The Most Popular Databases Used in 2025

As Delivery Director at WebCreek, Luis Nerey guides his team towards development efficiency and innovation, ensuring technical strategies align seamlessly with client needs for impactful project delivery.

February 13, 2025

11 minutes read

Most likely, all the activities that we perform with technology involve a database in this digitized world. Be it for streaming your favorite music, doing shopping, or even sending a simple message; behind your screen, databases run to store and retrieve information for you. It’s no surprise then that, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for database administrators is steadily rising in IT, with an annual growth rate of 9%.

Choosing the right database is key to the success of any project. With so many options available, each with its own features and benefits, it can be hard to choose the best fit for your needs. To make the decision easier, we’ve put together a list of the top databases of 2025. Whether you need scalability, speed, or flexibility, these databases are the top choices for developers and businesses.

Shortlist of the Most Popular Databases Used in 2025

The list of databases below is based on Stack Overflow’s annual developer survey. While it isn’t exhaustive and the ranking may vary by industry, there’s little doubt that these databases frequently appear on top 10 lists.

PostgreSQL — Best for open-source object-relational functionality
MySQL — Best for reliable web applications with easy scalability
SQLite — Best for lightweight, serverless, embedded applications
Microsoft SQL Server — Best for scalable data platforms with strong analytics
MongoDB — Best for flexible, schema-less document storage
Redis — Best for in-memory performance and real-time applications
MariaDB — Best for high-performance, open-source relational database
Oracle Database — Best for enterprise-level stability, security, and scalability
Firebase — Best for real-time synchronization and cloud-based solutions
Elasticsearch — Best for search and analytics with distributed architecture

Based on the Stack Overflow Developer Survey, PostgreSQL leads the database ranking with 48.7% popularity, followed closely by MySQL at 40.3%. SQLite and Microsoft SQL Server also maintain strong positions, with 33.1% and 25.3% of developers using them, respectively. MongoDB, Redis, and MariaDB continue to be favored for NoSQL and in-memory solutions, showing strong usage in modern applications. Other databases like DynamoDB and Firebase Realtime Database also demonstrate notable growth, indicating a broader shift towards cloud-based and scalable database solutions.

As we head into 2025, these databases will continue to evolve, offering even more scalability, security, and performance. Below, we’ll dive into each of these top 10 databases, exploring their key features and how they can help you tackle your next big project.

PostgreSQL official website. Source: www.postgresql.org/

What it does: PostgreSQL is a powerful open-source relational database known for its great in-memory performance and reliability. That’s why many companies turn to it when they need scalable and flexible databases. It’s often the go-to choice and stands out with one of the healthiest, most supportive communities in the IT world. For most developers, learning PostgreSQL is an obvious choice.

Key features:

Supporting complex queries/stored procedures.
Extensible Architecture/Custom Datatype.
Compliant with the standard ACID.
High reliability.
Native support of JSON, NoSQL.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Open-source and highly extensible.
Supports complex queries and transactions.
Supports both SQL and NoSQL (JSON, XML).
Large community and great documentation.

Cons:

More complex setup compared to other systems.
May not be as efficient for certain read-heavy workloads.
Lack of official support for some commercial needs
Resource-intensive for small applications

MySQL official website. Source: www.mysql.com/

What It Does: MySQL is one of the most widely used relational databases for web applications. Its reliability and simplicity make it a popular choice for powering countless websites and apps. Known for its strong security, easy scalability, and high performance, MySQL also benefits from a dedicated community that continues to improve and update it. Now owned by Oracle, MySQL is available under both open-source and proprietary licenses, depending on your needs.

Key features:

It is open-sourced and massively supported.
Redundancy and availability through Replication and clustering.
Fast queries with great reliability.
High community and Enterprise Support.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Excellent performance and scalability.
High reliability and strong community support.
Easy to use and great for web applications.

Cons:

Lacks some advanced features compared to other databases like PostgreSQL.
May have limitations with large data sets and complex queries.

SQlite official website. Source: www.sqlite.org

What it does: SQLite SQLite is a lightweight, serverless database that stores all its data in a single file. It’s often used in mobile apps, browsers, or small-scale applications where simplicity matters. Unlike other relational databases, SQLite isn’t a client-server engine; it’s a C library embedded directly into the program. This makes it a great choice when you want the features of a relational database without the need for a server. For example, Firefox uses SQLite to store user data like settings, history, and bookmarks.

If you’re building a local app that involves data processing, such as a financial or data analysis tool, SQLite is a powerful option.

Key Features:

Self-contained, Serverless.
No Configuration Required.
ACID Compliant to Reliable.
Optimized for small-scale, super-fast read applications.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Extremely lightweight and easy to implement.
No server or complex configuration required.
Ideal for mobile apps, browsers, and small-scale applications.
Fast performance for read-heavy operations.

Cons:

Not suitable for large-scale applications with high concurrency demands.
Lacks features like replication and clustering.

Microsoft SQL Server official website. Source: www.microsoft.comen-insql-server

What it does: Microsoft SQL Server is widely popular due to its seamless integration with Windows-based applications. It’s become a top choice for enterprise use, especially in business intelligence, analytics, and mission-critical applications. There’s a product for every need, it’s just a matter of identifying the required features. In this case, less is often more.

Microsoft focuses on ease of use, and as a result, this database has one of the simplest installations on the market. Its cloud-based counterpart, Azure, is also one of the most advanced options available for both developers and businesses.

Key features:

Rich Business Intelligence Capabilities.
Enterprise-level security features – Always Encrypted, Role-Based Access Control.
Native Machine Learning and AI.
High Availability with Failover Clustering and Database Mirroring.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Powerful and scalable, ideal for enterprise use.
Excellent integration with other Microsoft products.
Strong business intelligence and analytics capabilities.
High security with features like encryption.

Cons:

Expensive, especially for licensing and maintenance.
Can be complex to manage and configure.
Less flexible than databases like PostgreSQL.

MongoDB official website. Source: www.mongodb.com

What it does: MongoDB is a NoSQL database that stores data in flexible, JSON-like documents, making it ideal for handling unstructured data. It’s widely used in big data applications, content management, and IoT projects. MongoDB is known for its speed, impressive performance benchmarks, and ease of scalability compared to other databases.

The creators of MongoDB call it the leading NoSQL solution, and they’re not exaggerating. It’s the most popular document-type database on the market. One of its biggest advantages is being schema-less, meaning there’s no need to design the schema upfront, which saves a lot of time. Plus, as an open-source solution, it’s easy to see why MongoDB has become such a popular choice in a relatively short time.

Key Features:

Schemaless document storage.
Scalability with sharding and replication.
Aggregation framework for complex queries.
High availability and built-in horizontal scaling.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Best for flexible, schema-less document storage.
Ideal for unstructured or semi-structured data.
Scalable and easy to replicate for high availability.
Great for big data applications and IoT.

Cons:

Doesn’t support ACID transactions as strongly as relational databases.
Not ideal for use cases requiring a fixed schema or complex queries.

Redis official website. Source: www.redis.io

What it does: Redis is an in-memory database known for its incredibly fast performance, making it perfect for tasks like caching, real-time analytics, and message brokering. Many companies use Redis to speed up their web applications. What sets Redis apart from other key-value databases is its persistence feature. It creates disk copies of data and can recall them when needed. Common use cases include session caching, full-page caching, message queues, and leaderboards.

Key Features:

In-memory storage for super-fast performance.
Pub/Sub Messaging.
High availability with Redis Cluster.
List, Sets, Hashes Etc.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Extremely fast, ideal for real-time applications.
Supports complex data structures like lists, sets, and hash maps.
High availability with Redis Cluster.
Widely used for caching and message queues.

Cons:

Best suited for specific use cases like caching or message brokering.
Persistence isn’t as strong as traditional databases.
Not designed as a primary database system.

MariaDB official website. Source: www.mariadb.com

What it does: MariaDB is an open-source alternative to MySQL that offers high performance, strong security, and excellent scalability. It’s a popular choice for businesses looking for a cost-effective yet reliable database solution. Created by the original developers of MySQL, MariaDB aims to be a better version of its predecessor more scalable, more secure, and with higher availability, all while providing tools and services designed for enterprises.

MariaDB was built to be a drop-in replacement for MySQL, so switching between them is easy. All you need to do is uninstall MySQL, install MariaDB, and run a command—plus, the command lines for both are nearly identical. Like MySQL, MariaDB supports all major programming languages and works on any server operating system.

Key Features:

Highly customizable being open source.
Supports high-performance query optimization.
Enterprise-grade security and data encryption.
Multi-threaded storage engines.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Fully open-source with a large community.
Better performance than MySQL in some cases.
Supports multiple storage engines.
MySQL-compatible, making migration easy.

Cons:

Some advanced features are only available in enterprise versions.
Slightly less support on certain platforms compared to MySQL.

Oracle official website. Source: www.oracle.com/database

What it does: Oracle is one of the most powerful relational databases, known for its strong security, exceptional stability, and scalability. It’s widely used in enterprise environments such as financial applications, healthcare data storage, and large corporations. Oracle is a top choice for online transaction processing and data warehousing.

However, two main challenges with Oracle are its high cost and complexity. It takes time to learn how to use it effectively and maintain the server. That said, the effort is often well worth it.

The new Oracle Database 23ai adds advanced AI features, including Vector Search and machine learning, enabling semantic content querying and retrieval, as well as content generation directly within the enterprise’s database infrastructure.

Key Features:

High Availability and Fault Tolerance
Advanced Security with Various Encryption Options
Multimodel database supports
Self-Administering Autonomous Database capabilities

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Ideal for large enterprises and critical workloads.
Offers excellent scalability and high availability.
Strong security features and disaster recovery capabilities.
Wide range of management and monitoring tools.

Cons:

Expensive for licensing and maintenance.
Requires specialized personnel for management and administration.
Can be too complex for smaller projects or startups.

Firebase official website. Source: www.firebase.google.com

What it does: Firebase is a cloud-based NoSQL database from Google, designed for web and mobile apps. It’s great for real-time applications because it automatically syncs data across devices. As part of the Firebase suite, it’s a document-based database with support for iOS, Android, and JavaScript clients. These clients all connect to a single shared database and pull the most recent data.

Firebase is perfect for serverless projects since everything is managed in the cloud. If a client loses internet access, the app stores the data in the cache and uploads it once the connection is restored. This also means projects can scale without needing additional hardware investments. On the downside, Firebase comes with a commercial license, making it one of the more expensive options on this list.

Key Features:

Realtime Synchronization capabilities in multiple Devices.
Integrated Service on authentication built within the Cloud-based-
Scalable cloud storage.
Serverless Function for Web Development via Application and Cloud Based using Functions -firebase

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Best for real-time synchronization and serverless solutions.
Automatic data syncing across devices.
Cloud-based and scalable with Google Cloud integration.
Easy to use for mobile and web app development.

Cons:

Expensive for projects with large amounts of data or high traffic.
Requires a constant internet connection to work optimally.
Pricing model can be difficult to understand for small projects.

Source: www.elastic.co

What it does: Elasticsearch is a powerful search and analytics engine used by companies to sift through large amounts of data in near real-time. It’s particularly useful for real-time search and log analysis, making it a top choice for businesses dealing with massive data sets.

Built on Apache’s Lucene, Elasticsearch is an open-source, distributed, and multitenant full-text search engine with a Java-based HTTP interface. It’s designed to optimize data for fast searches and efficient results, handling a wide range of data types like integers, floating numbers, strings, dates, and even geo data, whether structured or unstructured.

Despite the name, Elasticsearch isn’t just for search; it can also serve as a full-fledged database for search, analysis, observability, and security. And because it’s open-source, it’s a great option for projects with a limited budget.

Key Features:

Full-text search capability
Real-time analytics and monitoring
Distributed Architecture for scalability
RESTFUL API Integration

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Powerful search and real-time analytics engine.
Highly scalable and distributed for large data volumes.
Easy integration with other platforms and systems.
Excellent for full-text search applications.

Cons:

Requires adequate hardware for large data volumes.
Can be complex to configure and maintain.
Not suitable as a primary database, best used as a complementary tool.

Conclusion

From search engines to financial transactions, databases are the backbone of today’s technology-driven world. Whether you’re a business looking for scalability or a developer building a high-performance application, choosing the right database is crucial. The databases covered in this article are among the most popular and versatile, each offering unique features to meet different needs, whether it’s speed, scalability, security, or flexibility. Whether you need a reliable relational database like PostgreSQL or a flexible NoSQL solution like MongoDB or Firebase, there’s a perfect option for every project.

As businesses shift toward cloud-based and serverless technologies, databases like Firebase and Elasticsearch are leading the way with dynamic and scalable solutions. Understanding the strengths and use cases of each database allows developers and companies to make more informed decisions. With data playing an increasingly vital role in technology, these databases are shaping the future of how we store, manage, and interact with information.