whichdb
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Galera Cluster vs MariaDB

Galera Cluster: Synchronous multi-primary replication for MySQL and MariaDB, now owned by MariaDB plc. MariaDB: Community-led MySQL fork with extra storage engines, built-in Galera and a faster feature cadence.

key differences

  • Horizontal scaling is none in Galera Cluster and addon in MariaDB.
  • Only MariaDB has full-text search, vector search, geospatial, change data capture, columnar storage.

choose galera-cluster for

  • +High-availability MySQL/MariaDB clusters
  • +Zero-RPO failover inside a region
  • +Geographically spread read replicas with consistent data
  • +Active-active setups behind a load balancer such as MaxScale or ProxySQL

best at · OLTP

choose mariadb for

  • +Drop-in replacement for legacy MySQL deployments
  • +Linux distribution default database for LAMP stacks
  • +Temporal auditing with system-versioned tables
  • +HA clusters with Galera

best at · OLTP, Content, Geo

Galera ClusterSynchronous multi-primary replication for MySQL and MariaDB, now owned by MariaDB plc.
MariaDBCommunity-led MySQL fork with extra storage engines, built-in Galera and a faster feature cadence.
overview
Primary model
Relational
Relational
Also supports
–
Document, Spatial, Vector, Columnar / OLAP
Type
Extension
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Codership (MariaDB plc)
MariaDB Foundation and MariaDB plc
First release
2009
2009
Latest version
26.4.27 (May 12, 2026)
13.0.2 (Sep 15, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GPL-2.0
Open source (copyleft)GPL-2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
10.0
56.2
Rank
#304
#19
GitHub stars
499
8.5K
Stack Overflow questions
406
14.6K
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Horizontal scaling
None
Addon
Multi-region
Active active
Read replicas
ACID
Full
Full
Consistency
Strong
Strong, Eventual
Schema
Strict
Strict
Architecture
Multi primary, Distributed
Single node, Primary replica, Multi primary, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, DigitalOcean, Akamai
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
✓
✓
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
—
✓
Vector search
—
✓
Geospatial
—
✓
JSON
✓
✓
Change data capture
—
✓
Triggers
✓
✓
Stored procedures
✓
✓
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
—
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
✓
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
✓
Encryption at rest
✓
✓
Role-based access
✓
✓
Time travel
—
✓
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
✓
Streaming ingest
—
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
SQL
SQL, PL/SQL (Oracle mode)
Client languages
C, Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, PHP
C, Java, Python, JavaScript, PHP, Go, C#, Ruby
Best for
OLTP
OLTP, Content, Geo, Vector search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Galera Cluster vs MariaDB: FAQ

What is the difference between Galera Cluster and MariaDB?

Galera Cluster: Synchronous multi-primary replication for MySQL and MariaDB, now owned by MariaDB plc. MariaDB: Community-led MySQL fork with extra storage engines, built-in Galera and a faster feature cadence. Horizontal scaling is none in Galera Cluster and addon in MariaDB. Only MariaDB has full-text search, vector search, geospatial, change data capture, columnar storage.

When should I choose Galera Cluster over MariaDB?

Choose Galera Cluster for high-availability MySQL/MariaDB clusters, zero-RPO failover inside a region and geographically spread read replicas with consistent data. Choose MariaDB for drop-in replacement for legacy MySQL deployments, linux distribution default database for LAMP stacks and temporal auditing with system-versioned tables.

Is Galera Cluster or MariaDB more popular?

MariaDB ranks #19 on the WhichDB Score (56.2/100) and Galera Cluster ranks #304 (10.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Galera Cluster and MariaDB open source?

Yes. Galera Cluster is open source. License: GPL-2.0. Yes. MariaDB is open source. License: GPL-2.0.