MariaDB vs MySQL – Difference Between Them

What is MariaDB?

MariaDB is a fork of the MySQL database management system. The RDBMS offers data processing capabilities for both small and enterprise tasks.

This DBMS is an improved version of MySQL. It comes with numerous inbuilt powerful features and many usabilities, security and performance improvements that you cannot find in MySQL.

What is MySQL?

Developed in the mid-90s., MySQL was one of the first open-source database available in the market. Today there are many alternatives variants of MySQL. However, the differences between the variants are not significant as they use the same syntax, and basic functionality also remains the same.

MySQL is an RDBMS that helps you to keep the data that exists in a database organized. It is used with the combination of PHP and Apache Web Server, on top of a Linux distribution. MySQL uses the SQL language to query the database.

Difference between MariaDB and MySQL

Here is the major difference between MariaDB and MySQL:

Parameter	MariaDB	MySQL
Storage Engines	MariaDB has 12 new storage engines that you won’t find in MySQL.	It has fewer options for storage compared to MariaDB.
Speed Improvements	MariaDB shows an improved speed when compared to MySQL.	MySQL exhibits a slower speed when compared to MariaDB.
Initial release	2009	1995
Server operating systems	FreeBSD Linux macOS Solaris Windows	FreeBSD Linux OS X Solaris Windows
Faster cache/indexes	With the Memory storage engine of MariaDB, an INSERT statement can be completed 24% faster than in the standard MySQL.	The memory storage engine of MySQL is slower compared to that MariaDB.
Larger and Faster Connection Pool	MariaDB comes with an advanced thread pool capable of running faster and supporting up to 200,000+ connections.	The thread pool provided by MySQL cannot support up to 200,000 connections per time.
Improved Replication	In MariaDB, replication can be done safer and faster. Updates can also be done 2x faster compared to the traditional MySQL.	MySQL’s community edition allows a static number of threads to be connected. MySQL’s enterprise plan comes with thread capabilities.
New Features/Extensions	MariaDB comes with new features and extensions including the JSON, WITH and KILL statements.	The new MariaDB features are not provided in MySQL.
Missing Features	MariaDB lacks some of the features provided by the MySQL enterprise edition. To address this, it offers alternative open-source plugins.	The Enterprise Edition of MySQL uses a proprietary code. Only users of MySQL Enterprise Edition have access to this.
Priority code	MariaDB doesn’t allow access to this propriety content and is a closed source.	MySQL uses some proprietary code in its Enterprise Edition.
Data Masking	No	Yes
Dynamic columns	No	Yes
Monitoring	SQLyog	MySQL workbench
Routing	MariaDB MaxScale	Mysql Router
Analytics	MariaDB ColumnStore	No
Secondary database model	Document store and Graph DBMS	Document store
Git hub stars	2.8 k	4k
Forks	868	1.6 K
Famous companies using	Nrise, Accenture, Docplanner, Grooveshark.	Airbnb, Uber Technogloeis, Netflix, Dropbox.

Why use Maria DB?

Here, are pros/benefits of using Maria DB.

• It operates under GPL, BSD, or LGPL licenses.
• MariaDB supports a popular and standard querying language.
• It comes with many storage engines, including the high-performance ones that can be integrated with other relational database management systems.
• It offers the advance Galera cluster technology.
• MariaDB supports PHP, a popular language for web development.

Why MYSQL?

There are several relational database management systems in the market. One may ask why we would choose MySQL over the other database management systems. The answer to this question depends on several factors.

• MySQL supports multiple storage engines each with its specifications while other systems like SQL server only support a single storage engine.
• MySQL has a high performance compared to other relational database systems. This is due to its simplicity in design and support for multiple-storage engines.

History of MariaDB

• 5.1, GA released by MariaDB foundation on February 2010
• November 2010 MariaDB 5.3
• February 2012 MariaDB 5.5
• April 2012 MariaDB Galera Cluster
• MariaDB 10.0.10 (March 2014)
• MariaDB 10.1.8 (October 2015)
• Maria DB 10.2: 8 April 2016
• Maria DB 10.3: 16 April 2017
• Maria DB 10.4: 9 November 2018
• Maria DB 10.5: 3 December 2019
• Maria DB 10.6: 26 April 2021

History of MySQL

• First internal release version of MYSQL on 23 May 1995
• Version 3.20: January 1997
• Windows supported version was released on the year 1998 for Windows 95 and NT
• Version 3.23: beta from June 2000
• Version 4.0: beta from August 2002
• Version 4.01: beta from August 2003
• Version 4.1: beta from June 2004
• Version 5.0: beta from March 2005
• Acquired by Sun in 2008
• Version 5.1: 14 November 2008
• Oracle Corp. acquired Sun Microsystems, Inc. in 2010
• Version 5.5: 3 December 2010
• Version 5.6: 5 February 2013
• Version 5.7: 21 October 2015
• Version 8.0: 19 April 2018

Features of Maria DB

Here are important features of Maria DB.

• Offers Backward Compatibility
• Open-source Software
• It is based on the MySQL Community Version
• New Storage Engine (PBXT, XtraDB, Maria, FederatedX)
• Percona Server (Based on MySQL Server, Other MySQL Fork Version)

Features of MySQL

Here are an important features of MySQL.

• Scalability and Flexibility
• High Performance
• High Availability
• Robust Transactional Support
• Web and Data Warehouse Strengths

Disadvantages of MySQL

Here, are cons/ drawback of using MySQL:

• It is hard to scale
• Oracle owns it, so it has lots of restrictions.
• MYSQL is not ideally suitable for large-sized data.
• It is Invisible from client applications.
• Triggers can impose a high load on the database server.

Disadvantages of MariaDB

• The engine is still fairly new, so there’s no guarantee further updates and versions will be forthcoming.
• As with many other free database engines, you have to pay for support.