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MariaDB Pricing 2026

Plans, hidden costs, and cheaper alternatives compared

Is MariaDB worth the price?

90/10

MariaDB's pricing is very generous, offering a fully-featured Community edition for free.

SkySQL at $65/month is competitive for a managed cloud database, especially with auto-scaling and support included. This structure is best for both individual developers and businesses needing scalable managed solutions.

Pricing Plans

Most Popular

Community

Free

Open source

  • MySQL compatible
  • Storage engines
  • Replication

SkySQL

$65/month

Managed

  • Cloud hosted
  • Auto-scaling
  • Support

Hidden Costs & Gotchas

SkySQL data transfer costs not specified

SkySQL storage costs beyond base not specified

Enterprise features likely require custom quotes

Which Plan Do You Need?

Developers needing free, robust database

Businesses requiring managed cloud database

Users familiar with MySQL ecosystem

How MariaDB Compares to Competitors

MariaDB's Community edition is free, directly competing with MySQL Community Edition. SkySQL at $65/month is comparable to AWS RDS for MySQL, which can start around $15-20/month for basic instances but quickly scales up with features like auto-scaling and higher support tiers, making SkySQL's bundled price potentially more cost-effective for growth.

MariaDB Pricing FAQ

How much does MariaDB cost?

MariaDB starts at $65/month on the SkySQL plan. A free plan is also available with limited features.

Does MariaDB have a free plan?

Yes. MariaDB offers a free plan called "Community". It includes: MySQL compatible, Storage engines, Replication.

Is there a cheaper alternative to MariaDB?

Yes. Popular alternatives to MariaDB include MySQL, PostgreSQL, Dgraph, SingleStore. Free alternatives include MySQL, PostgreSQL, Dgraph. Compare them side-by-side on Toolradar.

Cheaper alternatives to MariaDB

Direct competitors with similar features. Many offer free tiers or lower per-seat pricing.