MariaDB vs PostgreSQL comparison

MariaDB and PostgreSQL are both solutions in the Open Source Databases category. MariaDB is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.4, while PostgreSQL is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2. MariaDB holds a 5.9% mindshare in OSD, compared to PostgreSQL’s 14.4% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of MariaDB users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of PostgreSQL users who would recommend it.

MariaDB

Read 61 MariaDB reviews

4,845 Views
2,519 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

PostgreSQL

Read 125 PostgreSQL reviews

8,017 Views
6,895 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

MariaDB

PostgreSQL

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

PostgreSQL and MariaDB compete in the relational database management system category. PostgreSQL appears to have the upper hand due to its extensibility and support for complex queries which are highly valued by users.

Features: PostgreSQL is known for its advanced feature set including support for JSON, NoSQL operations, and robust indexing which enhances performance in large-scale environments. In contrast, MariaDB emphasizes SQL compliance and ease of use. PostgreSQL's superior extensibility and capability to handle complex queries make it the preferred choice for those who need these advanced features.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL could benefit from improved GUI tools and enhanced documentation, as well as better scalability and replication features. MariaDB, meanwhile, should enhance its replication capabilities, customization options, and handling of large-scale data.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both PostgreSQL and MariaDB are popular for both on-premises and cloud deployment due to their open-source nature. PostgreSQL has a strong community offering comprehensive resources and active forums, whereas MariaDB is known for its straightforward implementation. However, neither offers dedicated customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Both PostgreSQL and MariaDB are free and open-source, offering cost-effective solutions without licensing fees. This fosters high ROI, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses looking for powerful yet affordable database management systems.

To learn more, read our detailed MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

March 2026

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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

MariaDB

Ranking in Open Source Databases

8th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (8th)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 5.9%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 14.4%, down from 18.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
PostgreSQL	14.4%
MariaDB	5.9%
Other	79.7%

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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Akhilesh Chipre

Senior Assosiate Consultant at Applied Materials

Real-time data capture optimizes database performance but Views create problems

One of the most valuable features is real-time data capture; it optimizes database performance. I think using real-time data capture reduces job running time and the amount of data sent at once with batch loads. Replicating the same data daily isn't optimal, so real-time reception improves application performance and reduces latency.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the query speed it offers."

"What I like best about MariaDB is that it is open-source and reliable."

"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."

"It's open source."

"This solution is user-friendly."

"The most valuable feature of MariaDB is the replication mode."

"It is very simple to install, and the commands are exactly the same as MySQL."

"It's a very easy product to set up."

More MariaDB pros

"The most valuable features are the price, stability, it is scalable and is used by our clients in small business environments, and it is a simple product to use."

"The solution is scalable, it is very good."

"It's a useful solution, that can be widely used."

"We often use PostgreSQL for operations monitoring because we are a manufacturing company."

"This is an open-source solution, operates at a high speed, and supports more than one SQL language."

"It is very useful for both structured and unstructured data. You can store unstructured and structured data in PostgreSQL. It is easy to use. You can easily manage things through PostgreSQL Admin. It is cost-effective. Its on-premise version is free. It is agnostic of on-premise or cloud. You can install it on the cloud or on-premises. It is available with all clouds, and you can also install it on desktop or Windows Servers."

"The solution is open-source and free to use."

"It is very scalable and comes with a bonus: no licensing issues as you scale with your databases."

Cons

"Document caching is an area of concern in the product, where improvements are required to help MariaDB improve on the previous queries as they are retained, and you can roll back to them."

"I’m not sure if it can scale."

"Could have more integration with user platforms."

"There is not much support available."

"The license should be cheaper and closer to that offered by MySQL, Oracle and other products."

"There is room for improvement in terms of security."

"Sometimes, complex queries that were supported in Oracle are not available in MariaDB."

"A well-known issue for a lot of different users is associated with write-intensive applications."

More MariaDB cons

"The pricing could be better."

"It needs more integration."

"They need to have a better graphical interface. There is a tool called pgAdmin 4 that they use, which is free. It is written in Java, and it is slow. They need to have a better product that is similar to Toad for Oracle, but, of course, it is hard to get something that's really great and free. Other than that, it is great."

"The user interface for the clients could be easier to use as they are small businesses. From a technical support perspective, the documentation could be improved."

"It would be great if the solution offered even more integration capabilities."

"The interface could be much better."

"Sometimes, it becomes slow because of the network. So, there is room for improvement in performance."

"PostgreSQL could improve by being more user-friendly. In SQL Server they have a studio where you can easily do management but not in this solution."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a monthly subscription to use MariaDB."

"The price could be less expensive."

"MariaDB is available for free."

"We use the solution's free version."

"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."

"MariaDB is a free-to-use solution."

"We pay for a yearly license."

"When it comes to MariaDB, it should have a more cost-effective license."

More MariaDB pricing and cost advice

"The need for our customers to pay for licences is contingent on their projects and budgets."

"It is free. In terms of operating costs, it basically needs the same platform on which Oracle runs."

"We do not pay for licensing."

"We use the open-source version of PostgreSQL and not the enterprise edition."

"It could be much cheaper. If you would like to build an application on Amazon today, PostgreSQL is the standard database with Redshift. If you want other databases, you can add them, but PostgreSQL is the basis of everything. It's a question of money, that's it."

"The solution requires a license."

"PostgreSQL is open-source, so if capable admins are available then the setup cost can be $0."

"PostgreSQL is a free and open-source database."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

University

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	27
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	26

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	57
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	46

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?

Sometimes, complex queries that were supported in Oracle are not available in MariaDB. Advanced indexing is not available. Oracle is very advanced compared to MariaDB, and those advanced features a...

See all answers

How does Firebird SQL compare with PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL was designed in a way that provides you with not only a high degree of flexibility but also offers you a cheap and easy-to-use solution. It gives you the ability to redesign and audit yo...

See all answers

What do you like most about PostgreSQL?

It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?

The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.

See all answers

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB

Compared 17% of the time

SQL Server vs MariaDB

Compared 13% of the time

MySQL vs MariaDB

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle Database vs MariaDB

Compared 5% of the time

Percona Server vs MariaDB

Compared 4% of the time

More MariaDB Competitors

Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 21% of the time

MySQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 9% of the time

Chroma vs PostgreSQL

Compared 5% of the time

LanceDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 5% of the time

OpenSearch vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB

February 2026

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Buyer's Guide

PostgreSQL

February 2026

Download PostgreSQL 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

PostgreSQL is a versatile and reliable database management system commonly used for web development, data analysis, and building scalable databases.

It offers advanced features like indexing, replication, and transaction management. Users appreciate its flexibility, performance, and ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. Its robustness, scalability, and support for complex queries make it highly valuable.

Additionally, PostgreSQL's extensibility, flexibility, community support, and frequent updates contribute to its ongoing improvement and stability.

PostgreSQL

Sample Customers

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

1. Apple 2. Cisco 3. Fujitsu 4. Instagram 5. Netflix 6. Red Hat 7. Sony 8. Uber 9. Cisco Systems 10. Skype 11. LinkedIn 12. Etsy 13. Yelp 14. Reddit 15. Dropbox 16. Slack 17. Twitch 18. WhatsApp 19. Snapchat 20. Shazam 21. SoundCloud 22. The New York Times 23. Cisco WebEx 24. Atlassian 25. Cisco Meraki 26. Heroku 27. GitLab 28. Zalando 29. OpenTable 30. Trello 31. Square Enix 32. Bloomberg

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

March 2026

Free Report: MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

Find out what your peers are saying about MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

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