April 2021 DB-Engines Ranking: Oracle, MySQL, SQL Server Drop While PostgreSQL and MongoDB Rise

DB-Engines has updated its April 2021 popularity ranking based on the overall data changes from March.

The overall top‑ten list remains the same as the previous month.

Although the rankings did not change, the individual scores shifted considerably: Oracle, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server all saw large declines, dropping 46.82, 34.14 and 7.33 points respectively. SQL Server’s score has fallen for two consecutive months, and compared with the same period last year the average drop for the three databases is about 64 points.

In contrast, the rising stars PostgreSQL and MongoDB continue their steady upward trend, with modest month‑over‑month score increases and roughly a 40‑point gain year‑over‑year.

Among databases ranked beyond the top 20, Snowflake and ClickHouse have shown notable annual improvements. Snowflake climbed from rank 100 last year to rank 29 now, while ClickHouse moved from 71 to 50. Both are cloud data‑warehouse solutions, and Snowflake’s surge is partly attributed to its parent company’s IPO and subsequent investment interest.

Relational Databases Top 10

Key‑Value Databases Top 10

Document Databases Top 10

Time‑Series Databases Top 10

Graph Databases Top 10

DB-Engines ranks database management systems monthly based on five different indicators:

Keyword search volume on Google and Bing.

Search volume on Google Trends.

Job posting counts on Indeed.

Number of LinkedIn profiles mentioning the keyword.

Number of related questions and followers on Stack Overflow.

This analysis aims to provide database professionals with a reference for technology direction; the rankings do not reflect technical superiority or market share. Selecting technology that best fits business requirements remains the most important factor.