Comparison

MariaDB vs MySQL

On the evidence we track, MySQL leads this comparison with a composite score of 56/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
MariaDB50
MySQL56
Score
Vioscale score
MariaDB50 / 100low · 43%
MySQL56 / 100medium · 51%
Pricing
Free tier
MariaDB
MySQL
Model
Price level
MariaDBfree
MySQLlow
Transparent
MariaDB
MySQL
Integrations
Count
MariaDB17
MySQL
Adoption
Dependent repos
MariaDB0
MySQL664
Github stars
MariaDB8,144
MySQL12,407
Stackoverflow questions
MariaDB
MySQL230,000
Activity
Commits last 30d
MariaDB100
MySQL2
Release
Cadence days
MariaDB
MySQL90
History
MariaDB20 items
MySQL
License
Spdx
MariaDBGPL-2.0
MySQLGPL-2.0
Language
Primary
MariaDBC++
MySQLC++
Market
Content
Faq
MariaDB
MySQL8 items

Capabilities

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

Core
SQL model
MariaDBFull SQL
MySQLFull SQL
Transactions
ACID transactions
MariaDB-
MySQLFull
Highest isolation level
MariaDB-
MySQLSerializable
Consistency
Consistency
MariaDBTunable
MySQLStrong
Scale
Horizontal scale
MariaDBNatively distributed
MySQLNatively distributed
Replication
Replication
MariaDBSync
MySQLAsync
Availability
Automatic failover / HA
MariaDB
MySQL
Deployment
Deployment
MariaDB-
MySQLSelf-hosted
Serverless / scale-to-zero
MariaDB-
MySQL
Compatibility
Wire compatibility
MariaDBMySQL protocol
MySQLMySQL protocol
Extensibility
Extensions / plugins / UDFs
MariaDB
MySQL
Licensing
Licence class
MariaDBCopyleft
MySQLCopyleft
Data types
JSON / document support
MariaDB
MySQL
Geo / spatial
MariaDBNative
MySQL-

What each one is

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

MariaDB

A widely deployed open source database that evolved from MySQL while maintaining compatibility, offering advanced SQL capabilities, native vector search, pluggable storage engines, and multi-primary clustering for production workloads.

Independently observed

MySQL

Leader

MySQL is an open-source SQL database management system that serves as the foundation for many web-based applications and cloud services. Available in both a free community edition and a commercial enterprise edition with advanced features and professional support.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

MariaDB

Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

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 verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
MariaDB
MySQL
Windows
MariaDB
MySQL
Linux
MariaDB
MySQL
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
MariaDB
MySQL
Self-hosted
MariaDB
MySQL

Integrations

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

MariaDB

17 total
  • MariaDB Connector/C
  • MariaDB Connector/Node.js
  • MariaDB Connector/ODBC
  • MariaDB Connector/J
  • MariaDB Connector/Python
  • MariaDB Connector/R2DBC
  • MariaDB Connector/C++
  • MySqlConnector for ADO.NET
  • ADO.NET Driver for MySQL
  • ODBC Driver for MySQL
  • JDBC Driver for MySQL
  • Node.js Driver for MySQL
  • C++ Driver for MySQL
  • C Driver for MySQL
  • C API for MySQL
  • PyMySQL
  • mysql-python
Independently observed

MySQL

Leader

Not documented yet.

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