What is MySQL?
MySQL is a relational database management system originally released in 1995 by MySQL AB in Sweden. Oracle Corporation has owned and developed MySQL since acquiring Sun Microsystems in 2010. It is dual-licensed: the GPL-licensed Community Edition can be self-hosted at no cost, while Oracle also sells commercial Enterprise Edition licenses and a managed cloud offering, MySQL HeatWave. InnoDB is the default storage engine and provides ACID-compliant transactions.
Read the full overview
Sources checked 27 September 2026: What is MySQL and MySQL products overview.
MySQLDatabasesWidely used open-source relational database, now developed by Oracle
Key capabilities
- Community Edition: GPL-licensed, free to self-host.
- Enterprise Edition: Oracle-supported commercial license with additional tooling.
- InnoDB storage engine: ACID transactions and row-level locking by default.
- MySQL HeatWave: Oracle's managed cloud database and analytics service.
MySQL remains one of the most widely deployed open-source relational databases, with broad hosting and tooling support built up over three decades. The official MySQL reference manual, checked 27 September 2026, is the authoritative source for current version behavior rather than general popularity claims.
“Widely used open-source relational database, now developed by Oracle”
Technical details
- Access
- Self-hosted
- Source model
- Open source
- Founded
- 1995
- Pricing model
- Open source
- API
- Available
- Website
- www.mysql.com ↗
What to verify
Start from the users, systems and operating responsibilities the tool needs to support.
- Confirm current features, licensing and support terms.
- Validate deployment, data location and access control.
- Test integrations, exports and recovery workflows.
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