LocalDB vs MariaDB comparison

Read 59 MariaDB reviews

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LocalDB

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between LocalDB and MariaDB based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Relational Databases Tools solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed LocalDB vs. MariaDB Report (Updated: January 2025).

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LocalDB vs. MariaDB

January 2025

Helped 838,640 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

LocalDB

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

18th

Average Rating

9.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

MariaDB

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Open Source Databases (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of LocalDB is 2.8%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 7.6%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Relational Databases Tools

Featured Reviews

Srini-Dhanaraj

Founder & CEO at imfine.club

The database always has structured data, like rows, columns, and bases

LocalDB is an excellent solution for learners, beginners, and projects of negligible size; it is very good. Any startup can use a local database to start. Once they grow beyond its limits, they can migrate to a MS SQL server that's also available on-premises. I rate it ten out of ten.

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KumarManish

Senior Technical Manager at Johnson Controls, Inc.

Easy to deploy, cost-effective, and integrates seamlessly with other products

We had planned for an RDBMS version and not NoSQL. We use MariaDB Galera Cluster. It's a good product. It is cheap, scalable, performs well, and is efficient. We use GCP’s BigQuery for machine learning. We must follow the best practices of the tool. We missed some best practices like the storage engine and InnoDB. It was very difficult to identify why we were having performance issues. Then, we realized that some of our tables were still on MyISAM, the default storage engine. When we switched it back to the InnoDB, it was very smooth. InnoDB is the recommended one. We must follow the best practices given in the documentation during the initial setup. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"LocalDB is an excellent solution for learners, beginners, and projects of negligible size; it is very good."

"The initial setup was simple."

"The most valuable feature of LocalDBis the connection between the application and DB."

"The solution is fast."

"The initial setup is very straightforward. The guidelines are very easy to follow. Maintenance is very easy and requires very little manpower."

"The solution's high availability is its most valuable aspect."

"The documentation is quite straightforward."

"The performance is very good."

"One of the great features of MariaDB is its scalability. It's easy to handle even with large databases."

"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."

"I like the global transaction IDs (GTIDs) feature. It's quite reliable for replication between a master and a replica server, and it's a feature that MySQL also has but implemented differently."

"The solution is very easy to implement."

"For non-production purposes. I'm just using it for my personal project, so it works quite well. I haven't faced any errors yet."

More MariaDB pros

Cons

"It is only for a small amount of data. Local DB is made for the purpose of small-volume optics."

"The solution needs to create a management tool. Right now, the solution has tools for creating a local installation, but it's too simplistic. We need something that's a bit more complex so that we can extend the tools with our scripts."

"The ALM features can be improved, but the database by itself is reliable."

"The initial setup is complex and requires a skilled person."

"The internal connection features of LocalDB could improve."

"Integration with AWS could be improved."

"I’m not sure if it can scale."

"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."

"The solution can improve by having support for more integration. However, at this time it is working well for us."

"We'd like more data intelligence."

"Could have more integration with user platforms."

"One feedback I can quickly provide is the need for a robust IDE for MongoDB. The existing PHP admin console doesn't meet the client's requirements effectively."

"The product needs more features and more functionality. It's imperative that it supports more platforms, and supports more operating systems."

More MariaDB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is too high for LocalDB."

"The fees are fair."

"I used the open-source version, which is available free of charge."

"MariaDB is available for free."

"It's an open-source solution."

"We use the solution's free version."

"The price could be less expensive."

"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."

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

"The licensing cost is approximately $4000.00 per year and the licensing is based on the software and the number of posts that you make."

More MariaDB pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about LocalDB?

The solution is fast.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for LocalDB?

It's free of cost.

What needs improvement with LocalDB?

Technically speaking, you don't need to get any updates because it's not online. It's on-premise. So once it is installed, then you get a desktop-grade version. But the purpose of LocalDB is not th...

What do you like most about MariaDB?

The integration with other products is seamless.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?

I have found the price of commercial MariaDB to be pretty steep, although not as high as Oracle. Customers often prefer the Community Edition because it's free.

What needs improvement with MariaDB?

The only potential area for improvement could be the pricing model, which might benefit from being more flexible or a bit cheaper.

Oracle Database vs MariaDB

Comparisons

SQL Server vs LocalDB

Compared 89% of the time

MySQL vs LocalDB

Compared 8% of the time

More LocalDB Competitors

SQL Server vs MariaDB

Compared 25% of the time

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB

Compared 22% of the time

PostgreSQL vs MariaDB

Compared 12% of the time

Compared 11% of the time

MySQL vs MariaDB

Compared 9% of the time

More MariaDB Competitors

Product Reports

Relational Databases Tools

January 2025

Download LocalDB product report

Download MariaDB product report

February 2025

Overview

LocalDB is a lightweight version of the SQL Server Express Database Engine that is targeted for program development. LocalDB starts on demand and runs in user mode, so there is no complex configuration.

Microsoft

MariaDB is an open source relational database created by the original founders of MySQL. It is considered one of the most popular and trusted database servers throughout the world. MariaDB is a valued component found in most cloud offerings and is the default in many Linux tools. It is also widely used by Wikipedia, WordPress, and Google, among other well-known sites. Maria DB easily melds data into concise information from a vast array of applications, such as banking, online shopping, websites, and more.

MariaDB was originally created to improve MySQL performance. It is the most widely chosen database server due to the solution being super fast, robust, user-friendly, and easily scalable. MariaDB also offers a substantial ecosystem of plugins, storage engines, and numerous other valuable tools that make it very attractive for a significant offering of use cases.

The solution’s newest functionalities include compatibility with Oracle Database and Temporal Data Tables, and advanced clustering with Galera Cluster 4, which make it easier for users to research data history from any point in the past. Additionally, the most recent versions include JSON and GIS features. MariaDB is committed to staying an open source solution.

MariaDB Features

More storage: MariaDB works with more storage engines than MySQL and most other database servers available. Some storage options include, but are not limited to ARCHIVE, MERGE, CSV, MEMORY, BLACKHOLE, MyISAM, ColumnStore, MyRocks, and Cassandra.
Super fast: MariaDB offers faster authentication checks. The FlushSSL permits SSL certificates to be reloaded without a server restart, resulting in huge time savings.
Improved testing: MariaDB offers an extending testing suite that runs faster and can test more than ever before. Bugs can be easily fixed and invalid tests removed.
Genuinely open source: Every code in MariaDB is GPL, LGPL, or BSD. Client libraries [for Windows (ODBC), Java (JDBC), or C] allow linking to closed source software. All fixed bug cases and development plans are completely public. MariaDB is a community-developed solution representing the true spirit of open source products.

Reviews from Real Users

Faustine C., Engineering Supervisor- Corporate Data Solutions and Services at TZ Telecoms Corporation, shares, “The software provides a lot of information on what is happening inside the database. For most performance parameters it is easy to know if something is not right in the configuration or optimization which helps engineers take remedial fine-tuning measures. For example, if the database is underperforming it is easy to know which performance parameter can be adjusted to handle the workload. It is difficult to troubleshoot database issues if many performance parameters can not be monitored or debugged which is the case with some database management systems. It provides great monitoring of data storage, processing, and performance stability which is really important for real-time data storage and processing. It's a user-friendly product.”

A PeerSpot user who is a Senior Engineer at a tech services company relates, “ The solution's high availability is its most valuable aspect. We have found the product to be stable and the initial setup is pretty simple. I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten. I'm very happy with it overall. I would recommend the solution to others. It's easy to find details about the product online and to learn about it.”

Sample Customers

AstraZeneca, Kienzle Automotive GmbH, Kodak Alaris, Unilever, Floatel International and Kongsberg Maritime, MyHero

Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities