Comparing MySQL, MariaDB and Percona Server

MySQLPerconaMariaDB
CompanyOracle Corp.
(former MySQL AB)
Percona LLCMariaDB Corp.
(former SkySQL)
FromDual supportOk-icon.pngOk-icon.pngOk-icon.png
GA versions5.5, 5.65.5, 5.65.5, 10.0
Galera Clustersupportedsupportedsupported
LicenseGPL, commercial (OEM!)GPLGPL, LGPL, BSD
AncestryMother of allBranch of actual releaseFork of MySQL 5.5
Storage EnginesArchive, Blackhole, CSV, Federated (disabled), InnoDB (default), Memory, MyISAMArchive, Blackhole, CSV, Federated (disabled), InnoDB (default), Memory, MyISAM, TokuDBArchive, Aria (crash-safe MyISAM), Blackhole, Cassandra, CSV, FederatedX, InnoDB (default), Memory, MyISAM, OQGraph (Graph-SE), TokuDB
Storage Engine enforcementyes
Fulltext searchMyISAM: yes
InnoDB: yes
MyISAM: yes
InnoDB: yes
MyISAM: yes
Aria: yes
InnoDB: yes, Sphinx-SE
Partitionsavailableavailableavailable
PluginsAuth, Auth Socket, MemcacheD, SemiSync ReplAuth PAM, Auth Socket, Handlersocket, MemcacheD, SemiSync ReplAuth PAM, Auch Socket, Connect SE, Handlersocket, Sequence, Sphinx, Spider, QueryCache Info, SemiSync Repl
MemcacheDavailable
virtual ColumnsSince 5.7.6since 5.2
Performance
GeneralAll 3 branches/forks have roughly the same performance. They mostly distinguish in features not in performance.
PERFORMANCE_SCHEMAenabled (5.6)enabled (5.6), userstatsenabled (10.0)
Thread Pool5.5, commercial plugin5.5 and 5.65.1 - 5.3 (old), 5.5 (new)
DML EXPLAIN5.65.6?
JSON EXPLAIN5.65.6?
Optimizer Trace5.65.6?
Table eliminationavailable
Security
Rolessince 10.0.5
Password expirationsince 5.6since 5.6since 10.0?
Password validationPlugin since 5.6.6Plugin since 5.6Worklog, comes in 10.1/10.2
Password complexitycommercial?
PAM AuthenticationMySQL 5.5, commercial pluginsince 5.5since 5.2
Backupmysqldump, mysqlbackupmysqldump, XtraBackupmysqldump, XtraBackup
Audit Plugin5.5 a, b
MyAfee Audit Plugin
5.5 and 5.6
MyAfee Audit Plugin
5.5
MyAfee Audit Plugin
Slow Query Logavailableavailable, improvedavailable
Replication
Master/SlaveOk-icon.pngOk-icon.pngOk-icon.png
multi-Source ReplicationMySQL 5.7-labsunknownMariaDB 10.0
parallel ReplicationMySQL 5.6 (per Schema)Percona 5.6 (per Schema)MariaDB 10.0 (per Instance!)
GTIDMySQL styleMySQL styleMariaDB style (incompatibility!)
MySQLPerconaMariaDB