PostgreSQL: DB-Engines.com’s Database of the Year

For the third time in the last five years, PostgreSQL took home the Database of the Year award from DB-Engines. If you have not checked out DB-Engines before, they track databases’ popularity by looking at job openings, blog posts, search traffic, and more.

Congratulations to the PostgreSQL community, its contributors, and its users! There is no doubt that over the last five years, PostgreSQL has not only provided a wonderfully active and welcoming community but has developed a growing install base based on its in-depth features, accessibility, and openness. Independently, our own Percona Open Source Data Management Software Survey and the Stack Overflow 2020 Developer Survey both showed growth in the PostgreSQL install base in the past year.

Why Are More People Choosing PostgreSQL?

A few of the more popular reasons companies are moving to PostgreSQL are:

• PostgreSQL is fully open; there is no single entity behind it, making it a truly open source project.
• Licensing makes this easy to put into place, embed, and modify as needed.
• It has a well fleshed-out and complete stored procedure language.
• There is an easier path than most for classic database developers and DBAs to learn and become productive.
• There are lots of enterprise extensions and options available.
• An extensive list of options for support, services, and DBaaS is available in the marketplace.

These make PostgreSQL a popular choice for legacy applications, companies leary of lockin, and Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server DBA teams.

PostgreSQL Continued Evolution

In 2020, PostgreSQL released its 13th version, which continued and enhanced its evolution toward a stable, secure, and performant database. Some of the highlights include:

• Improved indexing allows for easier maintenance and better performance.
• Improved security features, including changes to postgres_fdw that help keep your data safe and secure.
• Parallel vacuuming improves performance and reduces contention.
• Better performance with changes to query optimization and sorting, as well as the improved indexing mentioned above.
• And many other improvements.

A Wonderfully Welcoming Community

PostgreSQL is not just a great piece of software; it is an incredible and welcoming community. Percona started offering support, services, and software around PostgreSQL in 2018. Over the almost three years we have officially provided services, we have seen just how welcoming and remarkable the entire PostgreSQL community is. Thank you to all the contributors of code, content, and time in the community. You have helped make PostgreSQL even better! We would not be here today without you all.