vioscale
Comparison

MySQL vs PostgreSQL

No clear leader: PostgreSQL (59.8) and MySQL (55.6) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

MySQL full profile →PostgreSQL full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
MySQL56
PostgreSQL60
Score
Vioscale score
MySQL56 / 100medium · 51%updating
PostgreSQL60 / 100medium · 56%updating
Pricing
Free tier
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✓
Model
MySQLcommercial
PostgreSQLcommercial
Price level
MySQLlow
PostgreSQLfree
Transparent
MySQL✗
PostgreSQL–
Integrations
Count
MySQL–
PostgreSQL10
Security
Disclosure policy
MySQL–
PostgreSQL✓
Scorecard
MySQL4.6
PostgreSQL6.1
Vulnerabilities
Adoption
Dependent repos
MySQL664
PostgreSQL0
Github stars
MySQL12,407
PostgreSQL21,899
Stackoverflow questions
MySQL230,000
PostgreSQL170,000
Activity
Commits last 30d
MySQL2
PostgreSQL100
Release
Cadence days
MySQL90
PostgreSQL90
License
Spdx
MySQLGPL-2.0
PostgreSQLPostgreSQL
Language
Primary
MySQLC++
PostgreSQLC
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
MySQL8 items
PostgreSQL8 items

Capabilities

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

Core
SQL model
MySQLFull SQL
PostgreSQLFull SQL
Transactions
ACID transactions
MySQLFull
PostgreSQL-
Highest isolation level
MySQLSerializable
PostgreSQL-
Consistency
Consistency
MySQLStrong
PostgreSQL-
Scale
Horizontal scale
MySQLNatively distributed
PostgreSQLRead replicas
Replication
Replication
MySQLAsync
PostgreSQL-
Availability
Automatic failover / HA
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✓
Deployment
Deployment
MySQLSelf-hosted
PostgreSQLSelf-hosted
Serverless / scale-to-zero
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✗
Compatibility
Wire compatibility
MySQLMySQL protocol
PostgreSQL-
Extensibility
Extensions / plugins / UDFs
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✓
Licensing
Licence class
MySQLCopyleft
PostgreSQLPermissive OSS
Data types
JSON / document support
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✓
Geo / spatial
MySQL-
PostgreSQLExtension

What each one is

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

MySQL

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

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is a mature open-source relational database system combining strong data integrity with comprehensive features and active community maintenance.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

MySQL

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 ↗

PostgreSQL

Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✗
Windows
MySQL✗
PostgreSQL✓
Linux
MySQL✗
PostgreSQL✓
CLI
MySQL✗
PostgreSQL✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✓
Self-hosted
MySQL✓
PostgreSQL✓

Integrations

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

MySQL

Not documented yet.

PostgreSQL

10 total
  • CloudNativePG
  • Kubernetes
  • Patroni
  • pgAdmin
  • pgVector
  • PostGIS
  • pgAudit
  • Spock
  • Cilium
  • Submariner
Independently observed

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