Why MySQL Won 2019 DBMS of the Year and What It Means for Database Trends

Global DB-Engines announced that MySQL was the most popular database management system in 2019, making it the DBMS of the Year.

Annual DBMS: MySQL

Twenty‑five years ago, Michael "Monty" Widenius and collaborators began developing MySQL for personal use, creating one of the most successful open‑source projects. As a core component of the LAMP stack, MySQL quickly became the preferred DBMS for many web developers.

The landscape changed when Sun acquired MySQL in 2008, raising concerns about the future of an open‑source project under a large commercial owner. Oracle’s 2010 acquisition of Sun intensified worries that MySQL might decline, prompting Monty Widenius to fork MySQL into MariaDB.

Oracle, however, launched a MySQL Enterprise edition while continuing to support a competitive open‑source community version. MySQL 8.0, released in 2018, introduced significant speed improvements and added NoSQL document storage and JSON support. Although MariaDB and PostgreSQL have gained traction, MySQL remains widely popular.

Runner‑up: Oracle

Over the past eight years Oracle’s popularity has fluctuated, but it reclaimed a strong position in 2019, remaining the highest‑ranked DBMS on the DB‑Engines list. Gartner reports also confirm Oracle’s leadership across multiple categories, and MySQL’s success has not diminished Oracle’s market standing.

Third Place: Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server, the 2016 DBMS of the Year, maintained a high popularity in 2019. It has consistently ranked in the top three, and while Microsoft offers many cloud‑based DBMS on Azure, SQL Server remains its flagship on‑premises product.

Conclusion

The top three databases are mature relational DBMS, which raises questions about the future of NoSQL. DB‑Engines argues that NoSQL is far from obsolete: MongoDB, Elasticsearch and Redis all appear in the top ten, and many relational systems now incorporate NoSQL features such as document stores and graph models.

For example, when flexibility is needed, developers can use extended RDBMS capabilities instead of switching to a dedicated NoSQL system. As long as demand exists, NoSQL functionality will persist within mainstream databases.

Historical DB‑Engines DBMS Winners

Below are the January rankings for the top twenty databases.

Trend changes for the top ten databases:

Other categories and full rankings can be viewed at the DB‑Engines website.

Category Rankings

Relational databases top 10:

Key‑Value databases top 10:

Document databases top 10:

Graph databases top 10:

Time‑series databases top 10:

DB‑Engines ranks DBMS popularity monthly using five indicators: Keyword search volume on Google and Bing. Search volume on Google Trends. Job postings on Indeed. Number of LinkedIn profiles mentioning the keyword. Number of related questions and followers on Stack Overflow. This ranking provides a reference for database professionals, but it does not reflect technical superiority or market share; choosing technology that fits business needs remains paramount.

Related Reading

Alibaba VP Li Feifei: Next‑Generation Cloud‑Native Database Trends (40‑page PPT)

MySQL and MariaDB Backup Strategies

Inside WeChat Pay’s Database TBase: Supporting One Billion Transactions Daily