MySQL vs PostgreSQL comparison

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MySQL

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

PostgreSQL and MySQL compete in the open-source database management system category. PostgreSQL appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced feature set and strong performance under high workloads.

Features: PostgreSQL offers comprehensive SQL compliance, advanced data types like JSONB, and support for complex queries and operations. It is recognized for superior scalability and extensibility. On the other hand, MySQL focuses on speed and compatibility, making it well-suited for small to medium-sized applications. It supports multi-threaded architecture, LAMP/WAMP integration, and provides excellent performance and stability in various environments.

Room for Improvement: PostgreSQL could benefit from improved documentation and support, as well as enhancements in multi-master replication and partitioning features. MySQL, while easy to use, faces challenges with scalability and lacks advanced analytical capabilities compared to enterprise solutions. It also needs to enhance support for complex data operations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both PostgreSQL and MySQL are widely deployed across on-premises and cloud environments. PostgreSQL boasts a strong open-source community that offers extensive support, whereas MySQL, also backed by community forums, is noted for its ease of deployment. However, both lack centralized official support and primarily rely on community or third-party assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Both PostgreSQL and MySQL are open-source, minimizing software costs. PostgreSQL's rich features offer significant ROI for enterprises requiring advanced database functionalities, despite potentially higher personnel costs. MySQL, distributed under GPL, provides rapid ROI with lower overhead, appealing particularly to budget-constrained projects needing simple database solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed MySQL vs. PostgreSQL Report (Updated: February 2026).

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MySQL vs. PostgreSQL

February 2026

Helped 881,707 peers since 2012

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

MySQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

153

Ranking in other categories

Relational Databases Tools (4th)

PostgreSQL

Ranking in Open Source Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

125

Ranking in other categories

Vector Databases (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Open Source Databases category, the mindshare of MySQL is 9.7%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PostgreSQL is 14.3%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Open Source Databases Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
MySQL	9.7%
PostgreSQL	14.3%
Other	76.0%

Open Source Databases

Featured Reviews

Pranay Jain

Senior software developer at Simplifyvms

Robust relational data foundation has supported rapid growth and improved user data management

MySQL can be improved in several ways. It has connectivity errors and administration troubles that sometimes occur, though not consistently. MySQL has slow queries; sometimes when I run a query, it scans the whole table, and if the data is very large, it takes too much time to retrieve the data. There can be resource bottlenecks with RAM and CPU usage being a little lower than ideal. Monitoring system metrics is crucial because we need to identify and address these types of issues. Schema designing is another area for improvement, as a poorly designed schema can lead to data redundancy in the future. If I haven't initially planned for a 20 lakh user database and am only working with a 1,000 user case, it will be very problematic because in the future, it will affect the whole table structure, and we will need to change everything. Thorough thinking is necessary before even creating the table. MySQL documentation could be better. Sometimes when I need to find something related to MySQL, the documentation is not very comprehensive. If I have a problem with it, I have to go to Stack Overflow or something similar to get the full detail. Additionally, sometimes when we are connecting to local MySQL, it says we cannot connect to SQL, and I don't know the reason. The error messages are not very helpful, so we have to investigate those cases manually. There are multiple instances of this occurring. Documentation can be better overall. The integration capabilities could be improved slightly. Whatever I have used is working fine for me currently, but it could be a little better. The UI of MySQL Workbench, which I use, is not appealing to me, so it could be improved. MySQL overall is very good, and the foundation is very strong. We can develop features around it and different types of things inside it, which will make it better in the future.

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Akhilesh Chipre

Senior Assosiate Consultant at Applied Materials

Real-time data capture optimizes database performance but Views create problems

One of the most valuable features is real-time data capture; it optimizes database performance. I think using real-time data capture reduces job running time and the amount of data sent at once with batch loads. Replicating the same data daily isn't optimal, so real-time reception improves application performance and reduces latency.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I use MySQL for employee service in an OLTP database."

"MySQL is a scalable tool. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten."

"It was easy to install."

"The solution is very simple. It's easy to use. That's the most important feature."

"MySQL has cross-platform support for multiple operating systems. The backups on a Linux machine can be restored on a Windows machine, and vice versa."

"It is a very stable solution. I deployed the product six years ago, and it still works fine."

"The most valuable feature is the on-premises data encryption facilities."

"While MySQL offers strong basic functionality."

More MySQL pros

"It is easy to use."

"The database has excellent performance."

"The initial setup is quick and easy."

"The product's deployment is easy."

"Postgres has some functions called JSONB aggregators or other aggregators, which are quite useful."

"We often use PostgreSQL for operations monitoring because we are a manufacturing company."

"The most valuable features are the price, stability, it is scalable and is used by our clients in small business environments, and it is a simple product to use."

"The product is very similar to the SQL Server."

Cons

"The availability of tools could be improved in the MySQL open-source platform. They can provide more analytical tools. I haven't had any particularly difficult issues to troubleshoot on MySQL, but in the past, on Microsoft SQL Server, I had to troubleshoot some difficult issues, and better tools were in place to see what was going on in real-time on the server. So, that's the bit that is lacking on the MySQL open-source platform."

"MySQL's performance requires attention. For optimal performance, one should review and sometimes revise the code, particularly when using server-side scripting."

"The solution could be more secure."

"When working with a cluster wide, I have to use the MySQL cluster version."

"Rather than going in-depth about the technical features, which a technical person can directly tell, I would say that MySQL should be able to adapt to the next framework. The 5G framework means an unstructured framework. So if MySQL becomes smoother and more adaptable, it'll be easier."

"As for areas that could be improved, the tool is often used as a local database on laptops. But now, we're moving to cloud-based solutions that are more scalable and highly available. I think the tool should offer a cloud database option. This would let users keep a local copy of data if needed, but also have their data available across different regions through a cloud account."

"We want to continue using MySQL but it merged with Oracle and the scalage changed."

"I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. It does break down a little at times."

More MySQL cons

"PostgreSQL could improve by providing a geographical solution for tracking trucks and people in the field. They might already have features similar to this and I have not found them. I haven't done research about this topic."

"The interface climate could be better."

"They need to improve the user experience of the management."

"There are some products out there that have a slightly different method of implementation for the SQL language. Some of those are slightly better in some areas, and PostgreSQL is slightly better in some areas. I would probably like to match all of those products together. It is just down to the functionality. For example, Oracle has a number of options within SQL that are outside of what you would class as the SQL standard. PostgreSQL misses some of those, but PostgreSQL does other things that are better than what Oracle does. I would like to merge those two products so that there is a certain amount of functionality in a single product."

"It could be improved by using parallelization. You want basically, distributed computing."

"The user interface could be a bit better."

"The database and applications can become very slow."

"If it was free to use, it would be the perfect solution."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no licensing fee."

"It is open-source."

"When you know the setup will continue to grow, make sure you have the paid support."

"The tool is open source."

"MySQL is a free and open-source solution."

"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 very cheap. It could be free. It also has a yearly licensing option."

"There is not a license required for this solution."

More MySQL pricing and cost advice

"We are using the free version of PostgreSQL."

"We do not pay for licensing."

"It is free, but if you need support, you can go for the commercial version called EnterpriseDB. They provide paid support, and they can even do hosting for you if you want standby and support."

"It could be much cheaper. If you would like to build an application on Amazon today, PostgreSQL is the standard database with Redshift. If you want other databases, you can add them, but PostgreSQL is the basis of everything. It's a question of money, that's it."

"It is open source. There is no licensing."

"This solution can offer a cheaper choice for customers since it is open-source."

"The need for our customers to pay for licences is contingent on their projects and budgets."

"It is an open-source platform."

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	75
Midsize Enterprise	32
Large Enterprise	62

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	57
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	46

Questions from the Community

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...

How does Firebird SQL compare with PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL was designed in a way that provides you with not only a high degree of flexibility but also offers you a cheap and easy-to-use solution. It gives you the ability to redesign and audit yo...

What do you like most about PostgreSQL?

It's a transactional database, so we use Postgres for most of our reporting. That's where it's helping.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PostgreSQL?

The tool is free of cost. For now, it's not about making money. But once we perfect it, we can offer it to customers willing to pay for support and other services. Most of my deployments are free.

Firebird SQL vs PostgreSQL

Comparisons

Firebird SQL vs MySQL

Compared 23% of the time

SQL Server vs MySQL

Compared 6% of the time

MariaDB vs MySQL

Compared 5% of the time

SAP HANA vs MySQL

Compared 4% of the time

Oracle Database vs MySQL

Compared 4% of the time

More MySQL Competitors

Compared 23% of the time

MariaDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 7% of the time

Chroma vs PostgreSQL

Compared 5% of the time

LanceDB vs PostgreSQL

Compared 5% of the time

OpenSearch vs PostgreSQL

Compared 4% of the time

Product Reports

Download MySQL product report

MySQL

January 2026

Download PostgreSQL product report

January 2026

Overview

MySQL is an open-source database known for its ease of use and high performance. It offers features like replication and clustering, making it ideal for diverse applications. Its cost-effectiveness and LAMP integration are key advantages for businesses.

MySQL supports a variety of languages and platforms, providing reliable, scalable data management. Its graphical interface and LAMP architecture integration enhance its usability, while community support further strengthens its appeal. Challenges include scalability issues with large databases, lack of advanced clustering, and limited high-availability features. Complex queries may affect performance, and integration can pose difficulties. The outdated interface and insufficient documentation are also concerns, along with replication and backup reliability issues.

What are MySQL's key features?

Open-source nature: Freely available and customizable.
Cross-platform compatibility: Supports multiple operating systems.
Scalability: Capable of handling large volumes of data.
Replication and clustering: Ensure data redundancy and load balancing.
Full-text search: Provides powerful search capabilities.
LAMP integration: Seamlessly integrates with Linux, Apache, and PHP.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost-effectiveness: Reduces expenses due to its open-source nature.
High performance: Efficiently processes large volumes of data.
Active community support: Access to a wide range of resources and expertise.
Versatile use cases: Suitable for varied applications including web development and IoT.

MySQL is widely implemented in industries such as web development, e-commerce, and finance. It's used for managing dynamic websites, powering e-commerce platforms, and supporting financial applications. Its compatibility with PHP and cost-effectiveness make it suitable for CMS platforms like WordPress. With cloud services integration, MySQL is a backend choice for scalable applications in various sectors.

Oracle

PostgreSQL is a versatile and reliable database management system commonly used for web development, data analysis, and building scalable databases.

It offers advanced features like indexing, replication, and transaction management. Users appreciate its flexibility, performance, and ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. Its robustness, scalability, and support for complex queries make it highly valuable.

Additionally, PostgreSQL's extensibility, flexibility, community support, and frequent updates contribute to its ongoing improvement and stability.

Sample Customers

Facebook, Tumblr, Scholastic, MTV Networks, Wikipedia, Verizon Wireless, Sage Group, Glassfish Open Message Queue, and RightNow Technologies.

1. Apple 2. Cisco 3. Fujitsu 4. Instagram 5. Netflix 6. Red Hat 7. Sony 8. Uber 9. Cisco Systems 10. Skype 11. LinkedIn 12. Etsy 13. Yelp 14. Reddit 15. Dropbox 16. Slack 17. Twitch 18. WhatsApp 19. Snapchat 20. Shazam 21. SoundCloud 22. The New York Times 23. Cisco WebEx 24. Atlassian 25. Cisco Meraki 26. Heroku 27. GitLab 28. Zalando 29. OpenTable 30. Trello 31. Square Enix 32. Bloomberg