We use the tool in projects with customer records in the database. There will be a front-end application to search and find specific data from the tool. In another project, there are product listings, and the front end fetches data from the tool and shows it in a gallery or list view on the web page or mobile application.
Project Manager at Unimity Solutions
The performance is optimal, the speed is very good, and there are no delays in fetching data
Pros and Cons
- "The speed is very good."
- "At times, the autoscaling does not happen when there is a surge in load."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
We used MySQL in a project for a nonprofit museum. They have a lot of donors. They have a large repository of customers who give donations. They categorize the customers based on the money they give, such as steward level, platinum level, and diamond level. The client may send out an invite for an event for a certain group of customers, such as the patrons who donate the most. MySQL helped us in that project.
What is most valuable?
The optimized process is valuable. I have seen websites that take ages to load and show the data. Many web applications with lakhs and lakhs of data will take forever to show specific results. The database performance is optimal for the application we developed. The speed is very good. There were no delays in fetching data from the back end and showing it on the front end.
What needs improvement?
At times, the autoscaling does not happen when there is a surge in load. We had to depend on manual scaling. It led to website crashes in the past.
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For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for projects running for the past five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is one area in which we are very cost-sensitive. We always closely monitor the charges to increase the server scale. It will help us use more space in the DB if there is an economical way for us to pick up larger servers. We have more than six lakh end users.
How was the initial setup?
Most of our projects are on the cloud. A very small number are on the client's premises.
What was our ROI?
We are continuing to use the tool because it's been cost-effective. It's producing revenue for us. It's a beneficial solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The tool is open source. We choose open-source software mostly. We integrate a very limited number of licensed software.
What other advice do I have?
I have not seen any incident with a security violation or data breach. I have not contacted the technical support team. The infrastructure team contacts the technical support team regarding server-related issues. There is a LAMP stack. The Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP combination seems to be working well for enterprises' modern web applications.
Overall, the integration works well. However, initially, we worked with a third-party integration team to fix the APIs, query, and response code. Initially, some technical work will be needed. Once it is done, the integration turns seamless.
Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
CEO at Les Roches International School of Hotel Management
An easy and convenient solution with good performance
Pros and Cons
- "MySQL is easy and convenient for me. I don't need to rely on anyone. I can write the code and extract the information. It is fast if you know how to use it. The solution is not expensive, and most of the developers know how to use it. It is easy to create tables. The solution is stable and has good performance. The connection with AWS gives regular updates, which is manual otherwise and a nightmare."
- "The tool needs to improve table visualization."
What is most valuable?
MySQL is easy and convenient for me. I don't need to rely on anyone. I can write the code and extract the information. It is fast if you know how to use it. The solution is not expensive, and most of the developers know how to use it. It is easy to create tables. The solution is stable and has good performance. The connection with AWS gives regular updates, which is manual otherwise and a nightmare.
What needs improvement?
The tool needs to improve table visualization.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
MySQL is stable and fast.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable. Around 15-20 developers use the tool in my company.
How are customer service and support?
MySQL's technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The tool's installation is easy. You must download the app and log in using a password and username.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the product a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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MySQL
June 2026
Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2026.
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Managing Director at NaMax Limited
A reliable, free, and easy-to-use solution
Pros and Cons
- "For starters, it's free, which is always nice, and it's also pretty straightforward to use. It's a nice conventional database."
- "The workbench could be improved. In particular, error messages can be improved, which are horrific and completely unhelpful. I'd like to see improved parsing of errors. When you write SQL and it crashes, it usually is something completely irrelevant and not helpful. I've started to use GPT 3.5 for finding out how to do things. I got to do something a bit different, and that I found to be very useful. If there was some way to tie it into one of the new AI tools, that would probably be a good idea."
What is our primary use case?
Mostly, we're using it as a database behind a machine learning application.
What is most valuable?
For starters, it's free, which is always nice, and it's also pretty straightforward to use. It's a nice conventional database. We don't need the sort of flexibility that you get with most SQL databases and stuff like that, so we are happy with a good old-fashioned relational database. It's totally good for that.
It works. It's reliable. We haven't done any configuration management for probably about two years, but as far as I remember, that was pretty straightforward as well. It's doing what it needs to do as far as we're concerned.
What needs improvement?
The workbench could be improved. In particular, error messages can be improved, which are horrific and completely unhelpful. I'd like to see improved parsing of errors. When you write SQL and it crashes, it usually is something completely irrelevant and not helpful. I've started to use GPT 3.5 for finding out how to do things. I got to do something a bit different, and that I found to be very useful. If there was some way to tie it into one of the new AI tools, that would probably be a good idea. There were a couple of things that I've found difficult to do in the past, and I remember they were fiddly. I set them into ChatGPT, which is GPT 3.5, and it gave first-class answers.
I find it clunky. It just doesn't feel very modern. It feels as if you have to go through multiple steps to get to places, and it's not clear, but operationally, I find it fine.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for about five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's reliable. I never lost any data, which you anyways shouldn't. I'd rate it a ten out of ten in terms of stability because we never had the slightest problem. We are not in a challenging environment, but I haven't had any problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We've had absolutely no limitations. However, we haven't got enormous data. It's not very vast, so scalability hasn't been an issue. At our level, it's not even a question. It's absolutely perfect. I'd rate it an eight out of ten in terms of scalability, which I describe as very good
How are customer service and support?
I've never contacted them, but technical support within the environment itself isn't good. I'd rate it a three out of ten, but now if I can use my own technical support with GPT 3.5, it comes up to about an eight out of ten. It's a kind of hybrid support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We weren't using a similar solution previously. We would prototype from things like Excel or straight-off .TXT files. I had some experience and so did my business partner, and we just decided this looked like the right answer.
How was the initial setup?
That was pretty straightforward as I remember. It was a while ago now, but I don't remember any difficulties at all. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of the ease of setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's free.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did look at MongoDB, but it wasn't what we needed, so we decided we go with something a little more conventionally established, and MySQL absolutely fitted the bill. We didn't need anything else. We got some colleagues who used Oracle, but it's expensive and quite difficult to use.
What other advice do I have?
If you don't have any unusual requirements or absolutely vast databases, it's ideal. We certainly have no problems at all. It just works.
Overall, I'd rate it a nine out of ten. Nothing is perfect, but it's as good as we could have asked for.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
CEO at Shiraz University
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director Cloud Architecture at LTIMINDTREE
Highly recommend solution for OLTP applications
Pros and Cons
- "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."
- "I would like to see more integrations of the solution with other platforms and improve the support on different data types."
What is our primary use case?
We use MySQL for OLTP applications. HeatWave is used more on the SnowFlake and DSS side of the application.
What is most valuable?
Compared to other databases, MySQL is cheaper and we used the community edition which was free of cost. ML is fully integrated with the database in HeatWave. It also has many other features. MySQL is a far better solution in terms of pricing.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see more integrations of the solution with other platforms and improve the support on different data types.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for more than 12 years. I am using the solution’s latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability around seven to eight. They should improve the stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would give a rating of eight out of ten for the solution’s scalability. We have a large user base for the solution which is more than 30.
How was the initial setup?
MySQL is easy to set up if you have the PaaS service on your cloud infrastructure. If the setup is normal, then the overall deployment process is easier. However, if there is a need for clustering, then we will need an SME and assets.
You need to install an RPM on-premises to get the database. We need to tweak some parameters at the InnoDB. We have to create the cloud service on the Oracle cloud infrastructure.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution’s pricing depends on customer requirements. A license is not required for the community edition.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. However, compared to other open-source databases like PostgreSQL, I would rate it a nine out of ten. Compared to Oracle, I can give a rating of around seven to eight. We are using MySQL’s HeatWave. The maintenance of the solution is based on its complexity. In the normal scenario, one resource is good enough for maintenance and deployment. The older versions had an issue with stability. The issue has improved with the newer versions.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Associate Consultant at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
The best choice for new database management users and smaller data to 60K
Pros and Cons
- "The solution helps us perform with our databases and extract data."
- "Clusters are hard to perform so we use no SQL alternates like MongoDB."
What is our primary use case?
Our company uses the solution to extract data from databases. We perform the create, read, write, and operations in databases.
The number of users depends on the project. If there is a demand, then people good with SQL will jump in on projects.
What is most valuable?
The solution helps us perform with our databases and extract data.
The solution is free.
What needs improvement?
Clusters are hard to perform so we use no SQL alternates like MongoDB.
The solution should manage large data sets better because data that is around one lakh or two lakh fails to load. In these cases, we use no SQL structures like MongoDB.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is decently, but not largely scalable. It works very well and is comfortable with 50K or 60K of data. If you have large-scale data, then the solution is slower and has some errors.
How are customer service and support?
I have not needed technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is pretty easy. All resources are available on YouTube so configuration is quite easy.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented the solution in-house and setup was pretty fast. You just set up the application, create queries, and connect with the front end or whatever you are trying to do.
If you are handling large data, then it is a good idea to maintain the solution weekly because it will be better.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is open source so is free.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The solution is good for smaller data or new users. If you are maintaining large data and want to build a fully-furnished application, then you have to use something else like PostgreSQL.
What other advice do I have?
If you are new to database management, then the solution will be the best choice.
I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Supervisor at GGoC1
A tool that offers an easy setup phase along with exceptional stability
Pros and Cons
- "It is a very stable solution. I deployed the product six years ago, and it still works fine."
- "The performance, stability, and security are areas with shortcomings in MySQL, where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
I started to use MySQL at some point when I had some issues that I couldn't get around. I normally use the tool in professional opportunities and when I require support from MySQL.
Cacti is a tool for monitoring devices on a network in graphical terms, for which it uses MySQL or MariaDB. I mostly deploy Cacti with MySQL or MariaDB. Somewhere down the line, I started to have some issues with the permissions in MySQL, including its areas like superuser privileges and similar stuff, which took me a while to figure out. I think the tool is fine for me now.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it helps me to get my work done. I am more interested in getting my work done than any feature it comes with since, as long as it gets my work done, it can actually help me achieve my objectives.
What needs improvement?
Nowadays, I use phpMyAdmin or MySQL WorkBench to manage MySQL. I would have been in a position to comment on what requires improvement if I had spoken about the tool three years ago. There are no improvements needed in the UI of the solution since many tools in the market help the user get the job done. MySQL WorkBench belongs to Oracle.
The performance, stability, and security are areas with shortcomings in MySQL, where improvements are required.
It would be a great improvement if the product could be made affordable enough for me to be able to access support from MYSQL, especially when I deal with mission-critical applications.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MySQL since 2014.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable solution. I deployed the product six years ago, and it still works fine.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I won't be able to comment on the product's scalability since I haven't deployed it in a cluster environment.
Our company has over a thousand devices, including switches and a couple of other devices, which report to MySQL for management purposes. In general, MySQL is a very robust tool.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Somewhere down the line, I got introduced to MariaDB as well. Nowadays, I use MariaDB rather than MySQL most of the time.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase is easy since I use package management software. I mostly take care of the deployment phase with the help of Docker and other tools. If you decide to use the default deployment settings provided by MySQL, then it is a straightforward process to deploy it.
A lot of things have changed since I have deployed the solution. The solution is like a new product nowadays since you just need an application to deploy it presently. The other area where you need to take care of the solution is knowing how to secure it very well so that it becomes less vulnerable and prevents people from taking advantage of the solution.
Mostly, I go to the MySQL website to download the binaries, and I just deploy them on a Windows machine or another system, which is just a straightforward process. The product's installation phase is not much of a problem.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.
Earlier in my company, there were three people who used to take care of the deployment of the solution, but presently, I don't know who handles the deployment part.
What was our ROI?
In the past, the product was free for users, which ensured that users could experience a high return on investment from the use of the solution. I don't know the licensing models attached to the solution currently, but the return on investment is very high if you use it for a very limited amount of time.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
MySQL was one of the tools I was introduced to from the very beginning when I was in school. Though I knew about Microsoft SQL Server, the lectures in my school did not introduce me to it since more focus was placed on MySQL. I find MySQL easier to use compared to Microsoft SQL Server.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend the solution to those who plan to use it since it is a very good product that comes to my mind since it is always available. I don't know about the current licensing model of the product because it was an open-source tool earlier. I don't remember myself attempting to check what kind of license MySQL uses presently. In the past, Microsoft SQL Server used to cost a lot of money, which my company couldn't afford at that time.
I rate the overall system 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.
Senior Pantheon ERP Implementer & Head of Accounting at Datalab
Includes a feature for automation but license needs to be cheaper
Pros and Cons
- "I like MySQL's feature that helps to automate things."
- "The solution is expensive."
What is our primary use case?
We use MySQL to manage business intelligence reports by linking them with Oracle database and Power BI.
What is most valuable?
I like MySQL's feature that helps to automate things.
What needs improvement?
The solution is expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate MySQL's stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My company has two users for the solution.
How are customer service and support?
We have not contacted support until now. We have an onboarding manual.
How was the initial setup?
The tool's installation is not complex but you need to have experience to set it up. You need to download the solution and pay for it. The installation can be done within an hour.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You need to pay upgrade costs every year.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate MySQL a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Officer IT data processing at Stanbic Bank Ghana, Ltd.
Good stability and easy initial setup process
Pros and Cons
- "It is a scalable solution."
- "It requires a training platform."
What is our primary use case?
We have used the solution to manage database administration and custom attributes.
What is most valuable?
The solution has all the essential features. We can manipulate bulk data, clean up data, divide it into compartments, and optimize it.
What needs improvement?
There should be a training platform for the solution without the complexities of owning a server partition in our system.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution's stability a ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. We have 1200 solution users in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup was straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution as a ten. I advise others to have durable resources to handle the operations of MySQL systems.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Backend developer at Alphatraduction
Dynamic workflows but lacks stability
Pros and Cons
- "The relations in the database, the dynamic workflow, and the ability to connect with all columns. It's useful for e-commerce."
- "I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. It does break down a little at times."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case for MySQL is with my products or websites for clients, and it helps me maintain relations with the best.
What is most valuable?
The relations in the database, the dynamic workflow, and the ability to connect with all columns. It's useful for e-commerce.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in terms of the stability of the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MySQL for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. It does break down a little at times.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup depends. For example, when working with e-commerce sites, it can be difficult to connect, and there may be failures. However, for other sites, it's easy.
What about the implementation team?
Our organization is using MySQL by having it hosted through a hosting provider.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is free. It is an open-source platform.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate MySQL a six out of ten. I recommend MySQL for small organizations and companies. For bigger organizations, one may need to consider other options.
You can also consider your project, budget, and organization while opting for MySQL. If it's a government or private project and what the product is.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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