# MySQL Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is MySQL the right Database solution for you? Explore 2094 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/reviews --- MySQL 4.6 (2094) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 25th, 2026 # Reviews of MySQL Ease of use 4.4 Customer Service 4.2 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews Jack I IT Development LeadInsurance, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “MySQL is an intuitive database language that provides incredible reliability and scalability for what is a community driven language.“ July 26, 2025 Rhys B Senior Product ManagerBiotechnology, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The UI sometimes crashes when trying to export large CSV's from exported results, which is critical to our workflow.“ March 30, 2026 NH Nay Myo H Software EngineerBanking, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: I used a free trial. “MySQL is one of the most widely used databases, meaning there’s extensive documentation, community support, and established best practices that can assist in troubleshooting and optimization.“ October 28, 2024 ML Margaret L Owner - AdministratorE-Learning, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “At the beginning of using it, I didn't create a backup and lost one of my websites. Until I purchased a back-up service, I did back-ups myself and it was very time consuming because of my website size.“ November 9, 2024 LM Lisa M Finance AnalystLogistics and Supply Chain, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “I like the most about MySQL that is wonderful and most easier structured query language that I have seen“ January 8, 2026 Fernando F CEO - IT ConsultantInformation Technology and Services, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The community version of MySQL have also lost features and many in the community and user base have slowly moved away.“ May 28, 2025 AZ Augusto Z Software DeveloperComputer Software, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Ease of administration and deployment, Workbench is a great UI for quick querying and one-off administration tasks“ November 25, 2025 Gary F OwnerInformation Technology and Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “MySQL lacks certain advanced features found in more expensive proprietary databases; evaluate your needs before committing.“ May 14, 2024 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 2094 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Jack I. IT Development Lead Insurance Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Reliable, scalable, free, what’s not to love" July 26, 2025 5.0 Generally brilliant and reliable. I’ve used MySQL in countless projects as the database backend for its reliability and scalability. Pros MySQL is an intuitive database language that provides incredible reliability and scalability for what is a community driven language. Cons Coming from a mixed SQL background, it would be great if MySQL shared some of the advanced features that MSSQL has. Alternatives considered [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/) Reason for choosing MySQL Open source and free license was one of the drivers for this decision. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer CEO - IT Consultant Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL...The Power to Manage Your Data" May 28, 2025 4.0 I've used the community version of MySQL for 25+ years and have found it to be a very powerful database for use for web site, mobile apps, and software back ends. Pros MySQL is a powerful database software that has been open source and community driven for many years and is now owned by Oracle Cons MySQL was purchased by Oracle and the commercial use cost and support have gone up. The community version of MySQL have also lost features and many in the community and user base have slowly moved away. Alternatives considered [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/)[Rapid SQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/215817/Rapid-SQL/)[MariaDB](https://www.capterra.com/p/132005/MariaDB/)[SQLite](https://www.capterra.com/p/158187/SQLite/) Reason for choosing MySQL It was better suited for integration with PHP, Wordpress and Joomla Switched from [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/)[Microsoft Access](https://www.capterra.com/p/233275/Microsoft-Access/) MySQL was easier house and integrate with web site CMS systems like Wordpress, Joomla and PHP programming. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Product Manager Biotechnology Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A solid workhorse for database management" March 30, 2026 4.0 Overall, I can see how this product is an industry standard for database management and querying. I like how accesible it is, and I use it daily. 90% of the time it works without any bugs or issues! Pros In my opinion it is the easiest option to host our databases. A lot of our company relies on this platform. It is easy enough for non-developers to learn and be able to access data on their own. I personally had no experience in coding and managed to learn a decent amount of MySQL in a few years. Cons The commands can sometimes be a little buggy, and the server response times can be a little slow. The UI sometimes crashes when trying to export large CSV's from exported results, which is critical to our workflow. Review Source SB Sreerekha B. Sr Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Usage of mysql" May 20, 2025 3.0 It is convenient to use to preoare database and data, becayse it is open souce the cide sql can be customized to suit the needs of custonwrs Pros It is useful to retrieve and make a database using sql queries. The queries can be customized using the nesyed queries and can utilize the techniques of sql Cons It is opensource internally uses sql. All capabilities of sql can ve ised within queries. It can used for large scale and ecommer applications Review Source LM Lisa M. Finance Analyst Logistics and Supply Chain Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "MySQL experience " January 8, 2026 5.0 My overall experience has been pretty good so far and make easier my work process every day is very nice Pros I like the most about MySQL that is wonderful and most easier structured query language that I have seen Cons I like the easy way that I could update, insert, delete, update documents, it’s nice for me and my colleagues Review Source Shaunak P. Senior Data Engineer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best open source tool for beginners trusted by enterprises." March 6, 2025 5.0 I use MySQL very often for making small proof-of-concept for my work. It is very easy to handle multiple databases with work bench. I also use cloud version of it and the one hosted on cPanels for data hosting purposes. Pros 1) Biggest benefit that I see with MySQL is it supports addition of columns to desired position (using BEFORE and AFTER keyword), this basic functionality is not provided with premier tools like Postgre SQL. 2) Almost all web hosting providers supports MySQL by default and it is undisputed choice for a lot of PHP based applications. 3) Community support is also widely available, because MySQL can be used at any machine, cloud, bare-metal, and etc. Cons There are no cons, it provides all the security features even at open-source level that are equivalent to enterprise level. Switched from [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/) MySQL has more advantage over applications where Big Data is not applicable Review Source AZ Augusto Z. Software Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great RDBMS" November 25, 2025 5.0 Pros Ease of administration and deployment, Workbench is a great UI for quick querying and one-off administration tasks Cons Worse performance than Postgres and lack of granular ACLs and table inheritance. It's also less extensible (no custom types) Alternatives considered [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/) Reason for choosing MySQL Easier to deploy, setup and manage. Support for active-active replication. Review Source ML Margaret L. Owner - Administrator E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "My Experience With MySQL" November 9, 2024 5.0 I have been using MySQL since 2005. At the beginning of using it, I didn't create a backup and lost one of my websites. Until I purchased a back-up service, I did back-ups myself and it was very time consuming because of my website size. Now, with a back-up service my database is always safe. MySQL is a very sturdy platform as it has always been a great foundation for my websites over the years. Pros The MySQL interactive program makes it easy for anyone to create a simple database that connects with it. I have created many such databases over the years without problems. It usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Cons If a MySQL database is hacked or there is a bug, it cannot be repaired or replaced in most cases without a backup. Backups must be done on a regular basis. There is usually a cost for back-ups. Review Source PB Paul B. Customer Experience Manager Sports Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL you cannot know what a database is without knowing it! " May 23, 2025 5.0 Solid, concrete database management, a powerful relational database management system that can keep your application running fine for years. Pros It's easy to use, and widely usage, with tons of accessible resources to handle any kind of query you can have about database management. Cons How can you find weaknesses in this product? I mean, it's solid, it works, it's well supported, some could argue it's competitors are facing faster performance, I doubt if you compare same period of time versions. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Owner of ShadowPlayersDev Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Using MySQL to manage relational databases" December 10, 2024 5.0 I've been using MySQL because it's great for relational database management, it's fast and smooth and easy to understand for new starters. Pros Its open-source nature and extensive community support make it a cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes. Features like replication and clustering enhance scalability and availability for enterprise applications. Cons Its default storage engine, InnoDB, may struggle with large-scale data analytics or high write-heavy workloads without careful optimization. Review Source DV Dima V. Software developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL is the best relational database language out there!" September 10, 2021 5.0 In my few years of experience with MySQL I hightly recommend it! It is a very powervul and versatile tool to manage your data on the server. Pros Wow where to start! The two main highlights are the ability to create highly customizable indexed data tables and the ability to query them in incredibly flexible ways! When one creates a table in MySQL, one has an option to create a primary key which is unique for every record in that table. That can then be used to easily search and reference the data in that table. One can also mark other data columns as indexed and make them unique, for instance the email column. That will prevent duplicate records. And one can reference other tables' primary keys from one table - this is called a foreign key - allowing for one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many relationships. In terms of queries, one of the most powerful tools is the JOIN command. This allows one to append multiple tables to one another, using the foreign key feature. The combinations and the flexibility that this allows is out of this world as you can extract data from any number of tables into a custom table-like result with surgical precision. If you consider using MySQL, do yourself a favour and study JOIN and how to use it with foreign keys. Cons I think the biggest downside to MySQL is that there is quite a learning curve. You need to be good with structuring and organising data in theory/planning first before you approach this database language. It is only a tool, it will not do the design and architecture for you. Once you know what you want, you need to work through some tutorials and code examples to understand how to use MySQL. There are good database managers that use MySQL, suchas DBeaver or HeidiSQL, that will greatly assit you in the process - but you still have to understand how to write custom queries, so take some time to learn the language. If you don't have the time, consider maybe MS Excel or MS Access - less flexibility, but also a smaller learning curve. Alternatives considered [MongoDB](https://www.capterra.com/p/127374/MongoDB/) Reason for choosing MySQL MySQL is relational while MongoDB is non-relational. When working with larger and more complex data, the concept of indexing and foreign keys becomes indispensable and this is something that non-relational MongoDB does not offer. Switched from [Microsoft Access](https://www.capterra.com/p/233275/Microsoft-Access/) MS Access is a very expensive software and MySQL is free of charge via installation packages, such as WAMP or XAMPP. Review Source JT Jim T. Sr Web Engineer Information Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Stable Database for Every Project" August 25, 2019 5.0 Pros I came from programming background who used PHP as primary language and naturally MySQL was the database for the backend. One feature about MySQL is how easy it is to setup and use and how flexible it is to operate. I have used both the CLI (Command Line Interface) and GUI (Graphical User Interface) to interact with the database to create tables, add records, update and remove records, all seem really fast and stable. I used MySQL on my Windows, Mac, and Linux machines without any hiccups. It follows the traditional Relational Database Management System structure with you first create the database, then the tables, then add records to the tables before you can query them. The client used to interface MySQL include the web-based tool like PHPMySQL, and Windows tool like HeidiSQL or MySQL Workbench. These tools all connect to the database very easily. These tools also lets you backup your database for offline storage. Cons The recent trend of database has gone from the traditional Relational model to NoSQL, which is a SQL platform that uses mostly JSON format to store data instead of the traditional database tables and records. This is where MySQL lacks, MySQL doesn't have the ability to run as NoSQL so if you intend to use a NoSQL database, MySQL is not for you. One other thing I noticed about MySQL database is if you have a large collection of data and IF your SQL query is not very optimized, the speed to return the data set can be very very slow. Of course, the only way to fix it is optimize or change your query. Alternatives considered [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/) Reason for choosing MySQL I am already very familiar with the product, its syntax and commands. To me it's a natural choice. Review Source VL Vince L. Director, Application Development Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excellent product and fully capable as compared to other mainstream options" March 2, 2025 5.0 For smaller projects, this has been my recommendation to the IT team if at all is a choice to use. The product is scalable (to a degree), efficient, and user friendly. Pros MySQL UI is fantastic across the board. There are so many third party UIs as well that work well with its usage and administration Cons I honestly don't have anything negative to say about this product. Review Source HG Harshit G. Financial Analyst Financial Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best Integration with Excel" March 9, 2025 4.0 Pros The best thing I like about it’s integration with Excel. Cons It’s a little hard to understand for beginners. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Data Programming Program Development Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "A thinking about MySQL" June 8, 2024 5.0 Pros MySQL is an extremely sophisticated and adaptable open-source relational database management system. It is simple to set up and operate, and it is extremely flexible, allowing customers to personalize the system to their individual requirements. MySQL is an excellent solution for businesses of all sizes due to its extensive range of features and capabilities. Cons It can be troublesome to import big MySQL databases from one host to another. Remember that there may be website issues, process breakdowns during uploading or importing that require you to restart, or the import that does not fully transfer everything. I've figured out a way around this multiple times with only a massive dump. Other than that, it has gotten better with time, and as of the most recent version, I have to say that it is performing flawlessly. Review Source SB Salah B. Gérant Publishing Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Relational database management system " June 3, 2024 5.0 MySQL remains one of the most popular open source databases. Pros MySQL open source software, easy to manage and query. In my experience, it's reliable and very efficient. It enables efficient database management. MySQL provides a very high level of security. Cons Mysql has its limits when it comes to very advanced functions, or when the load is high. The SQL-dependent system does not support certain languages. Review Source Joseph M. Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Agrxis Review on MySQL" May 17, 2023 5.0 My experience with MySQL has led me to believe that it is a superb database management system that has significantly improved my ability to store and retrieve data. My preferred option for managing massive datasets and sophisticated queries is MySQL because of how simple it is to install and configure, as well as its solid features and great performance. The broad range of services and the strong sense of community support have been crucial in helping me overcome any obstacles I faced. Due to MySQL's adaptability, I am able to effectively manage a wide range of applications, from little side projects to sophisticated business solutions. Because of its dependability, scalability, and extensive security features, I can rest easy knowing that my data is well-protected. Pros I am quite amazed by MySQL and the outstanding features it provides. MySQL has played a significant role in my professional development as a database management system by giving me a dependable and effective platform for storing, managing, and retrieving data. My favorite aspects of MySQL are its scalability and robustness. It is able to handle high data quantities with ease, ensuring optimal performance even in demanding settings. MySQL is an excellent option for both small-scale projects and enterprise-level applications due to its simplicity of use and flexibility. Its broad support for a variety of platforms and programming languages enables me to easily include it into my current software ecosystem. Cons Even while my overall experience with MySQL has been favorable, there have been a few things that I've found difficult or that could be done better. I thought the complexity of managing and establishing replication setups was one area that needed improvement. In some cases, setting up and maintaining replication in MySQL requires complex setups and a thorough understanding of the architecture. Review Source CJ Caleb J. Junior Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL - One of the best FREE sql DB" February 21, 2019 4.0 I believe your experience with MySQL will vary based on the option(s) you choose to interact with it. As mentioned before, you can use the CLI which is used mainly by power users; however, the average Joe can simply use a open source GUI which will make life a whole lot easier. Just to name a few of the FREE GUI software on the web: \* HeidiSQL \* PhpMyAdmin \* SQL Workbench All are excellent options to make the user experience absolutely the best. Ever since I began using the software, I felt this bond with the ease of use, ease to remember commands and a large community support backed by tons of online documentations and tutorials. I would say this is one of my best experience using any software and would highly recommend for beginners and power users. Pros Currently we have many different types of DB on the market (No SQL and SQL). I spent the past 3 years working with MySQL and completely feel in love with the many of its' feature. \* Once you become familiar with the features and the commands, you will find it is super easy and flexible to operate. I interact with it via both the CLI (Command Line Interface) and GUI (Graphical User Interface) and just love the experience. \* It has some easy to use commands that are human readable. \* Ton loads of useful documentations on the web. \* It is an amazing open source RDBMS (Relational Database Management System). \* It can be found bundled with many current software stack (LAMP, MAMP, XAMPP) etc., just to name a few. \* You can create and cutomize databases, tables, routines, procedures which will all make the workflow super easy to manage your data with many advance tools available at your disposal. \* There is the CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) features that are simple to learn and master in your everyday workflow. Cons Looking at the NoSQL DB (MongoDB) which uses a document type format to save data in their DB, I would say one of the feature I believe is missing or could be improved, is the way data is stored. What I mean, is that currently in MySQL, if the field is not created, you can't insert data as it will not automatically create necessary fields, while with MongoDB, if the particular field has not been created before data was inserted, it will be done on the fly while uploading or inserting data. Review Source Varshini S. Database Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL's Group Replication feature helps building our fault tolerant DB application" March 31, 2022 4.0 Many components are provisioned to be redundant so that they operate as per our requirements. It requires less maintenance and administration when compared with other database. It's data replication logic effectively coordinates between our nodes and provide workaround for our deployments. We can perform group replication to make our application to be fault tolerant, preventing server failures by isolating them upon anomalies. Pros It's user interface is simple & straightforward to work around and navigate with our applications. We can comfortably connect with its endpoint and perform backend activities with any programming languages. It effectively manages our web hosted applications and carry out administration activities with simplicity. Since it's open source database system, we can deploy any application with structured data. Cons Installing cloud based MySQL service with AWS, Azure and GCP is relatively easy when compared to other systems. While working with large database requirements, we have encountered few performance issues and slowness. It's DB clustering configurations are complex and requires experience for handling current trends in data processing. Review Source IRP Ivy Rose P. Free lance Computer Networking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL best for DATABASE MANAGEMENT" November 6, 2022 5.0 Using MySQL gives my so much ease in terms of managing and organizing the data in databases. I would suggest everyone to use it! Pros All of the feature are impressive and important in this software since it gives so much ease of usage. Cons As a daily user of the software, I found no least feature of it because all the features are essential. Review Source Donatien B. Full Stack Developer Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL database system is an unavoidable and reassuring database management system" January 19, 2023 5.0 Since I started using MySQL, I have become addicted to it because of its up-to-date features, which are very secure and practical, and I also use it when I program with different programming languages. Pros The ease of use, the security guarantee, the data replication and backup and restore then the easy migration and its easy and fun deployment with a very rich documentation and a large community that use it. Cons There is a certain slowness when executing queries that require complex joins compared to some competitors, so it's better to improve this aspect so that MySQL can take the first place it deserves. Reason for choosing MySQL First, the automated backup and restore system, the automated data replication, the free system offered to users, the open source system, the price, the level of security offered by MySQL. Review Source Muhammad Aamer K. Full stack software developer Real Estate Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL is one of the greatest rDBMS(s)." November 10, 2023 5.0 Overall the MySQL is great rDBMS it is easy-to-use and reliable. I have used it for many and variety of tasks including Storing and retrieving data in web applications and running other queries. Pros I like MySQL because it is open source , easy to use it can handle large amount of data it is secure and reliable. Cons Although it is a great rDBMS but it is not very very secure and also the scalability is not very good like it's competitors. Review Source Monish K. senior software engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Will Developed Relational Database System which supports Transactions" April 26, 2020 5.0 Had a great experience with Mysql, since it has been the core of transaction systems Pros Mysql is Transactional, you can commit or revert a set of actions in a transaction, it has well implemented all the Transactional feature such as primary key, foreign keys, indexing etc ... so we mainly use mysql for data collection from realtime interactions with the end user, Its Hibernate support gives a edge on realtime interactions, Mysql provides many type of JDBC/ODBC jars, using which it can be integrated to any type of tools and languages, Mysql has a desktop application called Mysql Workbench for performing all the operations on mysql, it comes in handy if you don't remember some of the commands (like migrations , dumping, updating row etc ..), also it provides schema visualisations, tables and its columns are listed which can be dragged into the editor, which makes the mysql to be easily used and reduces the developers time involved in operational work and improves development efficiency, There are lot of other friendly tools such as WAMP/XAMP etc, which can be used for learning purposes, and Mysql has a huge community support Cons Mysql dose not support data transfer between DB and Distributed file system such as AWS S3, which most of the other databases dose, We had to use different PSQL database for large non relational data storage, since it is not the intended purpose of Mysql, so we have to maintain two database systems, it wold be better if mysql can give non transactional support as well for large data storage and analytical use case , so that it can be one stop DBS solution for all data actions. Review Source Elle D. Company Owner Design Used the software for: 2+ years ### "If mySQL didn't exist - neither would my business" July 19, 2022 5.0 Like the title says, if MySQL didn't exist - neither would my business. It's a complusory element to the working day. Pros MySQL has come so far in recent years and is the benchmark against which all others measure themselves. One reason for that - it's the best at what it does! Cons It takes a little getting used to at first. But - once you get the hang of the 2 or 3 most used options... the rest will follow anyway. Review Source JC Jorge C. IT consulant Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MySQL have database engine efficiency highly recommended to Small and Medium Business" March 12, 2022 4.0 The product is really good for medium and some large loads, hasta many improved features in the most recently versión, enterprise versión (from Oracle) offer all the features we need, including monitoring capaciy using a GUI tool. Pros Data replicacion, backups strategy ,data volumetry (driving with particioning) and monitoring capabitilies confirms this software is a complete solution. Cons I have no cons, because I consider is a good producto for a specific market focus on small and medium Business. The community version is not compared with oracle commercial version. Reason for choosing MySQL MySQL is my best small and medium options for database engine systems, I work with Oracle and SQL Server engine, but depends of development frameworks for specific products. MYSQL es the best alternative for good price and powerfull engine product for small and medium business. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Database](https://www.capterra.com/database-management-software/)[Encryption](https://www.capterra.com/encryption-software/)[Firewall](https://www.capterra.com/firewall-software/) ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.