Open Access

A Comparative Benchmark Analysis of Transactional and Analytical Performance in PostgreSQL and MySQL

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Martin Schneider ¹ , Diego Martínez ¹ ,

⁴ Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany

⁴ Department of Computer Science, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Background: PostgreSQL and MySQL are the world's leading open-source relational database management systems (RDBMS), yet the choice between them remains a critical and complex decision for system architects. While historical benchmarks exist, the continuous evolution of both systems necessitates an updated, rigorous performance evaluation that reflects modern hardware and diverse application workloads.

Methods: This study conducts a comprehensive benchmark analysis of the latest stable versions, PostgreSQL 16 and MySQL 8.0, on a dedicated, high-performance physical server. Using a composite benchmarking approach, we evaluated performance across three distinct, industry-standard workload profiles: a simple, high-concurrency Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) workload using SysBench; a complex, multi-table OLTP workload using the TPC-C benchmark; and a decision-support, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) workload using the 22 queries of the TPC-H benchmark. Key performance metrics, including throughput (TPS), 95th percentile latency, and query execution time, were systematically collected.

Results: Our findings reveal a distinct performance dichotomy. MySQL demonstrated superior throughput and lower latency in simple OLTP scenarios, achieving up to 21% higher peak TPS than PostgreSQL under moderate concurrency. However, its performance degraded under heavy client load. Conversely, PostgreSQL exhibited greater stability and scalability, outperforming MySQL by 14% in the complex TPC-C workload. In the analytical TPC-H benchmark, PostgreSQL showed a profound advantage, completing the full query suite in less than one-third of the time required by MySQL, highlighting its superior query optimizer and execution engine for complex analytical tasks.

Conclusion: The optimal database choice is fundamentally workload-dependent. MySQL is highly proficient for applications dominated by simple, high-volume read/write operations. PostgreSQL is the more robust and versatile choice for applications with complex transactional logic, mixed transactional and analytical requirements, and the need for predictable performance under high contention. These findings provide empirical guidance for architects to align database selection with specific application performance profiles.

Keywords

Database Performance, Benchmarking, PostgreSQL, MySQL, OLTP

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A Comparative Benchmark Analysis of Transactional and Analytical Performance in PostgreSQL and MySQL

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