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Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs MariaDB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
4.9
Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers cost savings, efficiency, and flexibility, reducing operational costs and management time with a pay-as-you-go model.
Sentiment score
6.6
MariaDB offers cost savings, secure AI data handling, SQL integration, and community-driven features, benefiting up to 90% of users.
It offers at least 25 percent cost savings compared to maintaining on-premises databases.
Principle azure architect at Intercept
Now, we use embedded PostgreSQL vectors, which will undoubtedly reduce the TCO by using a much more cost-effective solution.
Head of cloud, data, and AI at BJSS
We've reduced our total ownership cost because we are not spending on expensive SQL server licenses.
Admin (hands on user) at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Since it handles vector storage and similarity searches natively alongside your relational data, I can seamlessly combine precise SQL filters with vector queries, which guarantees that the data retrieved for my AI application is always up-to-date and consistent.
Student at Raisoni Group
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.4
Azure Database for PostgreSQL support experiences vary, praised for responsiveness but criticized for inconsistency and contentious licensing issues.
Sentiment score
6.2
MariaDB offers enterprise support but most users rely on clear documentation and community assistance to resolve issues.
Once we open a support case, we have people engaged within about 20 minutes, especially for a Sev 1 issue.
Financial Advisor at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
On a scale from one to ten, I rate customer service and technical support a nine because they are quick in responding and in working with me to rectify any issues we come across.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The documentation and training we've received through Microsoft Learn on how to migrate, deploy, and manage the solution is exceptional.
Head of cloud, data, and AI at BJSS
They came and tuned our queries with one-to-one assistance.
Architect at LTIMindtree
Compared to MongoDB, there are some platform deficiencies, but the support team shouldn't bear that burden.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.6
Azure Database for PostgreSQL scales efficiently, supporting complex applications with features like FlexServer and recent redundancy and auto-scaling improvements.
Sentiment score
6.8
MariaDB is scalable, excelling in small to medium setups but needing extra tools and configuration for larger environments.
We do not have to buy everything and build it. It is already there.
Systems Engineer II at ICW Group
However, we can see how well it scales after we deploy it for some large enterprise customers or big government organizations.
Head of cloud, data, and AI at BJSS
The scaling options with FlexServer provide us with the flexibility we need based on application complexity.
Director, Alliances & Engineering at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A specific challenge I have faced is troubleshooting performance degradation during heavy write transaction tables.
Student at Raisoni Group
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Azure Database for PostgreSQL is praised for stability, reliable uptime, and Microsoft’s swift resolution of occasional performance issues.
Sentiment score
7.7
MariaDB is stable and reliable, though specific configurations like clustering may pose occasional stability issues.
It is the go-to database if seeking performance and capacity.
Director at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues; it has been very stable.
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
There is a stability issue where, if the database usage peaks quickly, it may crash and require intervention to restore functionality.
Principle azure architect at Intercept
We haven't found issues with the stability of MariaDB.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Room For Improvement

Azure Database for PostgreSQL needs enhancements in scalability, reliability, monitoring, integrations, user management, and disaster recovery features.
MariaDB enhances integration and UI but needs improved stability, replication, views, BI tool integration, and complex query performance.
It does not presently support knowledge graph functionalities as Neo4j does.
Product manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Azure Database for PostgreSQL can be improved by allowing quicker scaling without blips.
Principle azure architect at Intercept
I believe there could be improvements in the mirroring part and Change Data Capture (CDC).
Director, Alliances & Engineering at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
Oracle is very advanced compared to MariaDB, and those advanced features are not available in MariaDB.
Architect at LTIMindtree
The key area where MariaDB could be improved is its native GUI tooling; while the command-line interface works perfectly fine, the built-in visual tools for administration, management, and query design feel outdated compared to some competitors.
Student at Raisoni Group
 

Setup Cost

Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers cost-effective scalability with pay-as-you-go pricing, despite higher costs than on-premises solutions.
MariaDB is a cost-effective, open-source database solution offering a free Community Edition and affordable enterprise alternatives to Oracle.
We've reduced costs by 60 percent compared to maintaining on-premises solutions.
Director, Alliances & Engineering at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We chose it because it is more cost-effective than Microsoft SQL.
Cloud Solutions Architect at Measurement Incorporated
Once you are comfortable and ready to make some commitments, you get about 30 percent saving if you are going with one-year or three-year reservation cost.
Staff Data Engineer at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers simplicity, performance, security, scalability, and AI integration, enhancing cloud strategy through robust features.
MariaDB is reliable and scalable, offering open-source benefits, SQL compliance, excellent performance, and broad community support for various needs.
My takeaway as a CTO is that they're comfortable with the security posture, the features, the observability, alerts, and now it integrates into the rest of the Azure landscape.
Head of cloud, data, and AI at BJSS
The query analyzers help me find out what's happening in each of the queries.
IT Director at Infosys
If a database has any task that has been interrupted or any connection issue, it will alert LogicMonitor, and we have a centralized panel for all the alerts.
System Engineer II at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Encryption is available in MariaDB, so we are secure for transmitting data without concern about moving over networks.
Architect at LTIMindtree
Being able to store unstructured JSON directly into a column while still using standard SQL functions such as JSON_EXTRACT to query specific keys has saved me from having to constantly alter our database schemas.
Student at Raisoni Group
Configuration, setup, and schema design are good features in MariaDB.
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Ranking in Open Source Databases
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Database as a Service (DBaaS) (5th)
MariaDB
Ranking in Open Source Databases
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of Azure Database for PostgreSQL is 1.9%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB is 5.6%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Open Source Databases Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure Database for PostgreSQL1.9%
MariaDB5.6%
Other92.5%
Open Source Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Sathish Palanisamy - PeerSpot reviewer
Staff Data Engineer at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees
Improves database performance, supports AI integration, and accelerates customer-focused innovation
Azure Database for PostgreSQL can be improved in the area of elastic capabilities. One of the things we were actively looking for is the elastic feature, which was made a GA at this Ignite event. I am really happy that finally in Azure, we have a product which we can use for elastic clusters. If you are bound with a single server, then you have a vertical limit. Now you do not have any limits. As long as your use case grows, we can grow. The only thing I would maybe be thinking about is we should also allow customers to pick different node sizes for every node inside the elastic eventually. Some nodes do not need that big capacity. So that may be a nice-to-have feature, though it is not a must-have at this point.
AB
Co-Founder at Vsigma IT Labs Pvt Ltd
Has supported web application data needs but requires design adjustments to manage complex queries efficiently
Complex queries in MariaDB where the query needs to parse thousands of lines or data values face some performance issues. For small and medium-size volume, it is pretty good. If it goes beyond certain data and complex queries, we see performance issues. We tried the advanced replication feature between different regions, replicating data specifically residing on MariaDB to two different regions of MariaDB data, and there were some technical snags in terms of slowness and longer processing time. Point-in-time recovery in MariaDB is good for small databases. When data volume increases beyond 5 GB or 10 GB per day or runs into double-digit GBs, we found some performance issues. For data below 10 GB, it works fine. Performance is the primary focus area for MariaDB, particularly during transactions or complex query jobs where slow performance is observed. MariaDB is scalable and easy to scale.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Database for PostgreSQL?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Azure Database for PostgreSQL is positive; I appreciate it all. The pricing is very cost-effective and stable given that we have many data...
What needs improvement with Azure Database for PostgreSQL?
Azure Database for PostgreSQL can be improved in ways I'm very curious to explore with Horizon. I'm interested in seeing how the fully enterprise-hardened features change things and where that blur...
What is your primary use case for Azure Database for PostgreSQL?
My main use cases for Azure Database for PostgreSQL came from a personal project to scratch an itch, and it was the easiest one to go grab. I appreciate how easy PostgreSQL is to get running locall...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB?
MariaDB is in the pricey range, especially for huge databases handling terabytes of data. The cost depends on the volume of data and different features enabled during configuration, such as backup ...
What needs improvement with MariaDB?
Sometimes, complex queries that were supported in Oracle are not available in MariaDB. Advanced indexing is not available. Oracle is very advanced compared to MariaDB, and those advanced features a...
What is your primary use case for MariaDB?
My client has been using MariaDB for the last four years. We are using MariaDB in the cloud.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Google, Wikipedia, Tencent, Verizon, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Telefónica, Huatai Securities
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Database for PostgreSQL vs. MariaDB and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.