MariaDB vs MySQL comparison

MariaDB and Oracle are both solutions in the Open Source Databases category. MariaDB is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3, while Oracle is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2. MariaDB holds a 6.5% mindshare in OSD, compared to Oracle’s 9.0% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of MariaDB users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

MariaDB

Read 60 MariaDB reviews

4,882 Views
2,490 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

MySQL

Read 152 MySQL reviews

8,332 Views
4,833 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

MariaDB

MySQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

MySQL and MariaDB are both contenders in the open-source database category. MariaDB holds an edge by offering improved performance and innovative features over MySQL in community-driven environments.

Features: MySQL is recognized for its multi-threaded architecture, compatibility with LAMP/WAMP stacks, and advanced features like replication and stored procedures, making it suitable for small to medium applications. MariaDB enhances performance with features like Galera Cluster for multi-master replication, offers better query optimization, and is appreciated for its community-driven innovations.

Room for Improvement: MySQL faces challenges with the complexity of InnoDB, weaker replication capabilities, and limited transactional support in MyISAM. MariaDB, although generally faster, struggles with long, complex queries and shows instability in some configurations. MySQL aims to improve transaction efficiency, while MariaDB focuses on flexible clustering and stability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both MySQL and MariaDB offer flexible deployment options across on-premises and cloud environments. MySQL integrates seamlessly in LAMP stacks, while MariaDB excels in hybrid setups thanks to enhancements over MySQL. Each product benefits from community support, but structured commercial support is stronger under Oracle for MySQL, whereas MariaDB offers optional paid assistance alongside community-driven support.

Pricing and ROI: MySQL is free under a GPL license, with enterprise editions requiring a commercial license, appealing to startups for its affordability. MariaDB, along with its community version being free, offers commercial licenses and subscriptions for enhanced features and support. Both deliver strong ROI due to their robust performance without significant upfront costs, with MariaDB's affordability and flexibility increasingly appealing to enterprises.

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

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB vs. MySQL

December 2025

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Helped 879,889 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

6.3

MariaDB offers high ROI with cost savings, robust features, and community support enhancing functionality and flexibility.

Sentiment score

6.1

Calculating MySQL ROI involves costs of implementation and cloud resources, balanced by savings on licensing and operational efficiency.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the MariaDB report

I have seen a return on investment with MySQL, as it allows us to manage with fewer employees, focusing on business logic rather than database management.

AmitVerma4

Software Developer at 8 Gallery India

For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.2

MariaDB customer service is praised for support but some rely on community resources or find response times slow.

Sentiment score

6.8

MySQL users often utilize community resources, with mixed experiences of Oracle support and reliance on internal or third-party help.

Compared to MongoDB, there are some platform deficiencies, but the support team shouldn't bear that burden.

Anand Bandi

Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the MariaDB report

I would rate the documentation and online support a 10 out of 10.

reviewer2599590

Student at a university with 10,001+ employees

We have no issues and usually receive timely responses.

Muzzamil Hussain

Assistant Vice President at National Bank of Pakistan

For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.0

MariaDB is generally scalable, though challenges in larger environments require manual configuration and specific setups for optimal performance.

Sentiment score

6.7

MySQL scales effectively for small to medium applications but may struggle with high concurrency and very large workloads.

No quotes available

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Meeting scalability requirements through cloud computing is an expensive affair.

Ravi Kant-Sharma

Technical Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

MySQL's scalability is currently adequate, as we have increased operations from ten thousand to twelve thousand devices, and it is working fine for us.

AmitVerma4

Software Developer at 8 Gallery India

For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.8

MariaDB is stable with minimal maintenance needed but clustering can be challenging; separation from other systems is advisable.

Sentiment score

7.7

MySQL is stable with rare crashes, issues in large operations, and stability significantly influenced by logging and query design.

We haven't found issues with the stability of MariaDB.

Anand Bandi

Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the MariaDB report

We face certain integration issues, especially when we integrate the database with security solutions like IBM QRadar.

Muzzamil Hussain

Assistant Vice President at National Bank of Pakistan

From my experience, MySQL was pretty stable.

reviewer2599590

Student at a university with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report

Room For Improvement

MariaDB needs enhancements in integration, scalability, performance, security, and features like clustering and materialized views for enterprise use.

MySQL faces scalability and performance issues, needs feature enhancements, better integration, security improvements, and advanced cloud compatibility.

MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.

Anand Bandi

Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the MariaDB report

When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly.

Prabir Kumar Kundu

SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd

I would advise people thinking about using MySQL to look up if the indexing mechanism is useful for their needs and then accordingly select the right database, and also consider if relational databases make sense for their use case.

reviewer2599590

Student at a university with 10,001+ employees

It could be more beneficial if MySQL can enhance its data masking functionality in the same way it has improved data encryption.

Muzzamil Hussain

Assistant Vice President at National Bank of Pakistan

For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report

Setup Cost

MariaDB's open-source nature minimizes costs, offering free and paid versions, making it budget-friendly compared to Oracle.

Enterprise buyers appreciate MySQL's affordable pricing, minimal setup costs, and supportive community, with optional enterprise features for subscription.

MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data.

Anand Bandi

Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the MariaDB report

Oracle has different components, so if you need security, you have to procure a different license, but here everything is inbuilt and it's not costly.

Prabir Kumar Kundu

SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report

Valuable Features

MariaDB is favored for its open-source, speed, scalability, advanced features, compatibility, tech integration, and strong community support.

MySQL is open-source, cross-platform, scalable, with advanced SQL features, seamless integration, community support, and handles large datasets efficiently.

Configuration, setup, and schema design are good features in MariaDB.

Anand Bandi

Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the MariaDB report

The main feature we utilize in MySQL is the view, and I can say that it is the most valuable feature for our needs.

AmitVerma4

Software Developer at 8 Gallery India

With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment.

Muzzamil Hussain

Assistant Vice President at National Bank of Pakistan

It's an inbuilt feature of the database itself, and you don't have to purchase an additional license for the replication.

Prabir Kumar Kundu

SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the MySQL report

Categories and Ranking

MariaDB

Ranking in Open Source Databases

7th

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

7th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

MySQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

1st

Ranking in Relational Databases Tools

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

152

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 6.5%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 9.0%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
MySQL	9.0%
MariaDB	6.5%
Other	84.5%

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Anand Bandi

Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd

Has supported web application data needs but requires design adjustments to manage complex queries efficiently

Complex queries in MariaDB where the query needs to parse thousands of lines or data values face some performance issues. For small and medium-size volume, it is pretty good. If it goes beyond certain data and complex queries, we see performance issues. We tried the advanced replication feature between different regions, replicating data specifically residing on MariaDB to two different regions of MariaDB data, and there were some technical snags in terms of slowness and longer processing time. Point-in-time recovery in MariaDB is good for small databases. When data volume increases beyond 5 GB or 10 GB per day or runs into double-digit GBs, we found some performance issues. For data below 10 GB, it works fine. Performance is the primary focus area for MariaDB, particularly during transactions or complex query jobs where slow performance is observed. MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.

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Prabir Kumar Kundu

SR AVP–Presales Cloud & Platform Management Services at Path Infotech ltd

Offers robust security and availability with impressive replication capabilities

Regarding their documentation and interface, there is room for improvement. Documentation is definitely required when running multiple databases on a cluster system. The load balancer, MySQL LB, which is used to connect to the application, lacks clear documentation. When there are multiple application servers connecting to the MySQL cluster and going through the MySQL load balancer, the documentation is not user-friendly. It's there, but only technical persons with deep knowledge of the MySQL database can implement it. Most of the community users or ISVs who use MySQL don't have many technical persons or DBA experts, so they face some challenges for the high availability of connecting high available databases from high available applications. That documentation should be simplified.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

University

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	27
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	25

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	74
Midsize Enterprise	32
Large Enterprise	62

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MariaDB?

The integration with other products is seamless.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?

MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data. The cost depends on the volume of data and different features enabled during configuration, such as backup ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with MariaDB?

See all answers

Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?

MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...

See all answers

Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?

I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...

See all answers

What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?

One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...

See all answers

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB

Compared 20% of the time

SQL Server vs MariaDB

Compared 16% of the time

PostgreSQL vs MariaDB

Compared 12% of the time

Oracle Database vs MariaDB

Compared 5% of the time

Percona Server vs MariaDB

Compared 5% of the time

More MariaDB Competitors

Firebird SQL vs MySQL

Compared 22% of the time

PostgreSQL vs MySQL

Compared 11% of the time

SQL Server vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

SAP HANA vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle Database vs MySQL

Compared 4% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB

December 2025

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Buyer's Guide

MySQL

December 2025

Download MySQL product report

Overview

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.”

MariaDB

MySQL is an open-source database known for its ease of use and high performance. It offers features like replication and clustering, making it ideal for diverse applications. Its cost-effectiveness and LAMP integration are key advantages for businesses.

MySQL supports a variety of languages and platforms, providing reliable, scalable data management. Its graphical interface and LAMP architecture integration enhance its usability, while community support further strengthens its appeal. Challenges include scalability issues with large databases, lack of advanced clustering, and limited high-availability features. Complex queries may affect performance, and integration can pose difficulties. The outdated interface and insufficient documentation are also concerns, along with replication and backup reliability issues.

What are MySQL's key features?

Open-source nature: Freely available and customizable.
Cross-platform compatibility: Supports multiple operating systems.
Scalability: Capable of handling large volumes of data.
Replication and clustering: Ensure data redundancy and load balancing.
Full-text search: Provides powerful search capabilities.
LAMP integration: Seamlessly integrates with Linux, Apache, and PHP.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost-effectiveness: Reduces expenses due to its open-source nature.
High performance: Efficiently processes large volumes of data.
Active community support: Access to a wide range of resources and expertise.
Versatile use cases: Suitable for varied applications including web development and IoT.

MySQL is widely implemented in industries such as web development, e-commerce, and finance. It's used for managing dynamic websites, powering e-commerce platforms, and supporting financial applications. Its compatibility with PHP and cost-effectiveness make it suitable for CMS platforms like WordPress. With cloud services integration, MySQL is a backend choice for scalable applications in various sectors.

Oracle

Sample Customers

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

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

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB vs. MySQL

December 2025

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