Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

MariaDB vs PostgreSQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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
61
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (8th)
PostgreSQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
126
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
ProductMindshare (%)
PostgreSQL14.4%
MariaDB5.9%
Other79.7%
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

AB
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.
Ece Ece - PeerSpot reviewer
Software developer at Student
Reliable transactions and rich features have powered real time collaboration and faster development
PostgreSQL fully supports ACID transactions, including atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability, which are some of the best features it offers in my experience. It also supports multiple index types, such as B-tree, Gin, Gist, and BRIN, and provides JSON and JSONB support, which is used to query semi-structured data. PostgreSQL uses Multi-Version Concurrency Control, which allows multiple users to read and write simultaneously. For extensibility, PostgreSQL allows extensions such as PostGIS and pg_trgm, which are truly useful. PostgreSQL improves reliability, performance, and scalability in production. Since it is ACID compliant, it ensures that database transactions are safe and consistent, preventing partial data updates, maintaining data integrity, and allowing multiple users to read or write data simultaneously using MVCC. Features such as foreign keys, constraints, and triggers impact data consistency by preventing invalid data. It supports read replicas, partitioning, and horizontal scaling for scalability. PostgreSQL has been very stable in my experience, handling concurrent requests reliably while maintaining data consistency with ACID transactions and accommodating concurrent users with strong data integrity, making it mature and widely used in production systems. Using PostgreSQL with Prisma allows faster development because schema migrations are automated and type-safe queries reduce the time I spend fixing database bugs, allowing me to focus more on building features while improving collaboration between developers due to a well-defined relational schema. Migration tools keep everyone's database schema synchronized, which allows multiple developers to work on backend features without conflicts. It has a rich feature set, supporting advanced features such as window functions, common table expressions (CTEs), and full-text search, with the flexibility of supporting both JSON and relational data, meaning it can behave as both a relational database and a document database. Extensibility allows PostgreSQL to add new capabilities while maintaining a strong ecosystem that integrates easily with modern backend stacks such as Node.js, Docker, and Prisma.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution."
"It is an absolutely stable solution."
"We use MariaDB for identity provider services. Most of the things that we are doing are deployed in the container mode. All such solutions require a database, and MariaDB is easier to use for these kinds of deployments."
"MariaDB performs well as the backend database for our cloud-based telephony solution."
"Great monitoring and performance stability."
"Installation is straightforward."
"I would say that for most use cases it works fine."
"The performance is very good."
"Scalable, stable, and easy to manage database system, with a straightforward installation."
"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 initial setup is quick and easy."
"Postgres is rock solid when deployed according to best practices as documented by the PostgreSQL community. When it's installed correctly, PostgreSQL is an enterprise-grade solution."
"The most valuable feature is the performance."
"We managed to reduce the storage space needed to 10% of the original size, without affecting data integrity, and we significantly improved the performance."
"We often use PostgreSQL for operations monitoring because we are a manufacturing company."
"PostgreSQL makes it very adaptable to several descriptions of a record. Instead of having several tables or several relations for one entity, I can adapt this entity. It can be a multiform entity. For example, here in Mexico, a company and a person can be sold to us as a physical entity or a physical person."
 

Cons

"Integration with AWS could be improved."
"The dashboard and pricing need improvement."
"There is not much support available."
"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 is not scalable."
"The interface should be more user-friendly. It should be able to connect directly to the database and Interact with it without having to use commands. It needs better integration."
"The performance could be a bit better."
"When we have had issues with accidental computer shutdown or a power outage, our MariaDB database was corrupted."
"Integration with other platforms could be improved."
"If it was free to use, it would be the perfect solution."
"There are some products out there that have a slightly different method of implementation for the SQL language. Some of those are slightly better in some areas, and PostgreSQL is slightly better in some areas. I would probably like to match all of those products together. It is just down to the functionality. For example, Oracle has a number of options within SQL that are outside of what you would class as the SQL standard. PostgreSQL misses some of those, but PostgreSQL does other things that are better than what Oracle does. I would like to merge those two products so that there is a certain amount of functionality in a single product."
"PostgreSQL’s performance could be improved."
"It is possible that in the newer version this has been addressed, but I would like the deployment in microservices architecture could be improved."
"The database and applications can become very slow."
"The scalability is limited."
"Instead of the installation agent downloading all the packages for the install, it should allow the user to download the packages separately on their own to do the install."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be less expensive."
"When it comes to MariaDB, it should have a more cost-effective license."
"My company uses the free version of the solution."
"This is an open source solution with no licensing fees."
"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."
"The tool is open-source."
"MariaDB is available for free."
"The product is not expensive."
"Our company pays for it. There are free versions available, but for advanced features, you obviously have to pay."
"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."
"We do not pay for licensing."
"It is free. In terms of operating costs, it basically needs the same platform on which Oracle runs."
"The need for our customers to pay for licences is contingent on their projects and budgets."
"It is free. There is no license on it."
"It is open source. There is no licensing."
"We use the open-source version of PostgreSQL and not the enterprise edition."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Open Source Databases solutions are best for your needs.
884,012 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business57
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise46
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about MariaDB?
The integration with other products is seamless.
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 ...
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...
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...
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.
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.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,012 professionals have used our research since 2012.