Comparison

Google Cloud Spanner vs MySQL

On the evidence we track, MySQL leads this comparison with a composite score of 65/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Google Cloud Spanner full profile →MySQL full profile →

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.

Google Cloud Spanner55

★MySQL65

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Google Cloud Spanner	MySQLLeader
vioscaleAI score	55 / 100low · 38%	65 / 100medium · 53%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	commercial	open_source
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	-	✗
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	4	-
Security
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	-	5.1
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	-	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=homebrew&package_name=mysql&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Sla pctreliability.sla_pct	99.999	-
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	-
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	-	664
Github starsadoption.github_stars	-	12,441
Stackoverflow questionsadoption.stackoverflow_questions	-	230,000
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	-	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	-	90
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	-	GPL-2.0
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	-	C++
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	-	Available worldwide
Content
Faqcontent.faq	4 items	8 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

Google Cloud Spanner55 / 100low · 38%

MySQL65 / 100medium · 53%

Pricing

Free tier

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL✓

Model

Google Cloud Spannercommercial

MySQLopen_source

Price level

Google Cloud Spannerlow

MySQLfree

Transparent

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL✗

Integrations

Count

Google Cloud Spanner4

MySQL–

Security

Scorecard

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL5.1

Vulnerabilities

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQLCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=homebrew&package_name=mysql&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Sla pct

Google Cloud Spanner99.999

MySQL–

Status page

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL–

Adoption

Dependent repos

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL664

Github stars

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL12,441

Stackoverflow questions

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL230,000

Activity

Commits last 30d

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL100

Release

Cadence days

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL90

License

Spdx

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQLGPL-2.0

Language

Primary

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQLC++

Market

Availability

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQLAvailable worldwide

Content

Faq

Google Cloud Spanner4 items

MySQL8 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for relational databases. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Relational Databases
Capability	Google Cloud Spanner	MySQL
Core
SQL model	Full SQL	Full SQL
Transactions
ACID transactions	Full	Full
Highest isolation level	Serializable	Serializable
Consistency
Consistency	Strong	Strong
Scale
Horizontal scale	Natively distributed	Natively distributed
Replication
Replication	Consensus (Raft/Paxos)	Async
Availability
Automatic failover / HA	✓	✓
Deployment
Deployment	Managed	Self-hosted
Serverless / scale-to-zero	-	✓
Compatibility
Wire compatibility	Postgres protocol	MySQL protocol
Extensibility
Extensions / plugins / UDFs	✓	✓
Licensing
Licence class	Proprietary	Copyleft
Data types
JSON / document support	-	✓
Geo / spatial	-	-

Core

SQL model

Google Cloud SpannerFull SQL

MySQLFull SQL

Transactions

ACID transactions

Google Cloud SpannerFull

MySQLFull

Highest isolation level

Google Cloud SpannerSerializable

MySQLSerializable

Consistency

Google Cloud SpannerStrong

MySQLStrong

Scale

Horizontal scale

Google Cloud SpannerNatively distributed

MySQLNatively distributed

Replication

Google Cloud SpannerConsensus (Raft/Paxos)

MySQLAsync

Availability

Automatic failover / HA

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL✓

Deployment

Google Cloud SpannerManaged

MySQLSelf-hosted

Serverless / scale-to-zero

Google Cloud Spanner-

MySQL✓

Compatibility

Wire compatibility

Google Cloud SpannerPostgres protocol

MySQLMySQL protocol

Extensibility

Extensions / plugins / UDFs

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL✓

Licensing

Licence class

Google Cloud SpannerProprietary

MySQLCopyleft

Data types

JSON / document support

Google Cloud Spanner-

MySQL✓

Geo / spatial

Google Cloud Spanner-

MySQL-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Google Cloud Spanner

Google Cloud Spanner is a managed database service that unifies multiple data models (relational, key-value, graph, vector search) on one platform. It provides up to 99.999% uptime with globally consistent transactions through a distributed timestamp system.

Independently observed

MySQL

Leader

MySQL is an open-source SQL database server. MySQL Cluster extends it with real-time transaction processing capabilities for distributed deployments.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Google Cloud Spanner

Usage-basedFree tier90-day trial

Usage-based pricing: compute capacity (nodes/processing units, hourly), storage (monthly), backups, data replication, network bandwidth. Free 90-day trial instances. Optional 1-year and 3-year committed use discounts. Three editions available: Standard, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus.

as of 2026-08-03verify ↗

MySQL

Leader

Open sourceFree tier

Community edition free; Enterprise/Standard/Classic editions require contacting sales

MySQL Community ServerFree
MySQL Enterprise EditionContact sales
MySQL Standard EditionContact sales
MySQL Classic EditionContact sales

as of 2026-07-08verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Google Cloud Spanner	MySQL
WebPlatforms	-	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
On-premiseDeployment	✓	✗
HybridDeployment	✓	✗

Platforms

Web

Google Cloud Spanner–

MySQL✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL✗

Self-hosted

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL✓

On-premise

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL✗

Hybrid

Google Cloud Spanner✓

MySQL✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Google Cloud Spanner

9 total

Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform
Gemini CLI
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Agent Development Kit (ADK)
Data Agent Kit
VS Code
Cursor
GitHub Copilot
Kiro

Independently observed

MySQL

Leader

Not documented yet.

Still deciding?

Google Cloud Spanner or MySQL: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.