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Citus Data vs MySQL comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Citus Data
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
21st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MySQL
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
Open Source Databases (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of Citus Data is 2.5%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 8.0%, down from 8.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Arucy Lionel - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficiently handles high-traffic scenarios and compatible with PostgreSQL extensions, offering flexibility in database management
There are many areas of improvement , especially in terms of DDL query routing. Even though it's masterless, DDL queries need to be sent to the coordinator node. Also, setting up a multi-node environment could be more straightforward. Currently, setting up a multi-node environment is challenging. It's a bit tricky. Installation on each PostgreSQL node can lead to communication issues between nodes. An automatic rebalancing feature would be a significant improvement. Currently, I have to manually command the rebalance. It would be more convenient if it was rebalanced automatically. The dashboard and monitoring capabilities are good, but it would be helpful to have an integrated availability dashboard.
Muzzamil  Hussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Native encryption ensures secure data management with a simple deployment
The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities. By default, we can provide encryption, and this feature in MySQL is why we prefer it over other databases. The native encryption in MySQL encourages us to use this database model more frequently compared to Oracle and other databases. With Oracle, we have to buy another solution for encryption and masking, but MySQL supports native encryption, which enhances our return on investment. It perfectly supports our ROI, and we have no issues with its functionality.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's very straightforward to implement the solution. It took us two days to set up everything."
"Its distributed processing capabilities are a standout feature. It requires minimal changes to get up and running if you already have a system on PostgreSQL. Citus can run in its natural state."
"You can use Citus Data to write complex scripts. I like its version upgrades and disaster recovery as well."
"It creates a unified view of the entire architecture and performance factor, helping to manage the network more easily."
"A lot of the software components have been trialed and tested for often more than 10 years."
"What I've been most pleased with is the cost point, performance, and ease of use."
"The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities."
"MySQL's clustering features are very strong, and you can automate scripting, so that helps. We wrote a Terraform script and ran it."
"The fact that it is free is what appeals to me the most."
"The ML modules in MySQL are advantageous since they make data handling easy and quick at MNQM."
"The solution is a small application and is very easy to deploy."
 

Cons

"More features in monitoring and the reporting could make it better."
"There are many areas of improvement , especially in terms of DDL query routing. Even though it's masterless, DDL queries need to be sent to the coordinator node. Also, setting up a multi-node environment could be more straightforward."
"Citus Data needs to improve its stability. Do not consider this product if you have the budget. It is still developing and has a lot of issues."
"The performance, stability, and security are areas with shortcomings in MySQL, where improvements are required."
"Scalability could be improved."
"It should provide better customer experiences."
"Oracle should start putting in some of the enterprise features in the standard feature. There are some key features that should be part of the standard."
"At times, the autoscaling does not happen when there is a surge in load."
"Since we upgraded from 8.0.12 to 8.0.22, it has had some slowness-related issues. Some of the queries that were fast previously are quite slow now. I did some research, and I found many people complaining about it."
"When I run into issues, I really have to research how to fix them."
"Even for the best database, we always want the database to perform much better, so we wish MySQL would be much better, in terms of performance."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Citus Data is an open-source product."
"Microsoft licensing for SQL Server is probably ten times more expensive. I used to work for the government, and I remember when we were looking into upgrading to the enterprise version of SQL Server 2019, the licensing was going to cost 350,000. To get the equivalent in the cloud, it was going to be about four grand to get the same processing power and everything else. With MySQL, it was going to be about 300 for the same licensing. Cost-wise, for sure, there is a huge difference. Would you prefer to pay 300 a month or 3,000 to have the same amount of data resources? You might lose a few options that you need, but it isn't worth the price difference."
"We've never bought a commercial license. We just use the open-source community edition."
"We are using the free community version of the solution."
"It's an open-source database management system that can be used free of charge."
"It's cheaper than other solutions."
"MySQL is a cheap solution."
"For the on-premise version, no license is required."
"The price of the solution is good because we have a good partner."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citus Data?
You can use Citus Data to write complex scripts. I like its version upgrades and disaster recovery as well.
What needs improvement with Citus Data?
Citus Data needs to improve its stability. Do not consider this product if you have the budget. It is still developing and has a lot of issues.
Why are MySQL connections encrypted and what is the biggest benefit of this?
MySQL encrypts connections to protect your data and the biggest benefit from this is that nobody can corrupt it. If you move information over a network without encryption, you are endangering it, m...
Considering that there is a free version of MySQL, would you invest in one of the paid editions?
I may be considered a MySQL veteran since I have been using it since before Oracle bought it and created paid versions. So back in my day, it was all free, it was open-source and the best among sim...
What is one thing you would improve with MySQL?
One thing I would improve related to MySQL is not within the product itself, but with the guides to it. Before, when it was free, everyone was on their own, seeking tutorials and how-to videos onli...
 

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Find out what your peers are saying about Citus Data vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.