PERCONA VS LEADING DATABASE SOLUTIONS

NO LOCK-IN. NO LICENSE TAX. NO SURPRISES.

Picking a database is easy. Picking the right partner is harder. Compare Percona's distributions, support, and monitoring against the leading commercial and community options, then decide what's actually worth paying for.

SEE THE COMPARISON

Server

Feature	Percona Server for MySQL	MySQL Community Server	MySQL Enterprise Server
Open source
Group replication
Percona XtraDB Cluster (PXC)
MyRocks storage engine
InnoDB / XtraDB storage engine	Percona XtraDB	InnoDB	InnoDB
Audit plugin
Asymmetric Encryption Functions (SQL)
Data-at-Rest Encryption (TDE)
Key Management — KMIP Protocol
Key Management — AWS KMS
Key Management — Hashicorp Vault	via KMIP or Vault plugin		via KMIP
Key Management — Oracle Key Vault
Key Management — OCI Vault
Native LDAP authentication
LDAP group-to-role mapping (Authorization / Proxy users)
PAM Authentication plugin (Alternative for LDAP, Kerberos, etc.)
FIDO plugin
Thread pool
Data masking plugin

Backup

Feature	Percona Distribution for MySQL	MySQL Community	MySQL Enterprise Edition
Open source backup
Backup to AWS S3	via PXB	Requires custom scripts	via Enterprise Backup
Backup to GCP cloud	via PXB	Requires custom scripts	via Enterprise Backup
Backup to Azure cloud	via PXB	Requires custom scripts
Backup to OpenStack storage	via PXB	Requires custom scripts	via Enterprise Backup
Backup to MinIO (Kubernetes storage)	via PXB	Basic functionality only	via Enterprise Backup
Physical backup	via PXB		via Enterprise Backup
Logical backup	via PXB	via mysqldump / mysql shell	via Enterprise Backup
Selective backup	Partials via PXB or logical	Logical only	via Enterprise Backup
Incremental backup	via PXB		via Enterprise Backup
Point-in-time recovery	PXB / mysqldump + binlogs	mysqldump + binlogs	via Enterprise Backup
Hot non-blocking backups	via PXB		via Enterprise Backup

Components

Feature	Percona Distribution for MySQL	MySQL Community	MySQL Enterprise Edition
Load balancing	ProxySQL, MySQL Router, HAProxy	MySQL Router	MySQL Router
Failover automation	Orchestrator, Percona XtraDB Cluster, InnoDB Cluster	InnoDB Cluster	InnoDB Cluster
Advanced client	MySQL Shell	Classic MySQL client	MySQL Shell
DBA automation toolkit	Percona Toolkit
Cluster solution	Percona XtraDB Cluster, Galera Cluster	InnoDB Cluster	InnoDB Cluster

Monitoring & Management

Feature	MySQL Workbench / External tools	Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM)
Open source monitoring
Specialized dashboards: trends, replication, I/O, query analyzer, etc.	Limited
Performance Schema / Waits Analysis	Limited	Equivalent
InnoDB metrics	Limited
MyRocks storage engine metrics
Query analytics	Limited
Table statistics	Limited
User statistics	Limited
Advisors and alerting
Group replication	Limited / No	Partial
InnoDB Cluster	Limited / No
Backups		Yes / Limited via Enterprise Backup

Support & Services

Feature	Percona for MySQL	MySQL Community	MySQL Enterprise
Free tier
Multi-database support		Available with third-party vendors like Percona
Proactive database management		Available with third-party vendors like Percona
Tech-agnostic consulting		Available with third-party vendors like Percona

Server Features

Feature	Percona Server for MongoDB	MongoDB Community	MongoDB Enterprise Advanced	MongoDB Atlas
Binary-compatible with MongoDB Community Server
Licensing	Source-available (SSPL)	Source-available (SSPL)	Commercial	Pay-as-you-go
Available for customization and building from sources
Profiling rate limiting	via slowOpSampleRate		via slowOpSampleRate
Query and text search capabilities	Core MQL support, Aggregation framework, Basic text search ($text), Data processing, Additional search via integrations	Core MQL support, Aggregation framework, Basic text search ($text)	Core MQL support, Aggregation framework, Basic text search ($text), Keyword/full-text search, Vector search	Core MQL support, Aggregation framework, Basic text search ($text), Keyword/full-text search, Vector search
Supported deployment models	Self-managed on cloud / on-premises	Self-managed on cloud / on-premises	Self-managed on cloud / on-premises	SaaS
Fully compatible with MongoDB driver protocol
Support for latest MongoDB version
Sharding support
Replica sets support
Multi-cloud clusters	Yes. Manual deployment and configuration	Yes. Manual deployment and configuration	Yes. Installation and configuration automated by Ops Manager / Cloud Manager	Automated
Global clusters	Yes. Manual deployment and configuration	Yes. Manual deployment and configuration	Yes. Additional configuration needed on top of automated provisioning	Automated
Timeseries data support
Storage engines	WiredTiger, Percona Memory Engine	WiredTiger	WiredTiger, In-Memory	WiredTiger

Monitoring, Management & Alerting

Feature	Percona Monitoring and Management	MongoDB Community	Ops Manager, Cloud Manager	MongoDB Atlas
Licensing	Open source (Apache 2.0)	Open source (Apache 2.0)	Commercial	Fully managed service
Backup management
Automatic deployment and management of MongoDB instances	via Percona Operator
Preset dashboards
Alerting			Yes (19 events)	Yes (over 100 pre-configured alerts)
Alert notification methods	Alertmanager, Amazon SNS, Cisco Webex Teams, DingDing, Discord, Email, Google Chat, Grafana IRM, Jira, Kafka and more		Ops Manager Organization, Ops Manager user, Email, SMS, HipChat, Slack, PagerDuty, Datadog, VictorOps, Opsgenie	Atlas Project, Atlas Organization, Atlas User, Email, SMS, PagerDuty, Datadog, VictorOps, Opsgenie, Microsoft Teams
Index and schema recommendations			Performance Advisor	Performance Advisor
Query analytics	Yes. Capturing, analysis, and visualization	No. Manual only via explain() command and system.profile collection	Yes. Capturing, analysis and visualization incl. real-time and historical data.	Yes. Capturing, analysis and visualization incl. real-time and historical data.

Backup & Restore

Feature	Percona Backup for MongoDB	MongoDB Community (mongodump, mongorestore)	Ops Manager, Cloud Manager	MongoDB Atlas
Licensing	Open source (Apache 2.0)	Open source (Apache 2.0)	Commercial	Pay-as-you-go
Binary database export (logical backup)
Selective backup and restore	Logical backup and restore only	Logical backup and restore only	Full backup with selective restore capabilities	Full backup with selective restore capabilities
Built-in point-in-time recovery	Logical and physical backup and restore			Yes (M10+ clusters only)
Physical backup
Incremental backup
Volume snapshot-based restore
Backup management interfaces	Command-Line Interface (CLI), optionally GUI in PMM	Command-Line Interface (CLI)	Web UI, REST API	Web UI, REST API
Sharded clusters backup and restore	Yes, automated	Yes, but requires complex operations	Yes, automated	Yes, automated
Queryable backup

Enterprise Features

Feature	Percona Software for MongoDB	MongoDB Enterprise Advanced	MongoDB Atlas
File copy-based initial sync
BI Connector
Live resharding
SCRAM (Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism)
LDAP	Yes (Deprecated)	Yes (Deprecated)
OpenID Connect / JWT			Yes (Federated authentication)
Cloud provider IAM (AWS, Azure, GCS)	AWS IAM	AWS IAM	Yes (Multi-cloud)
Kerberos
x.509 certificates
Real-time data processing
Database triggers
Data federation

Security Features

Feature	Percona Software for MongoDB	MongoDB Community Edition	MongoDB Enterprise Advanced	MongoDB Atlas
Queryable encryption	Explicit encryption	Explicit encryption	Automatic / Explicit encryption	Automatic / Explicit encryption
Data-at-rest encryption
FIPS 140-2 compliance
Key management compatibility	Hashicorp Vault / OpenBao, KMIP, Locally managed key files	N/A	AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCS KMS, KMIP, Locally managed key files	AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCS KMS, BYOK
Data-in-transit encryption	TLS/SSL	TLS/SSL	TLS/SSL	TLS/SSL
Client-side field-level encryption	Explicit encryption	Explicit encryption	Automatic / Explicit encryption	Automatic / Explicit encryption
Auditing
Log redaction
Role-based access control

Support & Services

Feature	Percona for MongoDB	MongoDB Community Edition	MongoDB Enterprise Advanced	MongoDB Atlas
Multi-database support
Proactive database management
Tech-agnostic consulting

Distribution Components

Feature	PostgreSQL Community	Percona for PostgreSQL	EDB Postgres AI	Crunchy Data
Open source and free from vendor lock-in			Proprietary software	Proprietary software
Open source enterprise features	Requires expertise in selecting and testing the right extensions	Production-ready out of the box
Distribution component testing	Components are tested independently	Components are tested to work together	Components are tested to work together	Components are tested to work together
Operational support and bug fixes	Strong global community support	Additional support from Percona Community, production support from Percona Services	Via commercial support	Via commercial support
High availability, load balancing & replication	Multiple extensions, requires expertise in selecting and testing the right solution	Patroni, HAProxy	EDB Postgres Distributed, Enterprise Failover Manager (EFM)	Patroni
Connection pooling	Various tools	pgpool2, PgBouncer	PgBouncer	PgBouncer
Backup and restore	Various tools	pgBackRest	pgBackRest	pgBackRest
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)		pg_tde — Extension created and supported by the Percona team	Available for a fee in EDB Postgres Advanced Server and EDB Postgres Extended Server	Available for a fee in Crunchy Hardened PostgreSQL
KMS integration		KV Secrets Engine v2 (Hashicorp Vault, OpenBao), KMIP (Hashicorp Vault, Thales CTM, Fortanix DSM)	AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, Entrust KeyControl, Fortanix DSM, GCP Cloud KMS, HashiCorp Vault (KMIP Secrets Engine)	KMS provider of your choice
Authentication	Support for various authentication methods	Support for various authentication methods, including LDAP, OAuth 2.0 (with PG18), OIDC coming soon	Support for various authentication methods, including LDAP, OAuth 2.0 (with PG18)	Support for various authentication methods, including LDAP
Sharding support for on-premises and private cloud infrastructures	Various extensions	Citus support
Time series database support	Various extensions
Spatial data handling	PostGIS	PostGIS	PostGIS	PostGIS
Monitoring and observability	Various extensions	Percona Monitoring and Management — open source monitoring based on Grafana + pg_stat_monitor	Postgres Enterprise Manager built on pgAdmin — available by subscription	Prometheus stack and pgMonitor
Audit logging	Various extensions	pgAudit, pgBadger, pg_gather	edb_audit_statement	pgAudit

Monitoring & Management

Feature	pganalyze	Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM)	EDB Postgres Enterprise Manager (PEM)
Open source	Commercial SaaS		Commercial license
Specialized dashboards: trends, replication, I/O, query analyzer, etc.
Performance Schema / Performance Schema Waits Analysis
Query analysis
Table statistics
User statistics
Advisors and alerting
Replication monitoring
Cluster monitoring
Backups
Deployment type	SaaS (cloud-managed)	Self-managed (on-prem or cloud)	Self-managed (on-prem)

Support & Services

Feature	Percona for PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL Community	EDB	Crunchy Data
Community support	Global PostgreSQL community and Percona Community	Global PostgreSQL community	Global PostgreSQL community	Global PostgreSQL community
Multi-database support	24/7 support for Community PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, and Percona forks	Only PostgreSQL	Only PostgreSQL and EDB forks	Only PostgreSQL and Crunchy Data forks
Proactive database management	Round-the-clock database management for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, MariaDB, and Percona forks	Available through third-party providers	EDB Postgres AI	Crunchy Bridge
Tech-agnostic consulting	Consulting for high availability set up, complex performance issue resolution, and database design choices	Available through third-party providers	Professional services for EDB Postgres software and original PostgreSQL	Not available

Distribution and Components

Feature	Percona Software for MySQL	MariaDB Community	MariaDB Enterprise
Open source
Load balancing and routing	ProxySQL, HAProxy, MySQL Router	ProxySQL, HAProxy	MariaDB MaxScale*
Database firewall	ProxySQL	ProxySQL	MariaDB MaxScale*
Scalability — clustering	MySQL Group Replication, Percona XtraDB Cluster (based on a further engineered Galera Cluster)	MariaDB with Galera Cluster	MariaDB Enterprise Cluster (requires the deployment of MariaDB MaxScale)*
Security — data masking	Data masking plugin for MySQL	ProxySQL	MariaDB MaxScale*
Security — encryption	Data at Rest Encryption with external key management integrations	Data at Rest Encryption with external key management integrations	Data at Rest Encryption with external key management integrations
Security — auditing	Percona Audit Plugin	MariaDB Audit Plugin	MariaDB Audit Plugin
Distributed SQL
Additional storage engines	MyRocks: storage savings	No production-ready storage engine	No production-ready storage engine

* Only available to users with a MariaDB Enterprise subscription

Backup Features

Feature	Percona Software for MySQL	MariaDB Community	MariaDB Enterprise
Backup	Percona XtraBackup	MariaBackup (fork of Percona XtraBackup)	MariaBackup (fork of Percona XtraBackup) and MariaDB Enterprise Backup*

Monitoring, Management & Analytics

Feature	Percona Software for MySQL	MariaDB Community	MariaDB Enterprise
Monitoring and management	Percona Monitoring and Management
Analytics	Clickhouse integration		MariaDB ColumnStore

Cloud Native

Feature	Percona Software for MySQL	MariaDB Community	MariaDB Enterprise
Kubernetes	Percona Operator for MySQL
DBaaS	Percona Everest		Available through third-party cloud providers

Support & Services

Feature	MariaDB Community	MariaDB Enterprise
Multi-database support		Available through third-party cloud providers
Managed services	Through MariaDB Cloud	Through MariaDB Cloud
Tech-agnostic consulting	Available through third-party providers like Percona	Available through third-party providers like Percona

General Information

Feature	DataDog	SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor	Percona Monitoring & Management (PMM)	ClusterControl	MongoDB Ops Manager
Licensing	SaaS product. Full access through a paid subscription. Limited trial available.	Subscription or perpetual licenses. Limited trial available.	Distributed under AGPL-3.0. Open source.	SaaS product. Full access through a paid subscription. Community version available.	Commercial license
Pricing	Starts at $70 per database host per month (billed annually or $84 on demand). Database Monitoring on top of standard infrastructure monitoring.	Database Performance Analyzer subscription starts at $1,313 per year. SolarWinds SQL Sentry subscription available.	No licensing fees	Complete features available with Advanced and Enterprise subscriptions. Limited functionality available in Community version.	Pricing details can be obtained by contacting MongoDB.
Operational support and services	Technical support across chat and email included in paid subscription. Community forum and online docs.	Maintenance and support during the time of subscription. Perpetual license includes first-year maintenance.	Forum maintained by Percona Experts and community. Online docs. 24/7 support with 15-minute SLA (with subscription).	SaaS product. Full access through a paid subscription. Community version available.	Support during subscription. Additional expert services and consulting offerings. Online docs.

Supported Technologies

Technology	DataDog	SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor	Percona Monitoring & Management (PMM)	ClusterControl	MongoDB Ops Manager
MySQL
MariaDB
Oracle
MongoDB
PostgreSQL
Cloud-managed databases (Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform)
Kubernetes
ProxySQL
Percona XtraDB Cluster
Galera Cluster
SQL Server
External (custom) metrics
SAP ASE
TimescaleDB
ElasticSearch
Redis

Type of Deployment and Management

Feature	DataDog	SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor	Percona Monitoring & Management (PMM)	ClusterControl	MongoDB Ops Manager
On-premises	No, only fully-managed version	Yes, requires subscription to software	Yes, no subscription required	Yes, community version with limited functionality	Yes, requires subscription to software
Public cloud	Fully managed by the vendor	Yes, via subscription	Yes, no subscription required	Yes, community version with limited functionality	Yes, requires subscription to software
Private cloud		Yes, requires subscription to software	Yes, no subscription required	Yes, community version with limited functionality	Yes, requires subscription to software
Hybrid
Hosted by	Vendor	Self-hosted by the user	Self-hosted by the user — fully managed service available as an option by subscription, but not required to use PMM	Self-hosted by the user	Yes, as Cloud Manager

Database Monitoring and Observability

Feature	DataDog	SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor	Percona Monitoring & Management (PMM)	ClusterControl	MongoDB Ops Manager
Database-specific dashboards
Replication monitoring
Databases on Kubernetes
Query analytics
Automated insights and recommendations		Yes, with Database Performance Analyzer (subscription starts at $1,313)	Yes, with Percona Advisors, which provide automated insights and recommendations about your database		Yes, Performance Advisor
Ability to develop custom advisors (DIY)			Yes, the code is open and documentation is provided
Alerting		Only by subscription	Yes, the code is open and documentation is provided	Only by subscription
Notification channels	Jira, PagerDuty, webhooks, Slack	Email, webhooks, Slack, VictorOps, and other messaging platforms	More than 15 other notification channels, including email, various messengers (Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.)	Only by subscription	Microsoft Teams, PagerDuty, Prometheus, Slack

Database Management

Feature	DataDog	SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor	Percona Monitoring & Management (PMM)	ClusterControl	MongoDB Ops Manager
Backup and restore			Backup management for MySQL and MongoDB
Scheduled backups
Backup restoration
Incremental backups

Security & Other Features

Feature	DataDog	SolarWinds Database Performance Monitor	Percona Monitoring & Management (PMM)	ClusterControl	MongoDB Ops Manager
Role-based access control
Encrypted connections
SSL encryption with trusted certificates
Single sign-on (SSO)			Grafana HTTPS secure cookies
High availability mode	As part of Observability Pipelines features, ingest fees start at $0.10 per ingested GB per month.	N/A	Availability and automatic restoration of the leader PMM server in the event of outage. Uses Gossip protocol.	Yes, High Availability ClusterControl (CMON HA)	Yes, highly available monitoring and backups
Metrics export	As part of Log Management feature, ingest fees start at $0.10 per ingested or scanned GB per month.	N/A	Yes, via PMM data dumps. Compressed tarball files containing comprehensive export of your PMM metrics.

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