Softwr

Scheduling & Booking · head to head

Boulevard vs MariaDB

Boulevard logo

Boulevard

Scheduling & Booking

Client experience platform for salons

From
$175/month
Rated
-
MariaDB logo

MariaDB

Database & Data Management

The open source relational database for the enterprise

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only MariaDB has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Boulevard pricing is charged per location, so a multi site business pays the full plan fee for each site; MariaDB jSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
  • They diverge on capability: Boulevard covers Intelligent scheduling, MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Boulevard and MariaDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Boulevard and MariaDB differ
AttributeBoulevardMariaDB
Starting price$175/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiLinux, Unix, Windows, macOS
CategoryScheduling & BookingDatabase & Data Management
Founded20162009

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

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 Boulevard

  • Intelligent scheduling
  • Client profiles
  • Point of sale
  • Inventory management
  • Staff management
  • Gift cards & packages
  • Two-way messaging
  • Business analytics

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.

Boulevard

  • Appointment booking and client management for salons, spas and medspasnot MariaDB
  • Running point of sale and card payments alongside schedulingnot MariaDB
  • Automated client messaging, intake forms and marketing campaignsnot MariaDB

MariaDB

  • Transaction processingnot Boulevard
  • Data storagenot Boulevard
  • Application backendnot Boulevard
  • Reportingnot Boulevard
  • Data analyticsnot Boulevard

Where each one falls short

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

Boulevard

  • Pricing is charged per location, so a multi site business pays the full plan fee for each site
  • The Essentials plan caps the business at 5 professionals; unlimited professionals require the Premier plan
  • Text and email allowances are metered per plan, with email blasts charged at $0.01 each beyond the plan allocation
  • Forms cost from $65 per month per location unless you are on the top Prestige plan
  • QuickBooks integration is an add on at $45 per month per location
  • ePrescribe is $45 per prescriber on top of the plan
  • Enterprise pricing is by consultation with no published rate

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

Boulevard

$175/month
  • Essential$175/month
    • Appointment booking
    • Client management
    • Point of sale
  • Premier$325/month
    • Everything in Essential
    • Advanced booking
    • Marketing tools
  • Prestige$undefined/month
    • Everything in Premier
    • Multi-location
    • API access

MariaDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the MariaDB review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Boulevard if

  • You need intelligent scheduling.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want client profiles.

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 Boulevard or MariaDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Boulevard starts at $175/month and MariaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Boulevard or MariaDB?
MariaDB has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $175/month for Boulevard and Free for MariaDB.
Does Boulevard or MariaDB run on more platforms?
Boulevard runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. 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. Boulevard starts at $175/month.
What is Boulevard best used for?
Boulevard is most often used for appointment booking and client management for salons, spas and medspas, running point of sale and card payments alongside scheduling, automated client messaging, intake forms and marketing campaigns. Of those, appointment booking and client management for salons, spas and medspas and running point of sale and card payments alongside scheduling are not what MariaDB is typically brought in for.
What can Boulevard do that MariaDB cannot?
Boulevard covers Intelligent scheduling, Client profiles, Point of sale, Inventory management. 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.

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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