1.10.2 How MySQL Compares to PostgreSQL

When reading the following, please note that both products are continually evolving. MySQL AB's and PostgreSQL's developers are both working on making our respective databases as good as possible. Both products are thus a serious alternative to any commercial database.

The following comparison is made by us at MySQL AB. We have tried to be as accurate and fair as possible, but although we know MySQL Server thoroughly, we don't have a full knowledge of all PostgreSQL features, so we may have got some things wrong. We will, however, correct these when they come to our attention.

We would first like to note that PostgreSQL and MySQL Server are both widely used products, but with different design goals, even if we are both striving toward SQL standard compliance. This means that for some applications MySQL Server is more suited, while for others PostgreSQL is more suited. When choosing which database to use, you should first check if the database's feature set satisfies your application. If you need raw speed, MySQL Server is probably your best choice. If you need some of the extra features that only PostgreSQL can offer, you should use PostgreSQL.

Subsections

• 1.10.2.1 MySQL and PostgreSQL development strategies
• 1.10.2.2 Featurewise Comparison of MySQL and PostgreSQL
• 1.10.2.3 Benchmarking MySQL and PostgreSQL

User Comments

PostGreSql allows users to choose between various index types: B-Trees, R-Trees, Gist, Hash. The default tyoe is B-Tree, but you can choose another type if you think it's more appropriate to your queries. It would be greate if MySQL do the same.
Also, PostGreSql functional indexes are sometimes very useful.

An important difference for some companies is that
MySQL uses the GPL for licensing, while Postgresql
has a BSD style license.

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