StackShareStackShare
Follow on
StackShare

Discover and share technology stacks from companies around the world.

Follow on

© 2025 StackShare. All rights reserved.

Product

  • Stacks
  • Tools
  • Feed

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Databases
  4. Databases
  5. HeidiSQL vs MariaDB

HeidiSQL vs MariaDB

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

MariaDB
MariaDB
Stacks16.5K
Followers12.8K
Votes468
GitHub Stars6.6K
Forks1.9K
HeidiSQL
HeidiSQL
Stacks154
Followers309
Votes6
GitHub Stars5.5K
Forks522

HeidiSQL vs MariaDB: What are the differences?

Introduction

HeidiSQL and MariaDB are essential tools in the field of database management. While both serve similar purposes, there are key differences between them that set them apart. This Markdown code will provide an overview of these differences and highlight 6 specific points to consider.

  1. User Interface: HeidiSQL offers a powerful and user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) that allows users to manage databases using a visually appealing environment. On the other hand, MariaDB primarily offers a command-line interface (CLI), which requires users to input commands manually. However, MariaDB does provide third-party GUI options for those who prefer a more intuitive interface.

  2. Supported Platforms: HeidiSQL is designed to work specifically with Microsoft Windows. It is compatible with all recent Windows versions, allowing users to enjoy its full functionality seamlessly. In contrast, MariaDB is a cross-platform database system that can be used on various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and different Linux distributions.

  3. Database Compatibility: HeidiSQL is primarily designed to work with MySQL databases. It provides extensive support for managing and manipulating MySQL databases, making it an excellent choice for MySQL users. In contrast, MariaDB is a MySQL-compatible database management system that provides features similar to MySQL. MariaDB offers enhanced performance and additional functionalities while maintaining backward compatibility with MySQL.

  4. Open Source Community: HeidiSQL is an open-source project with an active and engaged community of developers and users. This community actively contributes to its development and provides ongoing support and updates. On the other hand, MariaDB is developed and maintained by the MariaDB Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that ensures the long-term development and stability of the database management system.

  5. Feature Set: HeidiSQL offers a comprehensive set of features for database management. It includes functionalities such as schema management, data manipulation, table editing, query execution, and user management. In contrast, MariaDB offers a wide array of advanced features, including support for various storage engines, advanced analytics and reporting tools, and more complex database management capabilities.

  6. Security Features: HeidiSQL provides basic security features such as the ability to set passwords and manage user privileges. It also has the option to establish secure connections using SSH tunneling. On the other hand, MariaDB goes a step further by offering additional security features like data encryption at rest and in transit, user roles and access control management, and auditing capabilities.

In summary, HeidiSQL provides a user-friendly GUI specifically tailored for Microsoft Windows and primarily focuses on managing MySQL databases. On the other hand, MariaDB is a cross-platform database management system compatible with various operating systems, offering advanced features, enhanced performance, and extensive compatibility with MySQL.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs
CLI (Node.js)
or
Manual

Advice on MariaDB, HeidiSQL

Omran
Omran

CTO & Co-founder at Bonton Connect

Jun 19, 2020

Needs advice

We actually use both Mongo and SQL databases in production. Mongo excels in both speed and developer friendliness when it comes to geospatial data and queries on the geospatial data, but we also like ACID compliance hence most of our other data (except on-site logs) are stored in a SQL Database (MariaDB for now)

582k views582k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

MariaDB
MariaDB
HeidiSQL
HeidiSQL

Started by core members of the original MySQL team, MariaDB actively works with outside developers to deliver the most featureful, stable, and sanely licensed open SQL server in the industry. MariaDB is designed as a drop-in replacement of MySQL(R) with more features, new storage engines, fewer bugs, and better performance.

HeidiSQL is a useful and reliable tool designed for web developers using the popular MariaDB or MySQL server, Microsoft SQL databases or PostgreSQL. It enables you to browse and edit data, create and edit tables, views, procedures, triggers and scheduled events. Also, you can export structure and data, either to SQL file, clipboard or to other servers. Read about features or see some screenshots.

Replication;Insert Delayed;Events;Dynamic;Columns;Full-text;Search;GIS;Locale;Settings;subqueries;Timezones;Triggers;XML;Functions;Views;SSL;Show Profile
-
Statistics
GitHub Stars
6.6K
GitHub Stars
5.5K
GitHub Forks
1.9K
GitHub Forks
522
Stacks
16.5K
Stacks
154
Followers
12.8K
Followers
309
Votes
468
Votes
6
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 149
    Drop-in mysql replacement
  • 100
    Great performance
  • 74
    Open source
  • 55
    Free
  • 44
    Easy setup
Pros
  • 1
    Connect to multiple servers on same client
  • 1
    Run multiple queries simultaneously
  • 1
    Keep queries after execution
  • 1
    Easy configuration
  • 1
    Client application which is lightweight
Cons
  • 1
    Mac OS/ Linux incompatible
Integrations
No integrations available
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL
MySQL
MySQL
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server

What are some alternatives to MariaDB, HeidiSQL?

MongoDB

MongoDB

MongoDB stores data in JSON-like documents that can vary in structure, offering a dynamic, flexible schema. MongoDB was also designed for high availability and scalability, with built-in replication and auto-sharding.

MySQL

MySQL

The MySQL software delivers a very fast, multi-threaded, multi-user, and robust SQL (Structured Query Language) database server. MySQL Server is intended for mission-critical, heavy-load production systems as well as for embedding into mass-deployed software.

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an advanced object-relational database management system that supports an extended subset of the SQL standard, including transactions, foreign keys, subqueries, triggers, user-defined types and functions.

dbForge Studio for MySQL

dbForge Studio for MySQL

It is the universal MySQL and MariaDB client for database management, administration and development. With the help of this intelligent MySQL client the work with data and code has become easier and more convenient. This tool provides utilities to compare, synchronize, and backup MySQL databases with scheduling, and gives possibility to analyze and report MySQL tables data.

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft® SQL Server is a database management and analysis system for e-commerce, line-of-business, and data warehousing solutions.

SQLite

SQLite

SQLite is an embedded SQL database engine. Unlike most other SQL databases, SQLite does not have a separate server process. SQLite reads and writes directly to ordinary disk files. A complete SQL database with multiple tables, indices, triggers, and views, is contained in a single disk file.

Cassandra

Cassandra

Partitioning means that Cassandra can distribute your data across multiple machines in an application-transparent matter. Cassandra will automatically repartition as machines are added and removed from the cluster. Row store means that like relational databases, Cassandra organizes data by rows and columns. The Cassandra Query Language (CQL) is a close relative of SQL.

Memcached

Memcached

Memcached is an in-memory key-value store for small chunks of arbitrary data (strings, objects) from results of database calls, API calls, or page rendering.

dbForge Studio for Oracle

dbForge Studio for Oracle

It is a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) which helps Oracle SQL developers to increase PL/SQL coding speed, provides versatile data editing tools for managing in-database and external data.

dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL

dbForge Studio for PostgreSQL

It is a GUI tool for database development and management. The IDE for PostgreSQL allows users to create, develop, and execute queries, edit and adjust the code to their requirements in a convenient and user-friendly interface.

Related Comparisons

Bootstrap
Materialize

Bootstrap vs Materialize

Laravel
Django

Django vs Laravel vs Node.js

Bootstrap
Foundation

Bootstrap vs Foundation vs Material UI

Node.js
Spring Boot

Node.js vs Spring-Boot

Liquibase
Flyway

Flyway vs Liquibase