# Google Cloud Spanner vs Percona Server

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Percona Server

| Attribute | Google Cloud Spanner | Percona Server |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 43.9 (39% (low)) | 60 (41% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 28 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 1,271 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Google Cloud's globally distributed, multi-model database supporting relational, graph, key-value, and search capabilities with native PostgreSQL interface and Gemini AI integration. | A free, fully compatible drop-in replacement for MySQL that delivers improved performance and instrumentation. It is built on MySQL foundations and designed for organizations seeking enhanced reliability and monitoring without switching databases. |
| features.capabilities | `{"isolation":"serializable","sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"managed","consistency":"strong","replication":"consensus","extensibility":true,"license_class":"proprietary","horizontal_scale":"distributed_native","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":true,"wire_compatibility":"postgres"}` | `{"isolation":"serializable","sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"self_hosted","serverless":false,"consistency":"strong","geo_spatial":"native","replication":"sync","extensibility":true,"json_document":true,"license_class":"copyleft","horizontal_scale":"read_replica","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":true,"wire_compatibility":"mysql"}` |
| integrations.count | 5 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform"},{"name":"Gemini CLI"},{"name":"Model Context Protocol (MCP)"},{"name":"Agent Development Kit (ADK)"},{"name":"Data Agent Kit"}]` | - |
| language.primary | - | C++ |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","summary":"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.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://cloud.google.com/spanner","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T12:40:26.715Z","freeTrialDays":90,"billingPeriods":["hour","month"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Completely free and open source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.percona.com/blog/percona-live-europe-discounted-pricing-community-dinner/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:35:48.210Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/percona/percona-server/releases/tag/Percona-Server-5.5.55-38.8","date":"2017-07-05T20:27:17Z","type":"stable","version":"Percona-Server-5.5.55-38.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/percona/percona-server/releases/tag/Percona-Server-5.7.17-13","date":"2017-07-05T20:28:28Z","type":"stable","version":"Percona-Server-5.7.17-13"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | - | 6.2 |

## Capabilities (Relational Databases)

| Capability | Google Cloud Spanner | Percona Server |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 | Read replicas |
| **Replication** |  |  |
| Replication | Consensus (Raft/Paxos) | Sync |
| **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 | - | Native |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:42:32.694Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*