What is MariaDB used for?

MariaDB Server is an open-source relational database that began as a fork of MySQL, with vector search, pluggable storage engines and Galera clustering. It is a good fit for replacing MySQL in existing applications, high-availability clustered databases, and mixed transactional and analytical workloads.

Is MariaDB open source?

Yes. MariaDB is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at MariaDB/server and is written mainly in C++.

Yes. MariaDB is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host MariaDB?

Yes. MariaDB can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is MariaDB an alternative to?

MariaDB is an open-source alternative to Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL Database and IBM Db2. Other open-source alternatives to Oracle Database include MySQL, PostgreSQL and OceanBase.

Is MariaDB actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to MariaDB was on 2 October 2026. The project has 8.3k stars on GitHub.

MariaDB: open-source alternative to Oracle Database

About MariaDB

MariaDB Server is an open-source relational database built by a global community with the MariaDB Foundation and MariaDB plc. It started out as a MySQL fork driven by the people who created MySQL, keeps a high degree of MySQL compatibility, and is described as a straightforward migration target for existing MySQL deployments.

Since then it has gained its own capabilities. A native VECTOR data type with approximate nearest-neighbour HNSW indexing has been available since version 11.8. Pluggable storage engines include InnoDB, Aria and MyRocks, plus ColumnStore (analytics), Spider (sharding) and S3 (archiving). Replication options include async, semi-sync and parallel modes using global transaction IDs, and Galera provides synchronous multi-primary clustering. On the SQL side it offers common table expressions, window functions, temporal tables with system versioning, sequences and a range of JSON functions.

It also offers an Oracle SQL mode with PL/SQL-style routines, GIS data types and full-text indexing, and security features such as role-based access control, pluggable authentication, data-at-rest encryption and TLS. MariaDB is written in C++ and licensed under GPL-2.0, and you run it on your own servers or in the cloud.

Key features

Native vector search with HNSW indexing
Pluggable storage engines including InnoDB
Galera synchronous multi-primary clustering
Temporal tables and window functions
MySQL and Oracle compatibility modes
Spatial and full-text indexing
Role-based access and data-at-rest encryption

Good fit for

→Replacing MySQL in existing applications
→High-availability clustered databases
→Mixed transactional and analytical workloads

Built with: C++; MySQL
Tags: mariadb; mysql; relational-database; sql; vector-search; galera; database; storage-engine

MariaDB: questions and answers

What is MariaDB used for?: MariaDB Server is an open-source relational database that began as a fork of MySQL, with vector search, pluggable storage engines and Galera clustering. It is a good fit for replacing MySQL in existing applications, high-availability clustered databases, and mixed transactional and analytical workloads.
Is MariaDB open source?: Yes. MariaDB is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at MariaDB/server and is written mainly in C++.
Is MariaDB free?: Yes. MariaDB is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host MariaDB?: Yes. MariaDB can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is MariaDB an alternative to?: MariaDB is an open-source alternative to Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL Database and IBM Db2. Other open-source alternatives to Oracle Database include MySQL, PostgreSQL and OceanBase.
Is MariaDB actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to MariaDB was on 2 October 2026. The project has 8.3k stars on GitHub.