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E-Commerce · head to head

FastSpring vs MariaDB

FastSpring logo

FastSpring

E-Commerce

Merchant-of-record commerce platform for global payments, subscriptions, and tax compliance

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
MariaDB logo

MariaDB

Databases

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: FastSpring pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.; MariaDB jSON support using text fields rather than native binary type; lacks MySQL's JSON syntax and functions
  • They diverge on capability: FastSpring covers Global online payments, MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FastSpring and MariaDB actually diverge.

Attributes where FastSpring and MariaDB differ
AttributeFastSpringMariaDB
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modeltransactionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
Platformsweb, apiLinux, Unix, Windows, macOS
CategoryE-CommerceDatabases
Founded20062009

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 FastSpring

  • Global online payments
  • Subscription billing
  • Branded checkout
  • Tax compliance
  • Fraud prevention
  • Digital invoicing and quotes

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.

FastSpring

  • Selling software or SaaS internationally without a local tax entitynot MariaDB
  • B2B invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise SaaS dealsnot MariaDB
  • Recurring subscription billing for digital productsnot MariaDB
  • Reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchasesnot MariaDB

MariaDB

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

Where each one falls short

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

FastSpring

  • Pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.
  • As a merchant-of-record, FastSpring takes on more control of the checkout and payment relationship than a pure payment gateway like Stripe.
  • Revenue share pricing can become more expensive than flat per-transaction gateway fees at very high volumes.
  • Primarily targeted at software/digital goods sellers, so it is less suited to physical product e-commerce.

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

FastSpring

On request
  • Custom$undefined/mo
    • All-in-one transaction-based pricing based on sales volume
    • No subscription fees or per-feature charges
    • Discounted rates for ACH and wire transfers

MariaDB

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the MariaDB review.

Which should you pick?

Choose FastSpring if

  • You need global online payments.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want subscription billing.
FastSpring 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 FastSpring or MariaDB better?
Neither clearly leads. FastSpring starts at On request and MariaDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FastSpring or MariaDB?
MariaDB has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for FastSpring and Free for MariaDB.
Does FastSpring or MariaDB run on more platforms?
FastSpring runs on web, 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. FastSpring starts at On request.
What is FastSpring best used for?
FastSpring is most often used for selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity, b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals, recurring subscription billing for digital products, reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchases. Of those, selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity and b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals are not what MariaDB is typically brought in for.
What can FastSpring do that MariaDB cannot?
FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance. MariaDB covers MySQL Compatibility, Aria Storage Engine, ColumnStore, Galera Cluster.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FastSpring: What does FastSpring cost?

FastSpring uses flat-rate, all-in-one pricing based on transaction volume, with fees withheld from payouts. There is no minimum volume or subscription fee, and pricing is typically quoted based on expected sales volume after contacting their sales team.

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
FastSpring: Is there a free plan?

FastSpring does not offer a free plan; instead pricing is transaction-based with no upfront subscription cost, and merchants only pay a commission on completed sales.

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
FastSpring: What does FastSpring integrate with or include compared to a payment gateway like Stripe?

FastSpring bundles international payments, subscription management, tax compliance, fraud prevention, reporting, and B2B invoicing into one price, whereas gateways like Stripe charge separately for many of these features.

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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