Softwr

Database & Data Management · head to head

BigQuery vs MariaDB

BigQuery logo

BigQuery

Database & Data Management

Serverless, highly scalable enterprise data warehouse

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MariaDB logo

MariaDB

Database & Data Management

The open source relational database for the enterprise

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: BigQuery query costs can become substantial for organizations with high query volumes; MariaDB jSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
  • They diverge on capability: BigQuery covers Serverless Architecture, MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigQuery and MariaDB actually diverge.

Attributes where BigQuery and MariaDB differ
AttributeBigQueryMariaDB
Pricing modelusage-basedUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Cloud APILinux, Unix, Windows, macOS
Founded20082009

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Database & Data Management).

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 BigQuery

  • Serverless Architecture
  • Petabyte Scale
  • Real-time Analytics
  • Machine Learning
  • Geospatial Analysis
  • Streaming Ingestion
  • Standard SQL
  • Looker

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.

BigQuery

  • Business intelligencenot MariaDB
  • Data warehousingnot MariaDB
  • Real-time analyticsnot MariaDB
  • Reporting
  • Machine learningnot MariaDB

MariaDB

  • Transaction processingnot BigQuery
  • Data storagenot BigQuery
  • Application backendnot BigQuery
  • Reporting
  • Data analyticsnot BigQuery

Both are used for reporting, on those jobs the choice comes down to price and fit rather than capability.

Where each one falls short

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

BigQuery

  • Query costs can become substantial for organizations with high query volumes
  • Data egress from Google Cloud incurs additional charges

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

BigQuery

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • 1TB queries/month
    • 10GB storage/month
    • Standard support
  • On-demand$6.25/TB
    • Pay per query
    • Pay per storage
    • All features

MariaDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the MariaDB review.

Which should you pick?

Choose BigQuery if

  • You need serverless architecture.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud API.
  • You also want petabyte scale.
BigQuery 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 BigQuery or MariaDB better?
Neither clearly leads. BigQuery 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, BigQuery or MariaDB?
BigQuery starts at Free and MariaDB at Free.
Does BigQuery or MariaDB run on more platforms?
BigQuery runs on Web, Cloud API. MariaDB runs on Linux, Unix, Windows, macOS.
Can I use BigQuery for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is BigQuery best used for?
BigQuery is most often used for business intelligence, data warehousing, real-time analytics, reporting. Of those, business intelligence and data warehousing are not what MariaDB is typically brought in for.
What can BigQuery do that MariaDB cannot?
BigQuery covers Serverless Architecture, Petabyte Scale, Real-time Analytics, Machine Learning. MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility, Aria Storage Engine, ColumnStore, Galera Cluster.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigQuery: How is BigQuery priced?

BigQuery charges $5 per terabyte of data processed in on-demand queries. Storage is billed separately: active storage is charged per GB, and data inactive for 90+ days moves to long-term storage at reduced rates.

Source
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
BigQuery: What is BigQuery's architecture?

BigQuery separates compute and storage, using Google's Colossus for distributed storage and Borg for computation, allowing independent scaling of each.

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
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on BigQuery

More on MariaDB

Keep looking

Other head to heads