MySQL vs PostgreSQL
MySQL
World's most popular open-source relational database
PostgreSQL
The world's most advanced open-source relational database
| Feature | MySQL | PostgreSQL |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Databases | Databases |
| Sub-category | Relational | Relational |
| Maturity | mature | mature |
| Complexity | beginner | intermediate |
| Performance tier | enterprise grade | enterprise grade |
| License | GPL-2.0 | PostgreSQL |
| License type | copyleft | permissive |
| Pricing | fully free | fully free |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 0 |
| Contributors | 500 | 1.5K |
| Commit frequency | weekly | daily |
| Plugin ecosystem | none | massive |
| Docs quality | excellent | excellent |
| Backing org | Oracle | PostgreSQL Global Dev Group |
| Funding model | corporate | community |
| Min RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Min CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Scaling pattern | vertical | vertical |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| K8s native | No | No |
| Offline capable | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor lock-in | none | none |
| Languages | C, C++ | C |
| API type | SDK | SDK |
| Protocols | MySQL wire | PostgreSQL wire |
| Deployment | apt, docker, binary | apt, docker, binary |
| SDK languages | python, javascript, java, go, rust, ruby, php, c, c# | python, javascript, java, go, rust, ruby, c, php, c# |
| Team size fit | solo, small, medium, enterprise | solo, small, medium, enterprise |
| First release | 1995 | 1996 |
| Latest version | — | — |
When to use MySQL
- ✓ WordPress and CMS backend
- ✓ Read-heavy web application data
- ✓ E-commerce product catalogs
- ✓ Legacy enterprise applications
When to use PostgreSQL
- ✓ Primary transactional database for web applications
- ✓ GIS applications with PostGIS extension
- ✓ Time-series data with TimescaleDB extension
- ✓ Vector similarity search with pgvector for RAG
- ✓ JSONB document storage as MongoDB alternative
MySQL anti-patterns
- ✕ Less feature-rich than PostgreSQL for advanced SQL
- ✕ Oracle stewardship concerns
- ✕ JSON support weaker than PostgreSQL JSONB
- ✕ No native horizontal sharding
PostgreSQL anti-patterns
- ✕ Horizontal sharding not native (need Citus)
- ✕ Not ideal for pure key-value workloads at massive scale
- ✕ Write-heavy append-only workloads better served by Cassandra
- ✕ Not a graph database