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Capsule vs MariaDB

Capsule logo

Capsule

Software

Visual CRM for small teams

From
$19/month
Rated
-
MariaDB logo

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.

Attributes where Capsule and MariaDB differ
AttributeCapsuleMariaDB
Starting price$19/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidLinux, Unix, Windows, macOS
Founded20082009

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

Free

No 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.

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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