# MariaDB vs MySQL: The Migration Case in 2026

MariaDB and MySQL share a common origin: MariaDB was forked from MySQL in 2009 when Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems. Since then, the two databases have diverged significantly. In 2024-2025, Oracle laid off core MySQL engineering and support staff, accelerating the divergence. For organizations running MySQL in production, the question is no longer "if" but "when" to evaluate alternatives.

## The MySQL support timeline

Oracle's restructuring of the MySQL engineering team has introduced uncertainty about the long-term maintenance of the MySQL product line. Several key versions have already passed their support end dates.

| Version | Status | End of Support | Risk |
|---------|--------|----------------|------|
| MySQL 5.7 | EOL | October 2023 | 2+ years without security patches |
| MySQL 8.0 | Extended support ended | April 2026 | No bug or security fixes |
| MySQL 8.4 / 9.x | Uncertain | TBD | Core engineering team laid off by Oracle |

Organizations still running MySQL 5.7 or 8.0 face an immediate security gap. MySQL 8.4 and 9.x exist, but with Oracle's engineering reductions, the pace of bug fixes and security patches is uncertain.

## Feature comparison

MariaDB Community Edition includes features that MySQL reserves for its paid Enterprise Edition.

| Feature | MariaDB Community (free) | MySQL Community (free) | MySQL Enterprise (paid) |
|---------|--------------------------|------------------------|-------------------------|
| Thread Pool (200K+ connections) | Included | Not available | Paid add-on |
| Transparent Data Encryption | Included | Not available | Paid add-on |
| Database Auditing | Included | Not available | Paid add-on |
| Temporal Tables (system-versioned, application-time, bitemporal) | All 3 SQL standard types | None | None |
| Maximum Indexes per Table | 128 | 62 | 62 |
| Galera Cluster (multi-master HA) | Included | Not available | Not available |
| MaxScale (query routing, load balancing) | Included with Enterprise | Not available | Not available |
| Storage Engines | InnoDB, MyRocks, Aria, ColumnStore, S3, Spider | InnoDB focus | InnoDB focus |
| Oracle PL/SQL Compatibility | Supported (lift-and-shift) | Not available | Not available |
| Native Vector Search (AI/RAG) | In core engine, open source | Not available | HeatWave only (cloud, OCI-locked) |

MySQL Enterprise Edition closes some of these gaps, but at a significant licensing cost. MariaDB includes them in the free Community Edition.

## AI and vector capabilities

MariaDB includes native vector search directly in the core engine, making it practical for RAG pipelines, semantic search, and recommendation systems without adding a separate vector database. This capability is open source and available on any infrastructure.

MySQL's vector search is available only through HeatWave, Oracle's in-database ML service. HeatWave is cloud-only and locked to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, so using it means committing to OCI as your platform. MariaDB also offers AI RAG integration and an MCP Server for agentic AI workflows, both usable on Cloudscale, Exoscale, or on-premises deployments.

## Security

MariaDB provides a comprehensive security stack without requiring an Enterprise license upgrade. Features include encryption at rest and in transit, LDAP, PAM, and Kerberos authentication plugins, row and column-level role-based access control, dynamic data masking via MaxScale, a query firewall with auto-learned rule sets, and detailed audit logging. These controls directly support GDPR and HIPAA compliance requirements. Organizations subject to Swiss data protection regulations (nDSG) benefit from the combination of these controls with the ability to run on Swiss-jurisdiction infrastructure.

## Enterprise migrations: real-world results

Large organizations across banking, technology, and education have completed MySQL and Oracle migrations to MariaDB with documented results.

**Samsung SDS** migrated their Knox Portal (internal groupware used by 500,000 Samsung employees across 80 affiliates) from Oracle to MariaDB. The result: operating costs reduced by more than 50%, with zero-downtime migration.

**DBS Bank**, Southeast Asia's largest bank, moved 30+ production applications, including mission-critical payment engines processing 3 million transactions per month, to MariaDB. Cost savings compared to their previous proprietary database were 30-70%.

**Esade University** migrated from MySQL Community to MariaDB Enterprise with Galera Cluster to handle 1,000 daily concurrent users across their eLearning platform. The migration was described as "very straightforward" using standard dump files.

Other named MariaDB enterprise customers include Deutsche Bank and ServiceNow.

## Migration path

MariaDB maintains application-level compatibility with MySQL. For MySQL 5.7, MariaDB is largely a drop-in replacement. For MySQL 8.0+, dedicated new infrastructure is recommended over in-place upgrades.

Key migration considerations:

- **JSON data**: MariaDB stores as LONGTEXT; auto-converted by the `mariadb-upgrade` tool (10.6.15+)
- **Authentication**: `caching_sha2_password` is supported in MariaDB 11.4+
- **Replication**: MySQL 8.0 to MariaDB 11.4/11.8 replication is supported for phased migrations
- **Encryption**: Tables must be decrypted before migration and re-encrypted after

MariaDB also offers a free Migration Assessment Tool for Oracle-to-MariaDB migrations, with automated DDL analysis and compatibility reporting.

## Support lifecycle

| MariaDB Version | Standard Support Until | End of Life |
|-----------------|------------------------|-------------|
| 11.8 | October 2030 | October 2033 |
| 11.4 | January 2030 | January 2033 |
| 10.6 | August 2027 | August 2029 |

MariaDB 11.8 provides support through 2033, giving organizations a clear, long-term roadmap that contrasts with the uncertainty around Oracle's MySQL staffing and release commitments.

## VSHN Managed MariaDB

VSHN operates MariaDB instances on Swiss cloud infrastructure (Cloudscale, Exoscale, or on-premises). The managed service includes automated backups, Galera Cluster high availability, 24/7 monitoring, and up to 99.99% SLA. VSHN is an authorized MariaDB reseller and assists organizations with MySQL-to-MariaDB migrations, including compatibility assessment and go-live support.

| Plan | Monthly price | SLA |
|------|---------------|-----|
| Single instance (best effort) | From CHF 80 | Best effort |
| Replicated HA (3 nodes) | From CHF 240 | Best effort |
| Guaranteed availability | From CHF 720 | 99.99% |

Computing resources are billed separately by the infrastructure provider.

## Next steps

Ready to evaluate a MySQL-to-MariaDB migration? [Book a free 15-minute consultation](#contact) with our database engineers. We will review your current MySQL setup, assess compatibility, and recommend a migration approach.