MySQL and PostgreSQL are both excellent, free, open-source relational databases used at massive scale. Choosing between them is not a high-stakes decision — both will serve 99% of web applications extremely well. But the 1% where the choice matters is worth understanding.
Where MySQL Wins
- →Read-heavy workloads — MySQL's InnoDB engine is highly optimised for read performance
- →Simple replication setups — MySQL's primary-replica replication is simpler to configure
- →Hosting availability — every hosting provider supports MySQL; not all support PostgreSQL well
- →Legacy systems — most existing PHP/WordPress/Laravel apps run on MySQL
- →Managed services — PlanetScale (MySQL-compatible) is an excellent serverless DB option
Where PostgreSQL Wins
- →Complex queries — PostgreSQL's query planner is significantly more sophisticated
- →JSON/JSONB — postgres has first-class JSON support with indexable JSONB columns
- →Full-text search — built-in FTS is more capable than MySQL's
- →Advanced data types — arrays, custom types, geometric types, hstore
- →pgvector — essential for AI/vector similarity search
- →ACID compliance edge cases — PostgreSQL is stricter and more predictable
Our Default
At Novacronix, we default to PostgreSQL for all new projects. The advanced features, better JSON support, and pgvector (critical for AI features) make it the more forward-looking choice. We use MySQL when a client's infrastructure is already MySQL-based or when PlanetScale's serverless model is the right hosting choice.
Tags
Jordan Blake
Senior Full-Stack Engineer at Novacronix
Engineering insights from the Novacronix team — built from real production experience, not documentation.