# MariaDB Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is MariaDB the right Database solution for you? Explore 72 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/132005/MariaDB/reviews --- MariaDB 4.7 (72) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/132005/MariaDB/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 MariaDB Ease of use 4.5 Customer Service 4.2 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews Rahul J Technical LeadComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Using MariaDB we can create dynamic web applications very easily and quickly as it supports standard SQL language.“ February 6, 2023 Rahul J Technical LeadComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The only thing is when a table grows much then pulling data using a SELECT query becomes slow than expected.“ February 6, 2023 Rahul J Technical LeadComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I have used MariaDB with Java frameworks like Spring, Dropwizard, and Struts 2 and didn't face a single issue regarding its connectivity.“ February 6, 2023 Anton T FounderInformation Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Instalation is very hard, especially for beginner“ January 22, 2023 Rahul J Technical LeadComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Datetime and timestamp data types are very helpful to sort the records.“ February 6, 2023 MJ Mateusz J Mid ProgrammerComputer Games, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Support system is expensive.“ August 9, 2022 Rahul J Technical LeadComputer Software, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It fulfills all of my requirements to develop a complete Web Application.“ February 6, 2023 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 72 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Cindy C. Owner Marketing and Advertising Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "MariaDB Review" November 5, 2019 5.0 My overall experience with MariaDB has been very favorable. I like the clustering features a lot, and it's built in already, which is awesome since it saves me time. I like that I can export my entire database in to MariaDB, be it a little hard to figure out at first but once you get the hang of it you will do better with it the next time round. Pros What I like most about MariaDB is that if you know how to use MySQL then you will definitely know how to use MariaDB! With some added functionality and features it is much faster and it is pretty stable to use. The database is free to use, but lightweight in comparison to my sequel so it's perfect for starter to medium sized projects. Cons What I like least about MariaDB is that you will definitely need some guidance at first if you are not already familiar with this kind of software, especially when it comes to things like creating a new cluster. If you do run into a snag though the MariaDB community is very helpful and usually answer quick if you need a few pointers. There are also tons of forums and help guides you can refer to if need be. Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing MariaDB Speed. Upgraded features. Fewer crashes. Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) I made the switch from MySQL because I had heard good feedback about using the branched off Maria Data Base such as improved speed for instance, and personally I found it to be true, MariaDB is a lot faster MySQL. Review Source Eljakim S. Contest Director Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MariaDB as a drop in replacement for MySQL just works" October 22, 2019 4.0 We use it to store all of our data. Pros It is so much faster than MySQL, especially when we alter the table structure of large tables it just works so much faster. The built in clustering features work quite well as well. Cons Starting a cluster is annoying. It's not overly hard, but you have to remember the statements. It would be a lot better if the startup script would say 'cannot attach to cluster, start a new one?' or something similar. Despite the speed, we have had a couple of crashes where we could not startup the server. This has never happened to our MySQL servers, so that was a surprise. It may have been a specific 10.2 version on Ubuntu, because on our 18.04LTS servers this has not happened again. Performance of the cluster when using INSERT IGNORE statements with 100,000s of records that are all duplicates is a lot slower than on MySQL. Alternatives considered [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/) Reason for choosing MariaDB We needed a relational database for this product. Postgress and SQL Server have their own group of people that love it. But it would take too much in refactoring to switch to something completely different. Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) MariaDB came out faster from our tests Review Source OD Osman D. Senior Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MariaDB\_01" July 27, 2022 4.0 Pros it is a free database management system. it is good to store relational data. Cons There are many database that will be good alternative to MariaDB Alternatives considered [PostgreSQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/48791/PostgreSQL/)[MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Review Source Rob B. WSO2 Trainer and Integration Consultant Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MariaDB a good RDBMS " December 14, 2019 4.0 We want to be able to migrate data in our training from a H2 (flat file) database to an RDBMS enviroment that can be shared among multiple servers. Furthermore we want a simple command line where we can use easy commands to create and manipulate data. MariaDB offers all that. Pros MariaDB is our personal choice for the RDBMS in our training environment. it is simple to setup on linux as well as windows and is leightweigth yet performant. it starts quickly and does not take up too much space on disk. I use mainly the terminal interface doing simple commands from the mysql command line. I like the fact that it is compatible with mysql (of which it is of course a fork). When i want to have a graphical overview of the databases and tables i use a separate tool called DBeaver to show the ERD and look at the tables. Most of the time we work with a limited number of database records, but also have a complete dataset of all registered vehicles nationally (16+ million records) which is also performing. All within of course our training environment. Cons There is nothing I really dislike about it. It performs well, we can use it without incurring cost and it performs and is stable. Reason for choosing MariaDB See above Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) At that time MariaDB was bundled with the linux environment Review Source Ali L. Server administrator Computer & Network Security Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "MariaDB is more reliable compared to MySQL." February 15, 2022 5.0 MariaDB is a reliable database management system, open source and backed up by a huge community of users and developers. Pros After Oracle which is a company for developing Databases, acquired MySQL which was the most popular database in the world. the Team behind developing Mysql forked the source code under the name MariaDB. to insure Oracle is not going to kill MySQL in favor of it's proprietary database software. which makes MariaDB a very reliable open source community supported project. Cons Mariadb seems to work exactly like Mysql with very minor differnces. Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Mysql is probably going to be faded away by Oracle in favor of it's own database management system. so it was a smart choice to switch to the safer community supported database management system MariaDB Review Source VR Verified Reviewer CEO Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best and easy-to-use database software." July 30, 2019 4.0 MariaDB is great for business. It has better performance than other database software. Easy to install and host, with varies of configurations. Pros It has very similar queue style and command styling to MySQL. But with additional functions. It is easy to adapt to and I can export or import any database in MariaDB software. It also has a lot of storage type which we definitely need it. Cons Migration sometimes can be hard especially when you are upgrading the software. But most of the time we can solve it on our own or with the help of the community of MariaDB. Alternatives considered [MongoDB](https://www.capterra.com/p/127374/MongoDB/)[MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing MariaDB MariaDB can handle a large amount of queue with the best performance of all. Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) MySQL is good, but I think MariaDB can handle our software better since it requires large queues very often. Review Source HF Hisham F. General Manager Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best Database server ever" October 29, 2022 5.0 I am using it in ERP systems and applications, all my cloud applications uses MariaDB as backend. Pros Easy, Fast, Secured, and stable.Can hold huge data also. Cons Perfomance tunning needs more tools to get best performance. Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing MariaDB Nothing both are same structure but now preferring MariaDB. Switched from [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/)[Oracle Database](https://www.capterra.com/p/5938/Oracle-Database/) Easier, Faster for small to medium business and Free. Review Source Torikul I. Freelancer - Web Developer Internet Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "MariaDB is an outstanding database that is so easy to use" September 23, 2021 5.0 I've used MariaDB for my project purpose, developed a web application for my client. MariaDB database was really helpful for me and I was able to do that project successfully. Pros I was a newbie when I start using MariaDB but the database was pretty easy to handle and use. This database can do competition with MySQL because both databases have good quality and usability. I know some developers and clients like MariaDB more than MySQL because MariaDB has an extra smoothness that makes the work more perfect. Its features, functionality, table management, edit are really good and comfortable to use, even it works fast and quickly when a command has been made. Cons I can remember just one negative side with MariaDB that is migration related. It wasn't a good experience when I tried to migrate data for the first time. It was complicated and I still feel that it's complicated! Switched from [MongoDB](https://www.capterra.com/p/127374/MongoDB/) I made switched to MongoDB for my business purpose, overall it was a good database to use. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Co-Founder Computer Games Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "MariaDB Review" June 9, 2022 5.0 It was easy to use for me because I have experience with other DBMS like MySQL. Its free and its very fast. I would always Recommend it to others. Pros It's quick to load and operate, and it's fairly stable. I appreciate that I can export my complete database to MariaDB; it's a little tricky at first, but after you get the hang of it, you'll be able to do a better job the next time you use it. The database is free to use, but it's a much lighter than my sequel, so it's ideal for small to medium applications. Cons Honestly there isn't anything I hate about MariaDB, I wish more developers tried and used it. Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) I just wanted to try something new and I don't regret switching to MariaDB Review Source Joel L. Software Engineer E-Learning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The simple way to manage data" June 7, 2023 4.0 Pros In first time it's open source and it capacity of large amount of data management Cons Cluster creation is not simple to manage and some lack of interoperability with MySQL Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Review Source WI Wassim I. Associate Professor Computer Networking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MariaDB: Cost-effective Database Environment for Cloud Development" July 7, 2023 4.0 Excellent experience. I recommend MariaDB for beginner developers and those testing with RDBMS environments. Pros The open source license makes MariaDB the most cost-effective RDBMS solution on the market today. It has the main features in the MySQL database, it is actually incepted by the MySQL developers with very similar functionality, performance, and client management. Cons We don't expect the performance to be up to the competitions with DBMS leaders such as Oracle and DB2. But still it is a great development and deployment RDBMS that can facilitate testing database applications before moving to another database in the production phase. Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) The cost-effective license model in MariaDB. Review Source Robert O. GIS Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Home Server" February 26, 2019 5.0 overall the product does what it's supposed and doesn't complicate things too much. Using this software with docker has made my entire development environment as near to Plug-n-Play / Set-and-Forget as I can imagine it. Pros Stable and quick. I have multiple dev environments that I run for testing and general project development. MariaDB has more up to date releases on arm-type devices and has a much more supported docker container than other databases. Cons The only improvement really needs to be general support. SQL syntax is pretty universal but there are some minor quirks that I had to end up fixing with StackOverflow answers after having no luck with the forum. Review Source FG Franscislyne G. Developpeur Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "MariaDB pour vos bases de données" November 24, 2023 4.0 Un gestion de bases de données très simple Pros MariaDB est un gestionnaire de bases de données intégrer dans MySQL, pour vos projet web Cons MariaDB est limité en terme de capacité de données à stocker Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Software Developer Outsourcing/Offshoring Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Safe way to store data" April 8, 2018 4.0 Saved client inovices and settlement information. Pros We can easily switch to this database with simple steps. It provide better sequrity on data. Retrieve data from table is easy and fast. Easy to handle complex queries. Cons It should add more simplicity while implementing culstering on tables. Debugging tool it not good it does not tract all the missing indexes. Review Source JV Jishnu V. SDE Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "RDBMS at its best." November 16, 2020 5.0 Pros 1\. High Performance and availability 2. Has an active open-source developer community. 3. Robust Transactional Support. 4. Availability of many Storage Engines. Cons 1\. MariaDB is no longer completely compatible with MySQL. Which makes migration a tedious process. 2. Needs improvement in caching. 3. It doesn’t support full outer joins. Review Source Nigel Masimba R. WordPress Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Did Not Know I Was Using Until I Checked" May 22, 2020 4.0 I actually wasn't aware I was using MariaDB until I checked a few of our websites to verify. In hindsight, I have anecdotal experience of it being a tad faster than another database software we use. Pros Fast and stable. Compatible with other database systems. You can import and export database backups from most SQL backups. Compatible with different kinds of servers. You can install it on most operating systems. Cons I was unable to set it up on my localhost to run alongside another database system without conflicts. Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Review Source HW Haritha W. Software Engineer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The Best Free Alternative for MySQL" October 16, 2019 5.0 MariaDB is a comprehensive RDBMS that can successfully replace MySQL, however, it lacks some of the MySQL features. Pros MariaDB is a free MySQL clone with improvements such as faster speed and better replication. It requires minimum resources. Cons It doesn't have all the MySQL features and it has delayed compatibility with MySQL versions starting from 5.5. Review Source JT Jonathan T. Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best way to host your sql database" February 4, 2021 5.0 It is the best and cheapest way to host your SQL database. Pros It is open source, easy to install, great to work with and reliable. You can use it very easily in Dockers. Cons Theres not much to criticize, because i hadn't had any errors with it in the last years. It just works. Review Source BC Bradley C. CTO Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "MariaDB is great!" April 26, 2019 5.0 Pros It performs everything we need from a relational database. Cons The performance could be better. Some queries could run faster. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Senior Business System Analyst Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Simple and efficient database tool" November 28, 2019 4.0 I've created and deployed project for a client in MariaDB with very less coding time and effort. It integrated seamlessly with PHP. Pros Below are certain pros of MariaDB: 1) Handles huge load of data without any issues 2) Easy to administrate 3) Free to use Cons Needs lot of improvement in terms of documentation. Creating new addon features like performance management, data visualizations would help. Review Source HB Hunter B. Ops Computer Software Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Useful Database Server" August 29, 2019 5.0 This works well with Django. It's also useful for other applications that need a database to store information like accounts and their usernames/passwords/addresses and many other details. Pros This was easy to set up for use with my Django website. Haven't had any problems while using it related to the database. It was also easy to get in by using sudo when I forgot my password. Cons I had some problems where I couldn't actually login as the root user even though I set a password for them. The only way I've been able to is by using sudo. Review Source PT Paul T. CTO Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The better fork of MySQL" March 4, 2020 4.0 Whenever some piece of software only works with mysql and not postgresql, I give mariadb a try first. It has always worked so far. Pros When oracle bought mysql, mariadb emerged as a good, more open option. It has all of MySQL's strengths. Cons It still doesn't follow standards as well as postgresql. And sacrifices data integrity for speed. Possible to not break compat with mysql Review Source NZ Nestor Z. Integration engineer Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Easy and intuitive, the best way to work and it's free." June 27, 2018 5.0 Pros Every great project is backed by a great community. MariaDB is not the exception. The speed of your queries makes it a superior tool. Being based on MySql has the best of both worlds. Cons MariaDb not having a GUI is difficult to administer. MariaDb not having a GUI makes the administration a bit difficult. There is little GUI documentation and this makes it difficult to choose the most appropriate for our jobs. Review Source RM Raul M. Business application developer Computer Software Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Improved database server." November 9, 2017 4.0 Pros It is a community-developed product, easy to use and install, perfect for medium and large organizations. Cons Came from Mysql and shares some of the same source code, best server performance runs over Linux distributions. Review Source Ederson V. CEO Design Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Excelente opción para Crear tus Páginas Web en WordPress" December 23, 2024 5.0 Utilizo esta Base de Datos para Instalar algunos proyectos web, es decir, cuando Instalo WordPress mi panel de control que utilizo me da la facilidad de Instalar MySQL o MariaDB, en las ocasiones que he instalado MariaDB nunca he tenido problemas con esta Base de Datos, por lo que la recomiendo. Pros Nunca he tenido problemas con esta base de datos, la he instalado en varios diseños de páginas web que he realizado en WordPress y nunca he tenido problemas. Cons En algunas ocasiones cuando la Base de Datos crece mucho, observo que consume muchos recursos de mi servidor. Alternatives considered [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) Reason for choosing MariaDB Los utilizo los dos, no tengo uno preferido. Switched from [MySQL](https://www.capterra.com/p/11482/MySQL/) En realidad utilizo los dos productos, no tengo ningún parámetro para elegir uno u otro. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Database](https://www.capterra.com/database-management-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.