Database Popularity Ranking: The Most Popular Databases
Picking a database is a ten-year bet: it decides who you can hire, what your tools support, and how easy help is to find at 3 a.m. This index tracks where real demand is heading for 64 systems, re-ranked every month, so you see the trend before you commit.
| #▲ | Database ▲ | Score i ▼ | 12-mo interest i ▼ | Trend i |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  PostgreSQLRelational | ▲3% | ||
PostgreSQLOpen-source object-relational database system known for standards compliance and extensibility. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 2 |  MySQLRelational | ▼12% | ||
MySQLWidely deployed open-source relational database developed by Oracle since 2010. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 3 |  DatabricksAnalytical | ▲9% | ||
DatabricksLakehouse platform unifying data warehousing and AI on open table formats. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 4 |  RedisDoc/KV | ▼19% | ||
RedisIn-memory key-value data store used as a cache, message broker and database. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 5 |  MongoDBDoc/KV | ▼15% | ||
MongoDBDocument database storing JSON-like BSON documents with a distributed architecture. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 6 |  SnowflakeAnalytical | ▲10% | ||
SnowflakeCloud data platform with separated storage and compute for analytics workloads. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 7 |  Microsoft SQL ServerRelational | ▼29% | ||
Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft's commercial relational database for OLTP, BI and analytics workloads. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 8 |  ElasticsearchSearch | ▲24% | ||
ElasticsearchDistributed search and analytics engine built on Apache Lucene (tracked separately from OpenSearch). Sub-Scores | ||||
| 9 |  Oracle DatabaseRelational | ▼20% | ||
Oracle DatabaseOracle's flagship commercial multi-model relational database (we track the database product itself, separate from Oracle Corp overall). Sub-Scores | ||||
| 10 |  SQLiteRelational | ▲29% | ||
SQLiteEmbedded serverless SQL database engine shipped inside applications on every platform. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 11 |  Google BigQueryAnalytical | ▲1% | ||
Google BigQueryGoogle Cloud's serverless data warehouse. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 12 |  PrometheusTime-series | ▼16% | ||
PrometheusOpen-source monitoring system with a built-in time-series database, a CNCF graduated project. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 13 |  OpenSearchSearch | ▲14% | ||
OpenSearchAWS-initiated fork of Elasticsearch and Kibana, now governed by the Linux Foundation. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 14 |  IBM Db2Heritage | ▼17% | ||
IBM Db2IBM's commercial relational database family for enterprise and mainframe workloads. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 15 |  SupabaseprovisionalNewSQL/Edge | · | ||
SupabaseOpen-source Firebase alternative: hosted Postgres with auth, storage, and realtime APIs. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 16 |  ClickHouseAnalytical | ▲23% | ||
ClickHouseOpen-source columnar OLAP database for real-time analytics. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 17 |  Neo4jGraph/WC | — | ||
Neo4jNative property-graph database with the Cypher query language. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 18 |  DuckDBAnalytical | ▲36% | ||
DuckDBIn-process analytical SQL database, often described as SQLite for analytics. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 19 |  Firebase (Firestore & Realtime Database)Doc/KV | ▼32% | ||
Firebase (Firestore & Realtime Database)Google's mobile/web backend databases: Cloud Firestore and the Firebase Realtime Database. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 20 |  MariaDBRelational | ▲3% | ||
MariaDBCommunity-developed fork of MySQL with independent governance and storage engines. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 21 |  SplunkSearch | ▼29% | ||
SplunkCommercial platform for indexing, searching and analyzing machine data, owned by Cisco. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 22 |  Amazon DynamoDBDoc/KV | ▼27% | ||
Amazon DynamoDBAWS's fully managed serverless key-value and document database. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 23 |  Amazon RedshiftAnalytical | ▼39% | ||
Amazon RedshiftAWS's managed columnar data warehouse. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 24 |  TeradataHeritage | ▲25% | ||
TeradataCommercial MPP relational platform for large-scale enterprise data warehousing. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 25 |  WeaviateVector | · | ||
WeaviateOpen-source AI-native vector database with hybrid search. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 26 |  QdrantVector | · | ||
QdrantOpen-source vector database and similarity search engine written in Rust. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 27 |  SAP HANAHeritage | ▼18% | ||
SAP HANASAP's in-memory column-oriented relational database platform. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 28 |  TrinoAnalytical | ▼38% | ||
TrinoOpen-source distributed SQL query engine for federated analytics across data lakes and databases. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 29 |  InfluxDBTime-series | ▼14% | ||
InfluxDBPurpose-built time-series database from InfluxData. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 30 |  Azure Cosmos DBDoc/KV | ▼29% | ||
Azure Cosmos DBMicrosoft Azure's globally distributed multi-model database service. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 31 |  MilvusVector | ▼23% | ||
MilvusOpen-source vector database built for embedding similarity search, an LF AI & Data project. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 32 |  Apache CassandraGraph/WC | ▼31% | ||
Apache CassandraApache wide-column store designed for high write throughput across commodity clusters. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 33 |  MemcachedDoc/KV | ▼12% | ||
MemcachedDistributed in-memory key-value cache for small chunks of arbitrary data. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 34 |  AlgoliaSearch | ▼13% | ||
AlgoliaProprietary hosted search-as-a-service API. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 35 |  CockroachDBNewSQL/Edge | ▲8% | ||
CockroachDBDistributed SQL database with PostgreSQL wire compatibility. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 36 |  VerticaHeritage | ▼12% | ||
VerticaCommercial columnar analytics database, now part of OpenText. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 37 |  PineconeVector | · | ||
PineconeProprietary managed vector database for similarity search. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 38 |  TimescaleDBTime-series | ▼30% | ||
TimescaleDBPostgreSQL extension that turns Postgres into a time-series database. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 39 |  ValkeyprovisionalDoc/KV | ▼8% | ||
ValkeyLinux Foundation fork of Redis created in 2024 after Redis's license change, backed by AWS and Google. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 40 |  Apache SolrSearch | ▼29% | ||
Apache SolrApache search platform built on Lucene. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 41 |  Azure SQL DatabaseRelational | ▼9% | ||
Azure SQL DatabaseMicrosoft's cloud-native SQL Server-compatible database service built on the Hyperscale backend. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 42 |  ChromaprovisionalVector | ▲112000% | ||
ChromaOpen-source embedding database aimed at LLM applications. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 43 |  SAP ASE (Sybase)Heritage | ▼18% | ||
SAP ASE (Sybase)SAP's enterprise relational database, formerly Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 44 |  Google Cloud SpannerNewSQL/Edge | ▼1% | ||
Google Cloud SpannerGoogle Cloud's globally distributed, strongly consistent relational database. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 45 |  IBM InformixHeritage | ▲21% | ||
IBM InformixIBM's embedded and enterprise relational database with time-series extensions. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 46 |  Apache HiveAnalytical | ▼31% | ||
Apache HiveApache data warehouse software providing SQL over large distributed datasets. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 47 |  kdb+Time-series | ▼21% | ||
kdb+KX's commercial columnar time-series database used heavily in finance. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 48 |  Amazon AuroraRelational | ▼38% | ||
Amazon AuroraAWS-built relational engine with MySQL/PostgreSQL compatibility on a proprietary log-structured distributed storage layer. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 49 |  FirebirdHeritage | ▼8% | ||
FirebirdOpen-source relational database descended from Borland InterBase. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 50 |  CouchbaseDoc/KV | ▼40% | ||
CouchbaseDistributed document database combining key-value access with SQL-like querying (SQL++). Sub-Scores | ||||
| 51 |  etcdDoc/KV | ▼4% | ||
etcdDistributed key-value store providing consistent configuration and coordination for clusters, core to Kubernetes. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 52 |  VictoriaMetricsTime-series | · | ||
VictoriaMetricsOpen-source time-series database and monitoring backend, Prometheus-compatible. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 53 |  ArangoDBGraph/WC | ▼16% | ||
ArangoDBMulti-model database with graph as its primary model plus document and key-value access. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 54 |  LanceDBprovisionalVector | · | ||
LanceDBEmbedded open-source vector database built on the Lance columnar format. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 55 |  ScyllaDBGraph/WC | ▼22% | ||
ScyllaDBC++ rewrite of Cassandra targeting low latency and high throughput per node. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 56 |  Apache HBaseGraph/WC | ▼32% | ||
Apache HBaseApache wide-column store built on HDFS, modeled after Google Bigtable. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 57 |  YugabyteDBNewSQL/Edge | ▼6% | ||
YugabyteDBDistributed SQL database with a PostgreSQL-compatible API. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 58 |  TiDBNewSQL/Edge | ▼26% | ||
TiDBDistributed MySQL-compatible HTAP database from PingCAP. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 59 |  Apache CouchDBDoc/KV | ▼16% | ||
Apache CouchDBApache document database with an HTTP API and multi-master replication. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 60 |  QuestDBTime-series | · | ||
QuestDBOpen-source time-series database with SQL and high-throughput ingestion. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 61 |  H2 DatabaseHeritage | ▼10% | ||
H2 DatabaseOpen-source embedded and in-memory Java SQL database. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 62 |  NeonprovisionalNewSQL/Edge | · | ||
NeonServerless PostgreSQL platform with storage/compute separation and database branching. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 63 |  Turso (libSQL)provisionalNewSQL/Edge | · | ||
Turso (libSQL)Edge-hosted database platform built on libSQL, an open-contribution fork of SQLite. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
| 64 |  SurrealDBprovisionalNewSQL/Edge | · | ||
SurrealDBMulti-model database combining document, graph and vector features with the SQL-like SurrealQL. Some signal families don't apply to this system, so its score re-balances across the families that do. Sub-Scores | ||||
12-Month Trend i
These lines show public interest until the index has enough score history of its own. Compare up to 8 systems: click a name to hide its line, hit × to drop it.
How This Ranking Works
Every month we collect several dozen measurements per database from public sources and roll them into six weighted signal families. We keep the exact sources, weights, and formulas private. That is what makes the index hard to game. Two sub-scores read the same data from different angles: developer activity covers code, adoption, and discussion; market demand covers hiring and mainstream interest.
What This Ranking Does Not Measure
- Installed base. Nothing public counts production servers. This index measures attention and demand, which lead adoption.
- Question volume. Community Q&A partly rewards the databases people struggle with, so it carries one of the smallest weights in the blend.
- Job ads lag reality by months, and enterprise systems are louder there than open-source ones. The two sub-scores show each world separately.
- Ecosystems blur at the edges. Wire-compatible services ride their parent database’s drivers, and no ranking can split that traffic; ours re-balances the compatibles across the signals they do own. Download registries also skew open-source, so the hiring and readership signals carry the enterprise side that registries miss.
- Adjacent ranks are noise. Treat #7 vs #8 as a tie. Treat #7 vs #15 as a real gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which database is the most popular right now?
PostgreSQL leads the Jun 2026 index at 118.9, ahead of MySQL (115.1) and Databricks (114.0).
What feeds the score?
Six families of public demand signals: hiring activity, reader interest, infrastructure activity, developer adoption, community questions, and technical discussion. We publish the families and the full monthly results. The exact sources, weights, and formulas stay private.
Why isn't the #1 database scored 100?
100 marks the average database, and the leader sits above the average. If 100 were pinned to the leader instead, every other score would drop whenever #1 surged, even with nothing else changing. Anchoring to the average avoids that.
How often does this update?
Monthly, in the first days of the month. Every chart carries the data month it was computed from.
Is Databricks really a database?
Databricks is a lakehouse platform with a database engine at its core, and database rankings have long listed it alongside warehouses like Snowflake and BigQuery. Each row carries a category tag, so filter by Relational if you want the classic engines only.
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