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The Daily Insight

Is MariaDB faster than MySQL?

Author

Christopher Harper

Updated on April 05, 2026

MariaDB shows an improved speed when compared to MySQL. MySQL exhibits a slower speed when compared to MariaDB. 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.

Can MariaDB replace MySQL?

While MariaDB isn’t yet replacing MySQL, it has brought about good competition between the two, which can be good for innovation. With its backing of Oracle, MySQL may reign supreme for at least the near future; however, technically speaking, MariaDB could replace MySQL if a company decides it wants to make the switch.

Is MariaDB compatible with MySQL?

MariaDB’s data files are generally binary compatible with those from the equivalent MySQL version. All filenames and paths are generally the same. Data and table definition files (. frm) files are binary compatible.

Why is it called MariaDB?

MariaDB continues this tradition by being named after his younger daughter, Maria. The name Maria was initially given to a storage engine. After MariaDB was started, to avoid confusion, it was renamed to Aria. The new name was decided as a result of a contest.

Should I use MariaDB or MySQL?

In fact, for each version of MySQL, they release the same version number of MariaDB to indicate that MariaDB is generally compatible with the corresponding MySQL version. This opens up the possibility of switching to MariaDB seamlessly without any modifications in the application code-base.

Why did MySQL change to MariaDB?

First and foremost, MariaDB offers more and better storage engines. MariaDB also supports TokuDB, which can handle big data for large organizations and corporate users. MySQL’s usual (and slow) database engines MyISAM and InnoDB are replaced in MariaDB by Aria and XtraDB respectively.

Is MariaDB free for commercial use?

MariaDB is only distributed with the GNU GPLv2 license. There is not a commercial license, and there will never be for legal reasons.

What is better MySQL or MariaDB?

Generally speaking, MariaDB shows improved speed when compared to MySQL. In particular, MariaDB offers better performance when it comes to views and handling flash storage through its RocksDB engine. MariaDB also outperforms MySQL when it comes to replication.

What is difference between MySQL and MariaDB?

MariaDB is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS) that is a compatible drop-in replacement for the widely used MySQL database technology….Difference between MySQL and MariaDB:

1.MySQL is written in C and C++ languages.MariaDB is written in C, C++, Perl and Bash languages.
5.Data masking is done in MySQL.There is no data masking.

Why is MySQL more popular than MariaDB?

MariaDB is an open source relational database management system (RDBMS) that is a compatible drop-in replacement for the widely used MySQL database technology. MariaDB has a significantly high number of new features, which makes it better in terms of performance and user-orientation than MySQL. …

What is the difference between mariamariadb and MySQL?

MariaDB 5.5 contains a large amount of code differences from MySQL 5.5 and includes many features that are only now being introduced in MySQL 5.6. In these cases the MySQL and MariaDB versions of the same functionality are compared and both design and QA reviews are done.

What’s new in MariaDB 10?

Since then MariaDB 10 has changed quite a bit, many new features have gone in, such as Parallell replication, GTIDs etc, but many features from MySQL 5.6 have also been merged in to MariaDB. MariaDB 10 has now also advanced to a near GA status so it is perhaps time to renew the table.

Is it possible to patch a MySQL database with MariaDB?

Yes. We could have pulled in the latest version of MySQL 5.6 as a base for a version called MariaDB 5.6 and started patching. It should be kept in mind that MariaDB isn’t a bordered set of patches. Although MariaDB has MySQL as a basis there is a huge amount of engineering on top of it.

What is the fastest indexer in MariaDB?

Indexes for the MEMORY (HEAP) engine are faster. According to a simple test, 24% faster on INSERT for integer index and 60% faster for index on a CHAR (20) column. Fixed in MariaDB 5.5 and MySQL 5.7.