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Affinity Designer vs MariaDB

Affinity Designer logo

Affinity Designer

Software

Professional graphic design software for everyone

From
$69.99/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MariaDB logo

MariaDB

Software

The open source relational database for the enterprise

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only MariaDB has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Affinity Designer sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription: the Windows or macOS edition was priced at CA$94.99, the cross-platform Universal License at CA$224.99, and the standalone iPad edition at CA$24.99 (Internet Archive capture, 1 January 2024); MariaDB jSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
  • They diverge on capability: Affinity Designer covers Vector drawing, MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Affinity Designer and MariaDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Affinity Designer and MariaDB differ
AttributeAffinity DesignerMariaDB
Starting price$69.99/one-timeFree
Pricing modelone-timeUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Macos, IosLinux, Unix, Windows, macOS
Founded19942009

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Affinity Designer

  • Vector drawing
  • Bezier tools
  • Gradient tools
  • Typography
  • Pixel-perfect editing
  • Artboards
  • Symbols
  • Non-destructive effects

Only in MariaDB

  • MySQL Compatibility
  • Aria Storage Engine
  • ColumnStore
  • Galera Cluster
  • MaxScale
  • Spider Engine
  • Temporal Tables
  • phpMyAdmin

Both cover

  • Windows support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Affinity Designer

  • Logo designnot MariaDB
  • Vector illustrationnot MariaDB
  • Icon designnot MariaDB
  • Brandingnot MariaDB

MariaDB

  • Transaction processingnot Affinity Designer
  • Data storagenot Affinity Designer
  • Application backendnot Affinity Designer
  • Reportingnot Affinity Designer
  • Data analyticsnot Affinity Designer

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Affinity Designer

  • Sold as a one-time purchase rather than a subscription: the Windows or macOS edition was priced at CA$94.99, the cross-platform Universal License at CA$224.99, and the standalone iPad edition at CA$24.99 (Internet Archive capture, 1 January 2024)

MariaDB

  • JSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
  • Galera Cluster maximum performance limited to the slowest node in cluster
  • InnoDB tables limited to 1,017 columns and 64 secondary indexes
  • Transaction size limits in Galera (128K rows and 2GB by default)
  • Less strict SQL type checking than PostgreSQL; allows implicit conversions

Pricing, plan by plan

Affinity Designer

$69.99/one-time
  • Standard$69.99/one-time
    • Full version
    • All features
    • Lifetime updates

MariaDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the MariaDB review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Affinity Designer if

  • You need vector drawing.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Ios.
  • You also want bezier tools.
Affinity Designer review

Choose MariaDB if

  • You need mysql compatibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Unix, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want aria storage engine.
MariaDB review

Questions people ask

Is Affinity Designer or MariaDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99/one-time and MariaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Affinity Designer or MariaDB?
MariaDB has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $69.99/one-time for Affinity Designer and Free for MariaDB.
Does Affinity Designer or MariaDB run on more platforms?
Affinity Designer runs on Windows, Macos, Ios. MariaDB runs on Linux, Unix, Windows, macOS.
Can I use MariaDB for free?
Yes. MariaDB has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Affinity Designer starts at $69.99/one-time.
What is Affinity Designer best used for?
Affinity Designer is most often used for logo design, vector illustration, icon design, branding. Of those, logo design and vector illustration are not what MariaDB is typically brought in for.
What can Affinity Designer do that MariaDB cannot?
Affinity Designer covers Vector drawing, Bezier tools, Gradient tools, Typography. MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility, Aria Storage Engine, ColumnStore, Galera Cluster. Both handle Windows support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

MariaDB: Is MariaDB completely free and open source?

Yes. MariaDB Server is licensed under GPLv2 and guaranteed to remain perpetually free and open source, independent of any commercial entities.

Source
MariaDB: Is MariaDB backward compatible with MySQL?

Yes. MariaDB was designed as a drop-in replacement for MySQL. Every application, driver, and configuration that worked with MySQL works with MariaDB without code changes.

Source
MariaDB: What are the storage engine options in MariaDB?

MariaDB supports multiple storage engines including InnoDB (transactional, default), Aria (crash-safe, good for read-heavy workloads), and MyISAM. The Aria engine is faster than InnoDB for certain read-heavy queries and full table scans.

Source
MariaDB: How much does MariaDB cost?

MariaDB Community Server is completely free to download and use. MariaDB offers paid enterprise support and managed cloud services for organizations needing professional support.

Source
MariaDB: Does MariaDB support native JSON storage?

MariaDB stores JSON using text fields (the JSON type is an alias for LONGTEXT), not as a native binary type like MySQL does. JSON support exists but is less sophisticated than MySQL's JSON functions and syntax.

Source
MariaDB: What scaling options does MariaDB provide?

MariaDB supports both scaling up (more cores, memory, storage) and scaling out (read replication, Galera Cluster with multi-node replication). However, Galera Cluster performance cannot exceed the slowest node in the cluster.

Source
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