Available worldwide

What is MariaDB?

One of the most popular open source relational databases created by the original developers of MySQL and guaranteed to stay open source. The default in most Linux distributions and available through most cloud offerings, built upon the values of performance, stability, and openness.

Independently observed

MariaDB pricing

We don't have MariaDB's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.

What MariaDB does

The capabilities that matter for relational databases, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.

Core
SQL model
Full SQL
Transactions
ACID transactions
Full
Highest isolation level
-
Consistency
Consistency
Strong
Scale
Horizontal scale
Natively distributed
Replication
Replication
Sync
Availability
Automatic failover / HA
Deployment
Deployment
Self-hosted
Serverless / scale-to-zero
-
Compatibility
Wire compatibility
MySQL protocol
Extensibility
Extensions / plugins / UDFs
Licensing
Licence class
Permissive OSS
Data types
JSON / document support
-
Geo / spatial
-
Independently observed

Platform & deployment

Independently observed
Platforms
  • CLI
  • Linux
Deployment
  • Cloud / SaaS
  • Self-hosted

Integrations (17)

Independently observed
  • 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

MariaDB alternatives

Other relational databases we track, ranked by the same independent score.

Independent · unbought · dated

The Vioscale score: one lens on the evidence

Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for MariaDB, not the verdict.

Balanced composite 55 / 100
low · 24%
Signal contributions to the composite score
SignalScoreWeightContributionEvidence
Github Activity410.156.2
Capabilities460.135.9
Pricing Transparency800.064.9
Price Level1000.044.5
Github Stars740.053.9
Integrations360.062.2
Reliability00.080.0-
Release Cadence00.090.0-
Security Posture100.140.0-
Package Downloads00.040.0-
Stackoverflow Activity00.150.0-

Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.

All data & sourcesshow ↓

Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.

Activity

AttributeValueEvidence
Commits last 30d19mediumsource · 2026-08-01 · 65%

Adoption

AttributeValueEvidence
Github stars7,912highsource · 2026-08-01 · 90%

Features

AttributeValueEvidence
Capabilities{"sql_model":"full_sql","deployment":"self_hosted","consistency":"strong","replication":"sync","extensibility":true,"license_class":"permissive","horizontal_scale":"distributed_native","acid_transactions":"full","automatic_failover":true,"wire_compatibility":"mysql"}mediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60%

Integrations

AttributeValueEvidence
Count17mediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60%

Language

AttributeValueEvidence
PrimaryC++highsource · 2026-08-01 · 90%

License

AttributeValueEvidence
SpdxGPL-2.0highsource · 2026-08-01 · 95%

Market

AttributeValueEvidence
Availability{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}highsource · 2026-08-05 · 75%

Pricing

AttributeValueEvidence
Free tierYesmediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60%
Modelcommercialmediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60%
Price levelfreemediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60%
TransparentYesmediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60%

Security

AttributeValueEvidence
Disclosure policyYesmediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60%
GdprYeshighsource · 2026-08-05 · 75%