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LocalDB 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

LocalDB
Ranking in Relational Databases Tools
14th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
6
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 August 2025, in the Relational Databases Tools category, the mindshare of LocalDB is 2.0%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MySQL is 7.8%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Relational Databases Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Srini-Dhanaraj - PeerSpot reviewer
The database always has structured data, like rows, columns, and bases
LocalDB is an excellent solution for learners, beginners, and projects of negligible size; it is very good. Any startup can use a local database to start. Once they grow beyond its limits, they can migrate to a MS SQL server that's also available on-premises. I rate it ten out of ten.
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

"The initial setup was simple."
"The solution is fast."
"The initial setup is very straightforward. The guidelines are very easy to follow. Maintenance is very easy and requires very little manpower."
"LocalDB is an excellent solution for learners, beginners, and projects of negligible size; it is very good."
"The most valuable feature of LocalDBis the connection between the application and DB."
"I am totally satisfied with MySQL."
"This product is a good teaching tool for students who want to learn about networked databases."
"​We use MySQL for enterprise data storage as well as part of the back-end of websites and web applications.​"
"The solution is easy to use."
"MySQL gives us a very user-friendly workspace in which to query the database."
"It is free, which is probably its most valuable feature. It is a pretty full-featured relational database. It really does everything we need it to do."
"The feature I found most valuable is activity performance."
"MySQL's clustering features are very strong, and you can automate scripting, so that helps. We wrote a Terraform script and ran it."
 

Cons

"The solution needs to create a management tool. Right now, the solution has tools for creating a local installation, but it's too simplistic. We need something that's a bit more complex so that we can extend the tools with our scripts."
"The initial setup is complex and requires a skilled person."
"It is only for a small amount of data. Local DB is made for the purpose of small-volume optics."
"The ALM features can be improved, but the database by itself is reliable."
"The internal connection features of LocalDB could improve."
"MySQL has some unique exchange problems when it comes to migration projects."
"Improvements are required in character set support, scalability, and big data sets."
"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."
"It can have better monitoring. In addition, the enterprise manager should be able to cater to more than one virtual machine. Currently, you need one license per server. It seems a bit too much to get one license for one enterprise manager. I hope the enterprise manager for MySQL can accommodate more virtual machines for MySQL."
"Scalability could be improved."
"There should be more tools to manage the on-premises version and more automation features."
"We have encountered some performance issues, and the solution takes time for performing complex queries."
"The performance issues in the product can be considered as an area where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing cost is too high for LocalDB."
"The fees are fair."
"There is not a license required for this solution."
"The tool is open source."
"There is a licensing cost because we are going for a proprietary product. There are some other versions for which there is no licensing cost."
"MySQL is a free and open-source solution."
"There is a license for this solution. A lot of the time the solution gets bundled with other hardware or software purchases."
"MySQL is very cheap. It could be free. It also has a yearly licensing option."
"When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support."
"The solution’s pricing depends on customer requirements. A license is not required for the community edition."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with LocalDB?
Technically speaking, you don't need to get any updates because it's not online. It's on-premise. So once it is installed, then you get a desktop-grade version. But the purpose of LocalDB is not th...
What is your primary use case for LocalDB?
There were multiple systems, some planned, like the mainframe, the gold database, a website, and a manual Excel spreadsheet. These were the various data sources, and we wanted to bring everything i...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

AstraZeneca, Kienzle Automotive GmbH, Kodak Alaris, Unilever, Floatel International and Kongsberg Maritime, MyHero
Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.
Find out what your peers are saying about LocalDB vs. MySQL and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.