Software · head to head
Capsule vs MariaDB

MariaDB
Software
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: Capsule the free plan is capped at 2 users, 250 contacts, 5 custom fields and a single pipeline; MariaDB jSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
- They diverge on capability: Capsule covers Contact management, MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Capsule and MariaDB actually diverge.
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 Capsule
- Contact management
- Deal tracking
- Task management
- Email sync
- Activity timeline
- Slack
- Zapier
- Google Apps
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.
Capsule
- Simple contact and pipeline CRM for a small teamnot MariaDB
- Tracking deals and follow-up tasksnot MariaDB
- Linking emails and notes to contact recordsnot MariaDB
- Multiple sales pipelines on the paid tiersnot MariaDB
MariaDB
- Transaction processingnot Capsule
- Data storagenot Capsule
- Application backendnot Capsule
- Reportingnot Capsule
- Data analyticsnot Capsule
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Capsule
- The free plan is capped at 2 users, 250 contacts, 5 custom fields and a single pipeline
- Contact ceilings gate every tier, from 30,000 on Starter to 120,000 on Advanced
- Per-user prices are not shown as figures on the pricing page, only as tier names
- Ultimate is quote-only
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
Capsule
$19/month- Starter$19/month
- Contact management
- Task tracking
- Professional$39/month
- Everything in Starter
- Pipeline management
- Reporting
- Enterprise$99/month
- Everything in Professional
- Custom fields
- API access
MariaDB
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the MariaDB review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Capsule if
- You need contact management.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want deal tracking.
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 Capsule or MariaDB better?
- Neither clearly leads. Capsule starts at $19/month and MariaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Capsule or MariaDB?
- MariaDB has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $19/month for Capsule and Free for MariaDB.
- Does Capsule or MariaDB run on more platforms?
- Capsule 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. Capsule starts at $19/month.
- What is Capsule best used for?
- Capsule is most often used for simple contact and pipeline crm for a small team, tracking deals and follow-up tasks, linking emails and notes to contact records, multiple sales pipelines on the paid tiers. Of those, simple contact and pipeline crm for a small team and tracking deals and follow-up tasks are not what MariaDB is typically brought in for.
- What can Capsule do that MariaDB cannot?
- Capsule covers Contact management, Deal tracking, Task management, Email sync. 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
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