide
    MySQL
    March 2023
    Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2023.
    690,226 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been working on Relational Database MySQL throughout my career, i.e. for 14 years. This relational database MySQL is evolved from its MyISAM only engine to InnoDB and is now compatible with other database engines too. e.g. NDB, Galera. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    MySQL is reliable. If you are talking about it in terms of relational databases, MySQL is pretty stable. If you want to go ahead with a quite secure database like any PCI database or a customer-related database or even financial data, it's still feasible to migrate to MySQL. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    There are a lot of features provided by Oracle MySQL, Percona, and MariaDB. They all have their own replication cluster. Percona has XtraDB, MariaDB has GaleraDB, Oracle MySQL has its own cluster as well. MySQL replication is common in all three MySQL flavors. MySQL replication is an excellent read-scalable feature, which has also evolved a lot from its earliest versions to the latest 8.0 version.

    The NDB cluster, which has been supported and developed by Oracle, and is based on MySQL, is different than all of the other MySQL replication cluster solutions. It's both read and write scalable. All other cluster features work well for read scaling. NDB cluster is the only cluster feature recorded by Oracle MySQL, which is write scalable as well as re-scalable.

    How are customer service and support?

    The solution seems to have plenty of technical support due to the fact that there are three companies who are product owners, and therefore there are three companies who are supporting MySQL. They are: Oracle, Percona, and MariaDB. They're doing pretty well. 

    There are a lot of companies also that support their customers. This is the good thing about any software which is open-source. A lot of open source communities come up with their own features and they try to patch up with the original source. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup has evolved a lot. It's pretty straight forward whether you're using Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. You can set it up on almost every operating system. 

    It's supported by the open-source community, and they have plenty of documentation online that users can reference for assistance. If you are working in almost any operating system and you have any questions related to the installation, you'll find the documentation you need.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I am not sure, what the licensing costs are for the solution. From my experience, there is no straightforward cost. You can get that cost from the Oracle website about the Oracle MySQL licensing costs, however, it's not a straightforward price quote for everyone.

    If you are an existing customer, you can negotiate and you can get a better quote. The pricing on the website may be for new customers. That said, you can still negotiate. The same is true for Percona and MariaDB as well. 

    What other advice do I have?

    We are using MySQL 5.6, 5.7, and MySQL 8.0. 

    In terms of advice, I'd say when implementing MySQL, if a company has been using any previous relational database, like Oracle, Microsoft SQL or DB2, the easiest way to migrate from any database is from Oracle to MySQL. There'll be some challenges from Microsoft SQL, as well as from DB2 to MySQL. Any existing application which is working with the Oracle database as a backend database, DB2 database as a backend database, or Microsoft as the backend database, should still work fine with MySQL, with minimal code changes. 

    MySQL is a product supported by a lot of applications and a lot of organizations. Almost every client and every API would be able to support MySQL. There would still need to be a lot of testing, however, I feel almost all of the applications which need a relational database for their database solution, could leverage out of MySQL. 

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    High performance, simple to use, and straightforward development
    Pros and Cons
    • "MySQL is easy to use, has fast performance, and it is comfortable for end-user to use. The schema level and structure we are using are very simple and easy to understand. Additionally, packaging tool development is straightforward and the data is presented in a way that is very simple to understand."
    • "In an upcoming release, there should be something added similar to EPL. For example, when using the flow diagram, we can create a schema. We have two useful features to add or create the table, but there should be some UI features to allow us to drag and drop to create other schemas. This would be very helpful."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are using MySQL for backend operations since we are a software backend developer. We are using this tool in our backend application for acquiring the data.

    We mainly use MySQL for our Relational Database Management System(RDBMS). We are maintaining our customer data in a defined way. We have to create various schema levels. We are presenting the customer data, such as name, mobile number, what was purchased, and what they like or dislike. Once we create the schema, a set of data, we need to maintain the unique constraints.

    For example, for customers, we'll assign a unique ID to each record, that will be a primary key. All these SQL constraints we'll use and there should no variance or replication of data isolated. When we perform any update operations, it should not affect any of the data isolated. 

    We need to take care of many things, such as consistency, isolation, and variability for constructing any database. There are a few more concepts as well, such as normalization and PL/SQL. For example, if I want to run a job at a particular time, the product will use PL/SQL. We are like implementing our coding skills to databases.

    Our operations are on-premise. However, we are in the process of moving everything to the cloud.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We have many repositories in one table that we are completing for customers' data that are store product data. There are various pieces of data and data should be in the same format. For this purpose, we are using RDBMS. The data in the repository should be able to be accessed in one place which is Oracle SQL Developer. MySQL can store data for a longer duration as compared to other data solutions, such as MariaDB, which can only store data for one day. MySQL can store data for a longer period of time, and we can have primary and secondary data as well for backup purposes.

    What is most valuable?

    MySQL is easy to use, has fast performance, and it is comfortable for end-user to use. The schema level and structure we are using are very simple and easy to understand. Additionally, packaging tool development is straightforward and the data is presented in a way that is very simple to understand.

    What needs improvement?

    MySQL can improve some of its functions. However, it is dependent on the use case. For example, if we are having multiple database connections in this tool, and we are performing one operation in one database, it takes a lot of time due to the reason we are selecting and processing the data. When we have a lot of data it takes a longer time. The transaction gets stuck in a queue and if we try to stop that particular transaction, it won't abort until all the selected records have been processed. This sometimes can be a lot of time and it can hold up our live processing of transactions. This product should be able to handle multiple processing at a time.

    In an upcoming release, there should be something added similar to EPL. For example, when using the flow diagram, we can create a schema. We have two useful features to add or create the table, but there should be some UI features to allow us to drag and drop to create other schemas. This would be very helpful.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL for approximately four years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I have found the development tools to be highly stable in MySQL.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability of MySQL is very good. There are no barriers to it. It can be used and accommodated in any particular language. We can use it with Java and Python.

    We have almost everyone in my organization using the solution. We have developers and support teams all using it. If my organization has 1,000 people, almost 900 people out of them were using the service.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have evaluated MariaDB.

    How was the initial setup?

    We use a solution called Jenkins to help us with all the pipelines. The pipelines are all created and configured in the Jenkins. We are in a distributed server architecture and the full process can take approximately 20 minutes for one server.

    What about the implementation team?

    If we have a large amount of data we have to take care of it. If this particular data is not used over the years, we have to make maintenance decisions on it after we use it. The developer administrator and the team will be responsible.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We are using the licensed version of MySQL.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would advise others that this is a useful tool.

    I rate MySQL an eight out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    MySQL
    March 2023
    Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2023.
    690,226 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Unemployed (previous role was Solutions Specialist, System Integration)
    Real User
    Has different licensing options and is easy to set up
    Pros and Cons
    • "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."
    • "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."

    What is our primary use case?

    I use MySQL as middleware to get the extracted data from the database. I work with MySQL as an administrator to set up the whole platform. And I document the recipe for setting up the MySQL database.

    We are working with the latest version.

    What is most valuable?

    SQL is just a relational database. It is open source. It's pretty good. I have been using it for a long time.

    What needs improvement?

    Because I am the middleware guy I'm not the SQL database administrator. If I have any issue with it, I'm going to contact the right person. 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. Then, when the administrator checks the status and makes notes, it works normally and the problem is fixed. With a big company you are not going to work directly with the MySQL database. We are the end user and not the administrator of the SQL database.

    For MySQL, in terms of the usage or as the end user, I don't have much to recommend, as long as the query latency meets your requirements, it will be great. Otherwise, it's the horizontal scalability and you get more parallel in the implementation in terms of the SQL database regardless of the usage. This is probably much better than the vertical in terms of scalability.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL this year.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    If you are working in the cloud platform then you do have scalability because the cloud platform is usually AWS or GCP, and they provide this kind of scalability. If you get some issues with the query and latency or something like this, that is an issue of scalability and you can just adjust the horizontal or vertical scalability to meet your requirements.

    But the company I was working with was a very big company. It's more than several thousand people and they usually have a lot of data that they are going to store in the MySQL database. They gather the data from the SQL database and then transfer it like ETL and you get data from all the different distributed systems and then put them into the centralized MySQL database. After that you're going to visualize this kind of data so that you can use the Power BI or that kind of tool to generate reports or to create a dashboard for the system. This company had its platform on-premises, but right now they are moving these technologies to cloud. That's why I'm talking about the scalability in two different ways cloud and on-prem.

    How are customer service and support?

    For technical support, I'm the end user so I extract data or visualize the data from the SQL database. I didn't get too into the daily maintenance of the database.

    How was the initial setup?

    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 build book. Then it works as long as you follow the procedures.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Regarding the price, because it's the open source they have different licenses. Even for open source there's a license for the enterprise. I don't think it is expensive. Also for the scalability in the cloud, the price is based on the usage, such as, how much data you transfer.

    What other advice do I have?

    For the best usage right now, the trend is to move the platform from on-premise to cloud. Then, you you really have the best flexibility to scale down or scale up based on your usage. You can make full use of the resources and then pay for whatever you use. Because if you have it on-premise you always pay the same price no matter how much usage you have. So one of my suggestions is if you plan to set up the platform for MySQL, it would be best to go directly to the cloud solution.

    On a scale of one to ten, in terms of the usage for the middleware team and the end user of the SQL database, I would say it's around an eight at least. I cannot say from a  database administration perspective.

    To determine what would allow me to give it a 10, I would first have to get more experience using it on the cloud version.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Kevin Honde - PeerSpot reviewer
    Data Solution Architect at Econet Wireless Zimbabwe
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    Free and easy to use but needs better backup functionality
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution has been very easy to scale so far."
    • "The backup methods need improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    We are primarily using it as a database for our products. For internally built systems, we have MySQL. We use it internally.

    What is most valuable?

    It's our database due to the fact that it's cheaper and is actually free to use.

    The product is very easy to use, yes.

    It's quite stable.

    The solution is very compatible with many versions of Linux. Most of Linux is free, so it's easy to implement with MySQL. Whether it's Ubuntu, CentOS, or different types of Linux, it's the same across other operating systems, and therefore it's very easy to use and compatible with any demand that comes from developers. At the end of the day, MySQL is compatible with most of the platforms.

    The solution has been very easy to scale so far.

    The installation process is very easy.

    What needs improvement?

    The backup methods need improvement. MySQL needs to improve its backup methods so that you can actually do a backup without affecting products. Currently, when you're doing your backup, it locks the database. When someone tries to access it during a backup, it fails to read or to update. They can improve on the backup and all the backup features in general.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using the solution for more than five years at this point. It may be as much as seven years or so.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable in terms of performance.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is very scalable. If you want to install it in the machine and scale that machine, you can do so. Or you add more machine nodes whereby you are actually clustering items and you're clustering your database within one site. The solution will actually extend these needs to another site for replication, DR replication.

    We have about 20 people using the solution currently.

    We do plan to continue to use the solution in the future.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    All of our support is internal. We haven't subscribed to outside technical support.

    That said, we haven't had any issues with the solution that would require support assistance either.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is not complex at all. It is very easy to install as most of the Linux comes embedded so that even if you're under a different administrator, you should be able to just click and install.

    Installation doesn't take more than 10 minutes for me. It might take up to 30 minutes or an hour for someone who is new. However, for someone who is used to MySQL, doesn't take more than 10 minutes to set up.

    For deployment and maintenance, basically, we would need about three engineers. The one that actually does the hardware infrastructure, the one that does the operating system, and then the one that actually does the MySQL, which is the database administrator.

    What about the implementation team?

    I handled the implementation myself. I did not need the assistance of integrators or consultants. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution is absolutely free to use. It's one of the reasons we've chosen it.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We do evaluate other solutions. We also use other products, such as Oracle's SQL server.

    When a trace comes for MySQL, we will check mostly the cost of installation and the cost for maintaining everything. We are choosing MySQL over the others that are actually licensed solutions mostly due to the fact that MySQL is free.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are just customers and end-users. We don't have a business relationship with MySQL.

    I'd recommend the solution to other organizations.

    I would rate it at a seven out of ten overall. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Ahmed-Ramy - PeerSpot reviewer
    CEO at TMentors
    Real User
    Top 5
    Open-source and easy to implement but needs a lot of updating
    Pros and Cons
    • "It's a mature solution that's been around for decades."
    • "It isn't as reliable as an SQL Server."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use the product for database management, as a database engine.

    What is most valuable?

    We use it for different projects, mainly when we have lots of data and the customer can't afford to pay the license of SQL Server, which is not a cheap one.

    That's the main reason you use MySQL or Postgres or other databases. It's less expensive. 

    The solution is stable.

    The scalability is very good.

    It's a mature solution that's been around for decades.

    It is very easy to set up the product.

    What needs improvement?

    The support in MySQL is horrible.

    It isn't as reliable as an SQL Server.

    I don't see MySQL being improved at all, like in the last 10 years. It has been at the same level for a long time.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Its stability is quite good. There are no bugs or glitches. it doesn't crash or freeze. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is scalable, however, sometimes you might have issues. You need to have the knowledge to make sure that you can scale. That said, there are a lot of used MySQL implementations all around the world, which shows that it's a proven product. It has been there for more than 20 years or so.

    How are customer service and support?

    The support is not ideal. It could be better. It runs under Oracle, and Oracle support is not the best company when it comes to supporting - especially since MySQL used to be a free, open-source solution, and remains free. Oracle doesn't have this approach in its DNA. It's an enterprise and they're not into open-source ways of working. That's why sometimes we move from MySQL to Postgres, which is similar yet has the support in the community.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I've also used Postgre and SQL Server.

    This product is not as solid as SQL Server. It's not like it's a lesser quality thing, however, it's not as reliable as SQL Server. The engine is a whole different engine. SQL Server is a full-featured database engine, and MySQL is based on what we call a file-based database. It's like flat files as a database engine, so it's an underdog, if you can call it that, when it comes to database engines. That said, it works fine.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is not that complex. It's simple and straightforward for the most part.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution is open-source. We don't pay for it.

    There are options to get professional support from Oracle and, for that, the pricing really comes up, therefore, it's not competitive anymore. For that reason, it might be even wiser to get Oracle Database than get MySQL and pay for the premium support.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are just end-users. However, we are happy to work with them.

    With Microsoft, we are a customer, partner, and vendor. We aren't partners with Oracle. 

    I would rate the solution at a six out of ten.

    They just need to assign a great team to MySQL, basically, and Oracle should just leave them alone to improve the product as the product hasn't been improved in the last 10 years. Since Oracle acquired it, it has been in decline. They need to do a lot, not in terms of features. In terms of the mindset.

    I would recommend Postgres which is similar to MySQL, over this product. Even the clients are coming to us with such requests. They will flat-out tell us: "we hear that MySQL is having issues and we don't want to deal with Oracle and all that kind of stuff, so let's use Postgres." It's easy to migrate over. It's almost seamless, which makes it a very attractive option.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Principal Software Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Free, stable, and full-featured
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is free, which is probably its most valuable feature. It is a pretty full-featured relational database. It really does everything we need it to do."
    • "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."

    What is our primary use case?

    We're on a software development team. We develop applications.

    We're currently running version 5.7 of MySQL, and we are going to be upgrading to version 8 this year.

    MySQL server currently is in a co-location center. We've got a hosting provider that takes care of that for us. We are looking at moving it into AWS, but that won't happen this year. We do have a smaller MySQL RDS instance in AWS right now, but it is pretty minimal. 

    What is most valuable?

    It is free, which is probably its most valuable feature. It is a pretty full-featured relational database. It really does everything we need it to do. 

    What needs improvement?

    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.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL for seven years in my current company, and I have probably used it for another two or three years in a previous company.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is very stable.

    How are customer service and support?

    I haven't dealt with them.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We're using the open-source version right now, which is free. I do see some value in some of the more enterprise functions. We're using the open-source version right now, and I was interested in the MySQL Enterprise version really for the tools that they provide, but we decided not to make the purchase.

    What other advice do I have?

    There are certain things that it doesn't do as well as SQL Server. There are certain things that you can do to swamp the server, such as it is just not very responsive to more complicated joins and things like that. Unfortunately, you have to try to learn what those things are, but there are certain things like correlated sub-queries and more complicated approaches that it doesn't support, and you can hang the server in doing that. So, even though it has standardized the SQL queries and other things, there are some things that it doesn't perform particularly well, such as more complicated joined scenarios. We join several tables at a time, but we tend to do that on well-known indices, primary keys, and things like that, but if you're doing something more sophisticated than that, it becomes more challenging. These things that I've mentioned are written up by people, and once you learn those things, you develop techniques to work around them. You take different approaches to solve the problem for those things. You have to do that anyway as a developer. You don't just write code and throw it out there on a production server. You certainly need a totally separate test environment and all that.

    I would rate MySQL an eight out of 10.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Lead Project Manager, Owner at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Ubiquitous solution for a wide variety of uses.
    Pros and Cons
    • "The feature that I have found most valuable is its ubiquity. MySQL is everywhere, so if I need to find a developer to do things to it that I don't know, it's very easy to find someone who has expertise in it."
    • "It could be a little bit simpler to use."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for my clients. Basically any website that uses WordPress uses MySQL, so we use that to manage and run our WordPress websites. Some we have on a cloud, some we have at hosted servers.

    It is part of WordPress and some clients are using it for eCommerce, and others are just using it as part of the website to give information.

    What is most valuable?

    The feature that I have found most valuable is its ubiquity. MySQL is everywhere, so if I need to find a developer to do things to it that I don't know, it's very easy to find someone who has expertise in it.

    What needs improvement?

    In terms of what could be improved, there is not anything that I can think of offhand.

    Everything related to automation or improvements are external tools that are brought into it, so it has nothing to do with the robustness of the system itself - it is the developers and implementations that touch it. Those can be improved, but MySQL itself is fine as is. 

    I would just say that it could be a little bit simpler to use.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using MySQL off and on for about seven years.

    Different hosting systems have different iterations of it. Whenever possible, I try to use the latest version, but usually I'm using a model or two back. But I'm not using the original, not by any stretch.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Everything that works with MySQL is stable. If it's a bug, it's due to the developer who has miswritten a piece of code. The code itself is perfect. It's the application of people who attempt to make changes where the issues come in.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    In terms of scalability, I have not done anything bigger than a couple hundred people a day on a site, so I really couldn't tell you about that.

    Our clients are small businesses, almost all of them with less than 50 employees.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    Previously, and I am talking almost 20 years ago, we would have used Microsoft Access, which is not a relational database and it's not iterative, so you can't have multiple people working on it, whereas MySQL is a system-based database, so multiple people can access it at the same time.

    How was the initial setup?

    In terms of the initial setup, you definitely need to know what you're doing, but it's not illogical. The database rules and how they work are very clear and concise. To execute MySQL is fairly straightforward.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    MySQL is open source so it's free.

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice to anyone considering MySQL is to check the forums and do your homework.

    On a scale of one to ten, I would give MySQL a 9. It would be a 10 if it was simpler to use, but as it is, it's about a 9.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Alireza-Nikseresht - PeerSpot reviewer
    CEO at Shiraz University
    Real User
    Top 20
    Can work on both Windows and Linux and has a supportive community
    Pros and Cons
    • "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."
    • "I would like to see the automatic backup feature in the solution as well. Data is very important and we need to preserve it in a safe place. It would be good if MySQL can back up the data automatically."

    What is our primary use case?

    The solution is a database server. You can use it for desktop or web applications. The tool is used mostly for web applications. Most websites have MySQL databases behind them.

    What is most valuable?

    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.

    What needs improvement?

    The solution’s stored procedure is too light. MS SQL server supports stored procedures which MySQL doesn’t. Oracle and MS SQL servers support treiber which notifies you about data changes in the database. MySQL doesn’t support treiber.

    I would like to see the automatic backup feature in the solution as well. Data is very important and we need to preserve it in a safe place. It would be good if MySQL can back up the data automatically.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using MySQL for ten years. I use the solution’s latest version.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I haven’t seen any problems with the solution’s stability and I would rate the stability a ten on ten. It is a very stable tool.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I would rate the solution’s scalability a ten on ten. The tool is network-based and the scalability depends on the design of your project. You can use the product of both large and small-scale projects.

    We are not a very large organization. There are around ten developers who use MS SQL server and MySQL for databases.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We are simultaneously using the MS SQL server and MySQL server. We first used MS SQL server and then in some projects, we required free and open-source databases. We use MySQL for those projects.

    How was the initial setup?

    The installation was very easy and straightforward. The setup took around a couple of minutes which was five to six minutes to complete. The tool’s installation was really fast.

    What about the implementation team?

    We didn’t require any assistance from third parties.

    What was our ROI?

    My company must have seen some benefit with the solution’s use.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate the overall solution a nine out of ten. We didn’t find any issues in the solution’s maintenance. In every project, one developer would be in charge of their respective database maintenance. The solution has large community support.

    MySQL is a fast database that is also high performing. When you want to do a project that requires a fast transaction, MySQL acts very well there. When a company needs a free database that is fast, could be connected over the network with many people, and do transactions, we usually suggest this solution.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free MySQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: March 2023
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free MySQL Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.