head to head · open source
duckdb vs mysql
duckdb has 41,472 GitHub stars, 3,800 forks, 858 open issues and last shipped today. mysql has 15,284 stars, 2,334 forks, 57 open issues and last shipped yesterday. duckdb leads on adoption by 171% (41,472 vs 15,284 stars). duckdb is written in C++ under MIT; mysql is written in Go under MPL-2.0. duckdb has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, mysql 15%. duckdb was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (database, sql), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| duckdb | mysql | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick duckdb if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mysql if
- You want the mysql feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and mysql fits your workflow better
About duckdb
DuckDB is an analytical, in process SQL database management system written in C++ and released under the MIT license. It runs inside the application process rather than as a separate server, and it is distributed as a standalone command line application as well as through clients for Python, R, Java, and WebAssembly. The project lives in the analytical SQL ecosystem, where the topics listed for it are analytics, database, embedded database, OLAP, and SQL. It has been developed for about eight years, with the last push recorded on 15 September 2026.
read the full duckdb overview →
About mysql
Go MySQL Driver is the pure Go MySQL driver that implements the database/sql interface for Go applications, and it is aimed at Go developers who need to connect services to MySQL, MariaDB, or TiDB without cgo or C bindings.
read the full mysql overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is duckdb or mysql more popular?
duckdb has 41,472 GitHub stars and mysql has 15,284. duckdb has the larger community by that measure.
Are duckdb and mysql free?
Both are open source. duckdb is licensed under MIT and mysql under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between duckdb and mysql?
duckdb is written in C++ and mysql in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, duckdb or mysql?
Choose duckdb if you want the larger community (41,472 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mysql if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.