Why upgrade
When to Upgrade from Community Server
MariaDB Community Server is the free, open source relational database that runs everywhere, from developer laptops to the world’s largest websites. And when your applications become mission-critical, MariaDB Enterprise Platform is ready.
When to switch
When you should move from MariaDB Community Server to MariaDB Enterprise Platform
Community Server is a great place to start. Teams usually move to Enterprise Platform for one of three reasons.
Downtime starts to cost real money
Downtime often starts with a human mistake, like a table deleted by accident, or a traffic surge that overwhelms the database. When those moments start to hurt revenue and reputation, you need a database built to recover fast and stay available.
You need guaranteed support
If something goes wrong in production, you need an expert who answers right away and a release you can rely on for years, instead of being forced to upgrade on someone else’s timeline.
Regulations require it
Some applications must run on vendor-supported software or meet security and audit requirements that community software alone can’t satisfy.
Key differences in MariaDB Enterprise Platform
MariaDB Enterprise Platform starts with the same core you know and adds operational analytics with MariaDB Exa, distributed cache with MariaDB GridGain, and the option to run it all fully managed in MariaDB Cloud.
Get expert help whenever you need it
Enterprise support 24/7 worldwide, with priority bug fixes and custom hotfix builds.
Keep applications running through failures
Automated failover, transaction replay and session restore keep applications available if a server goes down.
Meet security and compliance requirements
Preconfigured security and compliance controls, including encrypted buffers, data obfuscation and query result limiting. Meets Department of Defense (DOD) STIG requirements.
Roll out changes with confidence
Non-blocking DDL keeps performance steady during changes, and workload capture and replay lets you test against real traffic before going to production.
Power AI and agents at real-time speed
A distributed cache with submillisecond response, semantic cache and agent memory help agents run faster, with AI retrieval right alongside your data.
Operate with less effort
Up to 8 years of support per release eliminates forced upgrades. Non-blocking backups and built-in monitoring simplify daily management, or go fully managed with MariaDB Cloud.
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Community Server vs Enterprise Platform
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