Is Postgres slower than MySQL?

That was true fifteen years ago and is not meaningfully true now for OLTP workloads. Modern Postgres on a managed host with sensible indexes hits application bottlenecks before the database becomes the constraint.

Why did Supabase pick Postgres?

JSONB plus Row-Level Security plus the extension ecosystem — especially pgvector. Their auth, storage, and realtime products all map onto Postgres primitives, which lets the whole platform stay coherent.

Different question. NoSQL is the right call for unbounded-schema document workloads — not for SaaS-typical user, account, and billing data. For most products, Postgres with JSONB columns gives you 90% of MongoDB’s flexibility while keeping relational guarantees.

Is MySQL safer because Oracle backs it?

In practice no. Postgres’ development community is broader and less exposed to single-vendor decisions. MariaDB exists for teams who want a fork that is Oracle-independent.

Which does Creative Brain Inc. default to?

Postgres on Supabase for new SaaS builds. We use Supabase auth, storage, and realtime against the same database, which keeps the stack consistent. Migrating to RDS later is a database dump, not a rewrite.

Comparison · MySQL vs Postgres

Postgres vs MySQL for a new SaaS: which should you pick?

TL;DR

For greenfield SaaS in 2026, Postgres is the safer default — better JSON support, native vector search via pgvector, a richer extension ecosystem, and the de-facto pairing with modern hosted platforms like Supabase and Neon. MySQL still wins on teams with deep MySQL operational experience, read-heavy workloads with simple schemas, and inherited LAMP-stack codebases. For any product that already uses or might use AI features, Postgres is the call.

How they compare, dimension by dimension

MySQL (or MariaDB) versus PostgreSQL — eight to nine dimensions that actually change the decision.

Dimension	MySQL	Postgres	Edge
JSON / semi-structured data	JSON column, limited indexing	JSONB with full GIN indexing	→
Vector search for AIDecisive if you ship any LLM-touched feature.	No native option	pgvector — first-class extension	→
Read throughput at scale	Legendary, well-tuned	Comparable on modern Postgres	=
Extension ecosystem	Limited	PostGIS, pg_trgm, TimescaleDB, pgvector, ...	→
Managed hosting options	RDS, PlanetScale, Cloud SQL	Supabase, Neon, RDS, Railway, Render	→
Operational complexity	Fewer knobs, simpler tuning	More to learn (vacuum, MVCC)	←
License	GPL (Oracle-owned)	PostgreSQL license (permissive)	→
Default in modern SaaS stacks	Rare in new builds	Dominant in 2026	→

When to pick which

Pick MySQL if

Your team has deep MySQL operational experience and switching cost is real.
You are inheriting a WordPress, classic LAMP, or PHP codebase.
Workload is read-heavy with a simple relational schema and no JSON or AI features in scope.
You specifically want PlanetScale’s branching workflow.

Pick Postgres if

The product uses or might use AI features — embeddings, vector search, RAG.
You want JSONB to handle semi-structured data without a separate NoSQL store.
You are shipping on Supabase, Neon, or Railway (Postgres-native platforms).
You want geospatial (PostGIS), time-series (TimescaleDB), or full-text search built in.

Our take

For greenfield SaaS in 2026 we default to Postgres on Supabase or Neon. The deciding factor is rarely MySQL doing something wrong; it is Postgres’ ecosystem doing more things right for the kinds of work AI-touched products need. The exception we make: a team with deep MySQL ops experience inheriting a codebase that already runs on it — switching costs are not worth chasing a marginal feature lead.

Book a 30-min call

Common questions

Is Postgres slower than MySQL?: That was true fifteen years ago and is not meaningfully true now for OLTP workloads. Modern Postgres on a managed host with sensible indexes hits application bottlenecks before the database becomes the constraint.
Why did Supabase pick Postgres?: JSONB plus Row-Level Security plus the extension ecosystem — especially pgvector. Their auth, storage, and realtime products all map onto Postgres primitives, which lets the whole platform stay coherent.
What about MongoDB?: Different question. NoSQL is the right call for unbounded-schema document workloads — not for SaaS-typical user, account, and billing data. For most products, Postgres with JSONB columns gives you 90% of MongoDB’s flexibility while keeping relational guarantees.
Is MySQL safer because Oracle backs it?: In practice no. Postgres’ development community is broader and less exposed to single-vendor decisions. MariaDB exists for teams who want a fork that is Oracle-independent.
Which does Creative Brain Inc. default to?: Postgres on Supabase for new SaaS builds. We use Supabase auth, storage, and realtime against the same database, which keeps the stack consistent. Migrating to RDS later is a database dump, not a rewrite.