Software · head to head
Apollo.io vs MariaDB

MariaDB
Software
The open source relational database for the enterprise
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Apollo.io everything is metered in credits, and the free Starter plan runs on them too, so prospecting volume is capped rather than the feature set; MariaDB jSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
- They diverge on capability: Apollo.io covers Contact database, MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Apollo.io and MariaDB actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Apollo.io
- Contact database
- Email finder
- Lead search
- Automation
- Engagement tracking
- Reporting
- Salesforce
- HubSpot
Only in MariaDB
- MySQL Compatibility
- Aria Storage Engine
- ColumnStore
- Galera Cluster
- MaxScale
- Spider Engine
- Temporal Tables
- phpMyAdmin
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Apollo.io
- Lead generationnot MariaDB
- Prospect researchnot MariaDB
- Sales automationnot MariaDB
MariaDB
- Transaction processingnot Apollo.io
- Data storagenot Apollo.io
- Application backendnot Apollo.io
- Reportingnot Apollo.io
- Data analyticsnot Apollo.io
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Apollo.io
- Everything is metered in credits, and the free Starter plan runs on them too, so prospecting volume is capped rather than the feature set
- Plans described as unlimited are capped in the fair use policy at 10,000 credits a month for non-paying accounts
- Connecting a mailbox that is not Gmail or Microsoft requires a paid plan
- How many records can be selected at once varies by tier
- Running out of credits means buying more rather than waiting for a reset
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
Apollo.io
Free- FreeFree
- Basic contact search
- Limited searches
- Starter$49/month
- Everything in Free
- Advanced search
- Email finder
- Professional$149/month
- Everything in Starter
- Automation
- Advanced analytics
MariaDB
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the MariaDB review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Apollo.io if
- You need contact database.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want email finder.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Apollo.io or MariaDB better?
- Neither clearly leads. Apollo.io starts at Free and MariaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Apollo.io or MariaDB?
- Apollo.io starts at Free and MariaDB at Free.
- Does Apollo.io or MariaDB run on more platforms?
- Apollo.io runs on Web. MariaDB runs on Linux, Unix, Windows, macOS.
- Can I use Apollo.io for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Apollo.io best used for?
- Apollo.io is most often used for lead generation, prospect research, sales automation. Of those, lead generation and prospect research are not what MariaDB is typically brought in for.
- What can Apollo.io do that MariaDB cannot?
- Apollo.io covers Contact database, Email finder, Lead search, Automation. MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility, Aria Storage Engine, ColumnStore, Galera Cluster.
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.
SourceMariaDB: 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.
SourceMariaDB: 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.
SourceMariaDB: 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.
SourceMariaDB: 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.
SourceMariaDB: 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.
SourceRelated pages
Keep looking
Other head to heads
- Apollo.io vs Outreach
- Apollo.io vs Gong
- Apollo.io vs Seismic
- Apollo.io vs Pipedrive
- Apollo.io vs HubSpot
- Apollo.io vs Salesforce
- Apollo.io vs Bitrix24
- Apollo.io vs Capsule
- Apollo.io vs Clari
- Apollo.io vs Freshsales
- Apollo.io vs Streak
- Apollo.io vs Zoho CRM
- Apollo.io vs Affinity
- Apollo.io vs Agile CRM
- Apollo.io vs Capsule CRM
- Apollo.io vs Clay
- Apollo.io vs Clearbit
- Apollo.io vs Cloze
- Apollo.io vs Cockroach Labs
- Apollo.io vs PostgreSQL
- Apollo.io vs Airtable
- Apollo.io vs Amazon Aurora
- Apollo.io vs Elasticsearch
- Apollo.io vs PlanetScale
- Apollo.io vs Azure SQL
- Apollo.io vs ClickHouse
- Apollo.io vs Couchbase
- Apollo.io vs DuckDB
- Apollo.io vs DynamoDB
- Apollo.io vs Oracle Database
- Apollo.io vs Amazon RDS
- Apollo.io vs Amazon Redshift
- Apollo.io vs Apache Druid
- Apollo.io vs Cassandra
- Apollo.io vs CouchDB
- Apollo.io vs Firebolt
- MariaDB vs Outreach
- MariaDB vs Gong
- MariaDB vs Seismic
- MariaDB vs Pipedrive
- MariaDB vs HubSpot
- MariaDB vs Salesforce
- MariaDB vs Bitrix24
- MariaDB vs Capsule
- MariaDB vs Clari
- MariaDB vs Freshsales
- MariaDB vs Streak
- MariaDB vs Zoho CRM
- MariaDB vs Affinity
- MariaDB vs Agile CRM
- MariaDB vs Capsule CRM
- MariaDB vs Clay
- MariaDB vs Clearbit
- MariaDB vs Cloze
- MariaDB vs Cockroach Labs
- MariaDB vs PostgreSQL
- MariaDB vs Airtable
- MariaDB vs Amazon Aurora
- MariaDB vs Elasticsearch
- MariaDB vs PlanetScale
- MariaDB vs Azure SQL
- MariaDB vs ClickHouse
- MariaDB vs Couchbase
- MariaDB vs DuckDB
- MariaDB vs DynamoDB
- MariaDB vs Oracle Database
- MariaDB vs Amazon RDS
- MariaDB vs Amazon Redshift
- MariaDB vs Apache Druid
- MariaDB vs Cassandra
- MariaDB vs CouchDB
- MariaDB vs Firebolt

