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Software · head to head

Brex vs MariaDB

Brex logo

Brex

Software

The financial stack for growing businesses

From
$29/month
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: Brex the free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities; MariaDB jSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
  • They diverge on capability: Brex covers Corporate cards, MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Brex and MariaDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Brex and MariaDB differ
AttributeBrexMariaDB
Starting price$29/monthFree
Pricing modelfreemiumUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidLinux, Unix, Windows, macOS
Founded20172009

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 Brex

  • Corporate cards
  • Business accounts
  • Expense management
  • Bill pay
  • Travel
  • QuickBooks
  • NetSuite
  • Xero

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.

Brex

  • Corporate cards with spend controls for startupsnot MariaDB
  • Expense management and reimbursementsnot MariaDB
  • Travel booking inside the spend platformnot MariaDB
  • Bill pay and accounting system syncnot MariaDB
  • Multi-entity spend management on the paid tiersnot MariaDB

MariaDB

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

Where each one falls short

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

Brex

  • The free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities
  • Premium is $12 per user per month, so cost scales with headcount using the card
  • Enterprise and Smart Card pricing is not published
  • Eligibility criteria are not stated anywhere on the pricing page, which matters for a product that extends credit

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

Brex

$29/month
  • EssentialsFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense management
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$12/month
    • Advanced controls
    • Custom approvals
    • Travel booking

MariaDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the MariaDB review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Brex if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want business accounts.
Brex 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 Brex or MariaDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Brex starts at $29/month and MariaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Brex or MariaDB?
MariaDB has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Brex and Free for MariaDB.
Does Brex or MariaDB run on more platforms?
Brex runs on Web, Ios, Android. 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. Brex starts at $29/month.
What is Brex best used for?
Brex is most often used for corporate cards with spend controls for startups, expense management and reimbursements, travel booking inside the spend platform, bill pay and accounting system sync. Of those, corporate cards with spend controls for startups and expense management and reimbursements are not what MariaDB is typically brought in for.
What can Brex do that MariaDB cannot?
Brex covers Corporate cards, Business accounts, Expense management, Bill pay. 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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