MariaDB vs PostgreSQL comparison

MariaDB and PostgreSQL are both solutions in the Open Source Databases category. MariaDB is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0, while PostgreSQL is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4. MariaDB holds a 7.6% mindshare in OSD, compared to PostgreSQL’s 20.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of MariaDB users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of PostgreSQL users who would recommend it.

MariaDB

Read 59 MariaDB reviews

5,166 Views
4,716 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

PostgreSQL

Read 125 PostgreSQL reviews

10,173 Views
8,606 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

MariaDB

PostgreSQL

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

PostgreSQL and MariaDB are popular open-source database management systems competing in the database market. PostgreSQL has the upper hand due to its advanced features and robust user support, though MariaDB stands out with its performance enhancements and cost-effectiveness.

Features: PostgreSQL is known for its powerful extensions, support for complex queries, and strong data integrity. It offers reliability and an extensive suite of features straight out-of-the-box. MariaDB is valued for high performance, superior replication capabilities, and innovative storage engines. The distinction lies in PostgreSQL's mature feature-set against MariaDB's performance advancements.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL users seek better documentation clarity, a more intuitive setup, and improved onboarding processes. MariaDB users desire enhanced compatibility with MySQL, easier configuration of advanced settings, and streamlined advanced configurations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL provides stable and reliable deployment models. Users report a learning curve with its advanced features and mention the need for comprehensive resources. MariaDB is recognized for easier deployment due to compatibility and user-friendly interfaces, with responsive customer service but lacking detailed information.

Pricing and ROI: PostgreSQL offers substantial ROI from its feature-richness with minimal setup costs and highlights long-term value. MariaDB has lower initial setup costs, providing quick performance improvements and competitive ROI, focusing on cost-effective deployment and quick returns.

To learn more, read our detailed MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

December 2024

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Categories and Ranking

MariaDB

Ranking in Open Source Databases

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (5th)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.9

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MariaDB is 7.6%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 20.8%, down from 23.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

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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AdityaSharma3

Vice President Business at Techmagnate: Digital Marketing Agency

Transaction processes are fast and good replication capability

Use cases include querying data warehouses and databases to fetch data for clients already working on PostgreSQL. We also use Postgres for building reports It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping. The query speed is fast, and the…

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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

"It's easy to set up."

"The solution is very easy to implement."

"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that it is an open-source product and offers its users great online community support."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is a relational database, which is fairly reliable...It is a stable solution."

"MariaDB is a user-friendly solution. Performance wise, it's better than SQL. With SQL, I would need to write a number of queries. In contrast, MariaDB is light."

"Great monitoring and performance stability."

"MariaDB can solve things better than MySQL. Maria DB has better performance than MySQL."

"Installation is straightforward."

More MariaDB pros

"The built-in code procedural language is the most valuable. It has a built-in layer for code procedures. Its installation is very easy and quick, and it is free. It is also stable, and its performance is also good."

"The most valuable feature is the performance."

"The solution has many valuable features such as it easy to use and the interface is intuitive."

"It is easy to install and easy to manage. There is no license on it, so it is free. There is high compatibility with Oracle, and there are many tools for the migration of data from Oracle to Postgre."

"The product is very similar to the SQL Server."

"Clustering will be the number 1 feature. It is also open-source so it is free. It can also be clustered, to allow fault tolerance."

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

"With the database, you can provide a multi-component at the same service with the same performance, scalability, or all those things."

Cons

"Could have more integration with user platforms."

"It does not have tools for debugging procedures and functions."

"MariaDB's GUI is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."

"I would like to see more compatibility going forward. This would help if there is a need to change databases."

"I am editing."

"Data continuity could be improved."

"When we have had issues with accidental computer shutdown or a power outage, our MariaDB database was corrupted."

"Maria DB has to improve from a management perspective."

More MariaDB cons

"The user interface could be a bit better."

"There are several features I would like to improve that aren't working as expected. It's likely that the latest version is doing something that was missed in the previous versions. For example, the output parameters — the stored procedures — is something new in PostgreSQL that Firebird has already had for a long time."

"The interface could be much better."

"It could be more secure."

"The performance of PostgreSQL could improve."

"We have to set up event API, which takes a lot of events from the user."

"I'd like to see better memory management. I think that that's one of the few areas that Postgres does not handle as well as MySQL does or did."

"PostgreSQL could improve by providing a geographical solution for tracking trucks and people in the field. They might already have features similar to this and I have not found them. I haven't done research about this topic."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a monthly subscription to use MariaDB."

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

"It's an open-source solution."

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

"The product is not expensive."

"MariaDB is open-source and self-hosted."

"The price could be less expensive."

"The price of this solution represents a very good compromise between the cost and what it offers."

More MariaDB pricing and cost advice

"It is also open-source so it is free."

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

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

"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."

"It is free, but if you need support, you can go for the commercial version called EnterpriseDB. They provide paid support, and they can even do hosting for you if you want standby and support."

"It is free. There is no license on it."

"It is an open-source platform."

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

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

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.

See all answers

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.

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

SQL Server vs MariaDB

Compared 29% of the time

Firebird SQL vs MariaDB

Compared 20% of the time

Oracle Database vs MariaDB

Compared 13% of the time

MySQL vs MariaDB

Compared 9% of the time

Percona Server vs MariaDB

Compared 3% of the time

More MariaDB Competitors

Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 38% of the time

MySQL vs PostgreSQL

Compared 16% of the time

EDB Postgres Advanced Server vs PostgreSQL

Compared 14% of the time

Chroma vs PostgreSQL

Compared 7% of the time

OpenSearch vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

Product Reports

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MariaDB

December 2024

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Buyer's Guide

PostgreSQL

December 2024

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MariaDB

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PostgreSQL

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.”

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.

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

December 2024

Free Report: MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL

Find out what your peers are saying about MariaDB vs. PostgreSQL and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.

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