18May, 2025

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Databases are the backbone of most applications today. Whether you’re building a simple blog or a complex enterprise application, choosing the right database system is critical. Two of the most prominent names in the world of relational databases are MySQL and MariaDB. While they share a common origin, their paths have diverged significantly in recent years.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the key differences and similarities between MySQL and MariaDB to help you make an informed decision.

MySQL vs MariaDB: Which One Should You Run on Your Server?

If you’ve set up a website or app on a Linux server, you’ve probably picked between MySQL and MariaDB without thinking too hard about it, most control panels just install one by default. But the two databases have grown apart enough over the past decade that the choice is worth a second look.

Where They Came From

MySQL has been around since 1995, built by MySQL AB. Sun Microsystems bought the company in 2008, and Oracle bought Sun in 2010, which is how MySQL ended up under Oracle’s control. It’s still open source, but Oracle’s ownership made some of the original MySQL team uneasy enough to start something new.

That something was MariaDB, forked from MySQL’s own codebase by Michael “Monty” Widenius and the rest of the founding MySQL developers. The goal was to keep a version of the database fully open, without a single company able to change the license or lock features behind a paywall.

What’s Still the Same

Since MariaDB grew directly out of MySQL’s code, a lot carried over:

• SQL queries written for MySQL almost always run on MariaDB without changes.
• MySQL client tools and connectors work with MariaDB too.
• Both support InnoDB and the other common storage engines.
• Data types, indexing, and replication setups (master-slave, master-master) work the same way in both.

That compatibility is a big reason switching between them is relatively painless, at least at first.

Where They’ve Pulled Apart

The performance gap shows up mostly in complex queries, subqueries and joins in particular, where MariaDB tends to edge ahead. Some of that comes down to features Oracle keeps behind its Enterprise tier: thread pooling, parallel replication, and more detailed performance schema data all ship free with MariaDB, while MySQL users need the paid version to get the same tools. MariaDB has also added system-versioned tables, letting you query how a row looked at an earlier point in time.

Security

Neither database is the weak link here. Both follow current security practices out of the box. The difference is where the stronger features live: MariaDB bundles enterprise-grade security into its free, open version, while MySQL keeps options like transparent data encryption behind its Enterprise license.

Cloud Support

MySQL has the edge in managed cloud options, mostly because it’s been around longer and is more widely adopted. You’ll find it as a first-class option on Amazon RDS, Google Cloud SQL, and Azure Database for MySQL.

MariaDB isn’t far behind. It has its own dedicated cloud service, SkySQL, along with support on Amazon RDS and the usual self-hosted setups on AWS, GCP, or Azure.

So Which One Should You Pick?

Go with MySQL if you need long-term vendor backing, you’re already tied into Oracle’s enterprise tools, or your managed cloud provider only offers MySQL.

Go with MariaDB if you’d rather not depend on a single vendor’s roadmap, want performance features without paying for an Enterprise license, or just prefer software built and maintained in the open.

If you’re migrating an existing database from one to the other, the compatibility covered earlier means you usually won’t need to rewrite your queries, just test thoroughly before switching anything in production.