MySQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

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MySQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

PostgreSQL and MySQL are both key players in the open-source database category, with PostgreSQL often considered superior for complex queries and diverse applications due to its advanced features, while MySQL is favored for its speed and simplicity in platforms that demand quick read and write operations.

Features: PostgreSQL provides advanced features that support complex queries and offers scalability in write-intensive operations, maintaining full ACID compliance. It is known for its extensibility and custom data types. MySQL focuses on delivering high-speed performance and simplicity, which makes it suitable for rapidly changing data environments. It supports multiple storage engines, making it a versatile choice for developers.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL could improve by enhancing its capabilities in managing complex read-only queries and incorporating additional SQL features such as 'INSERT IGNORE.' The setup process can be complex, and it has a smaller community. MySQL struggles with performance issues when using InnoDB and lacks certain advanced features, such as active directory integration. It also might be less robust compared to some proprietary databases.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: PostgreSQL offers flexibility with deployment in both on-premises and cloud environments, backed largely by community support unless third-party options are chosen. MySQL also supports diverse deployment setups but has some gaps in debugging and management tools, although it benefits from strong community engagement and comprehensive documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Both PostgreSQL and MySQL offer their core database systems for free under open-source licenses. PostgreSQL demands investment in skilled personnel for optimum setup and use but provides significant ROI due to minimal operational costs. MySQL's ROI can fluctuate depending on the complexity of deployment and any additional licensing needed for enterprise features, yet both systems offer a cost-effective alternative to proprietary database solutions.

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

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MySQL vs. PostgreSQL

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

MySQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

148

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (3rd)

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 (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MySQL is 12.1%, down from 18.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 18.6%, down from 21.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Muzzamil Hussain

Assistant Vice President at National Bank of Pakistan

Native encryption ensures secure data management with a simple deployment

The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities. By default, we can provide encryption, and this feature in MySQL is why we prefer it over other databases. The native encryption in MySQL encourages us to use this database model more frequently compared to Oracle and other databases. With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment. It perfectly supports our ROI, and we have no issues with its functionality.

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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

"I use MySQL for employee service in an OLTP database."

"MySQL is open-source. There are a lot of open-source communities trying to come up with their own patches, and to come up with their own features, which help MySQL develop faster than traditional databases like Oracle, which is closed source."

"The most valuable feature of MySQL is auto-scaling."

"The tool is open-source and there is no cost involved in its use."

"The relations in the database, the dynamic workflow, and the ability to connect with all columns. It's useful for e-commerce."

"The initial setup was pretty straightforward. I would have worked with our IT team in terms of the initial setup."

"One of the most valuable features is MySQL's ability to run our email system. We use a system called Colab."

"We use it as a data store and from that perspective, we get everything we need."

More MySQL pros

"The performance is good."

"The community support and the open-source community for it are good."

"It is a pretty comprehensive database system. Its performance is good, and it does what it is supposed to do. It also integrates very well."

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

"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 PostgreSQL database is similar to the SQL Server but has a slightly different technology that has similar resources as well. If the customer has the confidence using SQL Server, they will be fairly comfortable using this solution."

"PostgreSQL is very powerful, easy to manage, and has many features."

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

Cons

"MySQL lacks a feature akin to Oracle's Real Application Clusters, which ensures continuous database availability within the same data center or nearby data centers."

"Its performance should be better. When we use big data, it is slow in performance. We should be able to use mirroring for improved performance."

"The solution could improve the monitoring. At the present time, you need to use third-party monitoring solutions."

"The only service which could be improved is its usability. The entire user experience needs to be revamped to meet the 2018 design standards."

"If the customer is already using or has already used Oracle for a long time they will know the look and feel and the character of this database that can fit into their business."

"It should provide better customer experiences."

"The performance issues in the product can be considered as an area where improvements are required."

"I find the Microsoft solution a bit better. But mostly in terms of the UI layout, I would say. I just find it a little bit more efficient."

More MySQL cons

"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."

"The search option is not very good."

"The database and applications can become very slow."

"I had some issues when I integrated with the Jupyter Notebook."

"It could be improved by using parallelization. You want basically, distributed computing."

"It still needs to be more mature and have some backup feature. We are normally dealing with Oracle's data, and we have very strong online tools to back up the data and do other things. PostgreSQL still needs to do more in this area as well as in the high availability area. There are many external tools that you can use for PostgreSQL's high availability, but there is no embedded tool within PostgreSQL for high availability. It could have a feature similar to Oracle for working on a distributed system. It can have some scripts to improve the monitoring and some tools to do performance analysis. We have a workaround for most of such requirements except for the support for a distributed system, which is very difficult to have. This area should be included in the core of the database itself."

"I have noticed that user and access management should be improved."

"PostgreSQL doesn't have a feature for temporal SQL, which is useful for gathering versions of data. This feature should be included in PostgreSQL. This feature is available in MariaDB, SQL Server, Oracle Database, and DB2."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's cheaper than other solutions."

"MySQL is very cheap. It could be free. It also has a yearly licensing option."

"It is open source. We prefer it for POCs because it saves the license cost."

"I think that MySQL is a premium product."

"This product has a good price point."

"The solution does not come with a licensing fee."

"I use the open-source free community version."

"When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support."

More MySQL pricing and cost advice

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

"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 community version of Postgre is basically free."

"We are using the free version of PostgreSQL."

"The licensing model is good."

"It is open source. There is no licensing."

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

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

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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...

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...

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...

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.

Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MySQL

Compared 28% of the time

SAP HANA vs MySQL

Compared 8% of the time

Teradata vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

MariaDB vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

SQL Server vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

Compared 38% of the time

EDB Postgres Advanced Server vs PostgreSQL

Compared 12% of the time

MariaDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 8% 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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MySQL

February 2025

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February 2025

Overview

MySQL is a cost-efficient and scalable relational database management system widely used in web, mobile applications, and academic projects.

MySQL is utilized for backend operations, data analysis, reporting, financial transactions, and ERP databases. It supports deployment on local servers, Cloud, and Kubernetes. Its free, open-source nature along with strong community support make it popular among companies. MySQL's compatibility with multiple platforms and programming languages enhances its appeal. While it remains stable and easy to use, areas such as replication, clustering, and backup require improvement to better serve enterprise applications. Enhanced security, error messages, and monitoring tools are also desired for a better user experience.

What are the most important features of MySQL?

Free and Open-Source: No licensing costs, perfect for budget-conscious projects.
Compatibility: Works with multiple platforms and programming languages.
High Performance: Efficient performance across large datasets.
Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing business needs.
Clustering and Replication: Ensures data availability and redundancy.
Easy Installation: Quick setup process on various operating systems.
Community Support: Extensive resources and community assistance.
Cross-Platform: Operates seamlessly on different operating systems.
Data Management Interface: Simplifies data handling and manipulation.

What are the benefits of using MySQL?

Cost Efficiency: Reduce expenses with a free, open-source database.
Scalability: Adapt to increasing data demands effortlessly.
Performance: Handle large datasets with ease and speed.
Community Support: Access a vast pool of knowledge and resources.
Flexibility: Integrate with various platforms and languages for diverse use cases.
Data Reliability: Clustering and replication for high data availability.

In multiple industries, MySQL supports internal applications, billing systems, academic teaching purposes, and ERP databases. Companies leverage MySQL for Cloud and local deployments, ensuring effective data manipulation and backend operations in diverse projects. Its role in financial transactions and reporting further emphasizes its versatility.

Oracle

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

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

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