It is deployed on local servers, and we are using version 8. The whole company uses our database. Our users don't communicate with the database directly. They use a web interface. All programs are deployed using MySQL. We have hundreds of thousands of users accessing MySQL via the website. Two of us manage the database, but it's enough for only one person to manage daily operations.
Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Has a lot of documentation and bug fixing is better in the latest version
Pros and Cons
- "However, it is easy to scale MySQL using the functions provided with the product."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
As we are using the latest version of the database, it has many functions that have improved it. There are many new features in this version, and it is more powerful in what it can achieve.
What is most valuable?
MySQL has a lot of documentation, and bug fixing is better in the latest version.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using MySQL for about 20 years.
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January 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
MySQL is scalable. We didn't scale it via the database tools provided but on the program side. However, it is easy to scale it using the functions provided with the product.
How are customer service and support?
The support is fast and helps to find faster fixes to existing bugs. They recently advised us to downgrade to fix one particular bug, which resolved the problem we were having.We only use technical support for bug fixes, and the calls are usually closed quickly.
How was the initial setup?
I was able to install it myself in about half an hour.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
MySQL is free.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have also used PhpStorm and DataGrip.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend that others use MySQL. I would rate it 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Open source, stable, and has a lot of features
Pros and Cons
- "It has a lot of features. The RDBMS, consistency, and multi-user features are valuable."
- "We want high availability and replication features, which are currently missing in this solution. It would be great if they can provide an in-built replication feature, similar to Oracle RAC, in MySQL."
What is our primary use case?
We are doing POCs for our clients in our testing lab, and if a POC is working fine, then we give it for the production release.
What is most valuable?
It has a lot of features. The RDBMS, consistency, and multi-user features are valuable.
What needs improvement?
We want high availability and replication features, which are currently missing in this solution. It would be great if they can provide an in-built replication feature, similar to Oracle RAC, in MySQL.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for the last two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable RDBMS. There is no doubt about that.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have been using it for POCs. It has been consistent for a hundred users. Currently, we have three groups that use this, and each group has 20 users.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not contacted their technical support.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is open source. We prefer it for POCs because it saves the license cost.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate MySQL an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
Buyer's Guide
MySQL
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about MySQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Easy to use, scalable, and quick installation
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is easy to use."
- "There should be more tools to manage the on-premises version and more automation features."
What is our primary use case?
I started an Azure account and this is when I tried testing different databases, non-relational databases, and relational databases, using this solution.
What is most valuable?
The solution is easy to use.
What needs improvement?
There should be more tools to manage the on-premises version and more automation features.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is able to be scaled but it depends on your Microsoft configuration. I would recommend this solution for small businesses.
How was the initial setup?
The installation was fast, it took approximately five minutes.
What about the implementation team?
I did the deployment of the solution myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a license needed for this solution.
What other advice do I have?
I rate MySQL an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
A lightweight database that's easy to maintain and develop
Pros and Cons
- "MySQL is a light database. It's not very complex. It's easy to develop, easy to maintain, and easy to back up and restore."
- "We want to continue using MySQL but it merged with Oracle and the scalage changed."
What is our primary use case?
We use MySQL as a light database engine to provide database service to our web application.
Almost all of our software engineers use MySQL.
We want to continue using MySQL but it merged with Oracle and the scalage changed. After they merged, we tried MariaDB.
For two years, we tried MongoDB and prepared for application migration; all because the scalability changed when MySQL merged with Oracle.
What is most valuable?
This solution is very easy to use. It's stable and very quick. MySQL is a light database. It's not very complex. It's easy to develop, easy to maintain, and easy to back up and restore.
For how long have I used the solution?
Our software team has been using MySQL for more than eight years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's hard to say if MySQL is scalable as we've never tried to scale it.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have never had to contact support.
How was the initial setup?
We installed MySQL Database on our server. It took roughly 12 to 13 minutes to install it.
What about the implementation team?
Installation was done by our software team's engineers — seven to eight of them.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We've never bought a commercial license. We just use the open-source community edition.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated other databases and products, including EnterpriseDB and PostgreSQL. The latter was scalable, but it wasn't easy to use. MySQL is much easier to use and install. Before MySQL merged with Oracle, our software engineers were very satisfied.
What other advice do I have?
We recommend MySQL to our customers and other partners. The only problem relates to the business strategy from Oracle. For this reason, most MySQL users are considering migrating to MariaDB.
Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine. We're very satisfied with MySQL. If we could scale-out further, I would give it a ten. We need a database cluster or a scalable database solution for our future applications.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Integrator
Full Stack Developer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Open-source, easy to use, and simple to implement
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to use. It is simple to implement, which makes it suitable for our projects because we have deadlines. MySQL is also open-source, which is another plus point."
- "Its performance should be better. When we use big data, it is slow in performance. We should be able to use mirroring for improved performance."
What is our primary use case?
I'm currently using MySQL for the contact center database, and it is in the cloud. I have also used it in other projects for database and CRM, and it was on-premises. I have used it in 20 projects.
What is most valuable?
It is easy to use. It is simple to implement, which makes it suitable for our projects because we have deadlines. MySQL is also open-source, which is another plus point.
What needs improvement?
Its performance should be better. When we use big data, it is slow in performance. We should be able to use mirroring for improved performance.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MySQL for nine years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very flexible. It could be because I'm familiar with MySQL.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have never contacted the technical support of MySQL. If I have a problem, I find the solution from Stack Overflow.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is easy. I only need a maximum of one hour for the installation of MySQL.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is open-source.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate MySQL a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
SVP Technology and Head of India at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
A stable and effective data store, but technical support should be available worldwide
Pros and Cons
- "We use it as a data store and from that perspective, we get everything we need."
- "The technical support should be more knowledgeable and available worldwide."
What is our primary use case?
We are an asset management product company. Our product is deployed on the cloud and the backend database for it is MySQL.
What needs improvement?
The technical support should be more knowledgeable and available worldwide.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using MySQL for the past five to six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
So far, it has been pretty stable and I haven't had any problems. We plan to continue using it in the future.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
MySQL is very scalable, so I don't expect any challenges.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have a contract with a third-party for support. So far, it has been working fine for us and I don't see any challenges. That said, having worldwide support is something that would be an improvement.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Prior to MySQL, we did not use another database for this purpose. We built our core product directly on top of MySQL.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup seemed pretty decent, so I don't see any challenge in that regard.
What about the implementation team?
Our in-house DBA team installed it. We have one DBA and one junior.
What other advice do I have?
This is a good product and I recommend it to others.
We use it as a data store and from that perspective, we get everything we need. We don't have any complaints about features such as analytics, reports, or dashboards.
I would rate this solution a six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Database Administrator Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Easy to set up but the stability needs to be improved
Pros and Cons
- "It was easy to install."
- "Stability needs improvement and the backup needs to be enhanced."
What is our primary use case?
We only support the backend and only carry it as a database. You can do what you want on the database to create the schema and to manage the rest of the organization.
What needs improvement?
Errors that come from MySQL need to be more clear. In Oracle, for example, you have the aura and you have numbers, you can easily find the error. MySQL should follow the same as in Oracle.
Stability needs improvement and the backup needs to be enhanced.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using MySQL for years.
We are using the latest version. Normally we do upgrades and we follow the upgrade path.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It could be more stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 15 customers, but I am not sure of the number of users we have.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not dealt with technical support.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy to install. It only took ten minutes.
We have a huge database team as we are supporting many regions.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented this solution ourselves.
What other advice do I have?
We plan to continue using this product. It's good, and I can recommend it to others.
I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Senior Data Analyst at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Easy to set up, stable, and good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The replication feature is the most valuable. We are replicating our servers."
- "It should have some code analytical functions. It can also have a monitoring tool."
What is our primary use case?
We are interfacing it with MicroStrategy. There are ODBC connections. We have 10 to 12 users in our company.
We are assessing the possibilities of moving to the cloud. We are not yet sure if we are going to move to the cloud.
What is most valuable?
The replication feature is the most valuable. We are replicating our servers.
What needs improvement?
It should have some code analytical functions. It can also have a monitoring tool.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using MySQL for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is stable. We are not dealing with a huge database. Our database is not more than 1 TB, so we didn't find any problem.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I haven't seen a need for scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
Their technical support is good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. We are using it on Linux, and our server is on CentOS.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution. I would rate MySQL a nine out of ten. I find it almost perfect.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: January 2026
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