PostgreSQL and MySQL are the two dominant open-source relational databases. For greenfield projects in 2025, the default choice question has mostly been settled — but understanding why helps you evaluate when the choice matters.
PostgreSQL’s Advantages
PostgreSQL is a full-featured relational database with stronger standards compliance, richer type system (arrays, JSON, hstore, geometric types, custom types), more powerful query planner, better handling of complex queries, and built-in support for full-text search. The JSONB type (binary JSON with indexing) makes PostgreSQL competitive with document databases for mixed relational/document workloads. It handles concurrent reads and writes better than MySQL at scale. The extension ecosystem (PostGIS for geospatial, TimescaleDB for time-series, pg_vector for AI embeddings) is unmatched.
MySQL’s Remaining Strengths
MySQL (and its fork MariaDB) still has wide hosting support — nearly every shared hosting provider supports MySQL but not PostgreSQL. The syntax for simple CRUD operations is fractionally simpler. MySQL has been the default for WordPress, Drupal, and many CMSs for decades, meaning existing integrations are well-tested. For read-heavy workloads on simple schemas, MySQL’s performance is competitive.
The 2025 Reality
For new projects: PostgreSQL is the default choice. Managed PostgreSQL is available everywhere (AWS RDS, Supabase, Neon, Railway, Render). The performance and feature gap has widened in PostgreSQL’s favour. Supabase (PostgreSQL-based) has made PostgreSQL accessible to developers who previously defaulted to MySQL/Firebase.
When MySQL Still Makes Sense
WordPress or any PHP CMS. Existing infrastructure already on MySQL with no compelling reason to migrate. Shared hosting without PostgreSQL support. Legacy codebases where the MySQL-specific SQL syntax is deeply embedded.
