MySQL Pricing: Plans & Cost Calculator 2026
While most enterprise databases charge high licensing fees, MySQL is free to use via its open-source Community Edition.
MySQL plans and pricing
Community Edition
Ideal for developers, small projects, and learning environments
Standard Edition
Suitable for businesses needing robust features and support
Enterprise Edition
Designed for mission critical applications requiring advanced security, performance, and management tools
Cluster Carrier Grade Edition
Offers extreme scalability and high availability for demanding telecom and web applications
MySQL pricing: the quick answer
MySQL Community Edition is free and open-source under the GPL as of July 8, 2026, and it is what most projects run. Oracle's commercial editions are licensed per server: Standard works out to about $178.33 per server per month, Enterprise to $445.83, and Cluster Carrier Grade to $891.67, each covering a 1-to-4-socket server with Oracle Premier Support. Those tiers are annual subscriptions, and the managed MySQL HeatWave cloud service is priced separately again. For most teams the free Community build does the job; the paid editions buy Oracle support and enterprise backup, not core database function.
- Community EditionFree
- Standard Edition$178.33/mo, annual
- Enterprise Edition$445.83/mo, annual
- Cluster Carrier Grade Edition$891.67/mo, annual
MySQL is free to start, against a $66.52/mo median across 5 databases tools we track.
MySQL cost calculator
MySQL Hidden Costs & Pitfalls
The free Community Edition covers the database itself. Oracle's paid editions are priced per server, so the real number depends on how many servers you license, not a single flat fee.
MySQL pricing, read against its live plans and category
Positioning
MySQL runs on a dual-licensing model, and the free side is the one most people should use. Community Edition is free under the GPL and gives you the full engine, replication, and Workbench. Oracle's commercial editions are licensed per server: Standard at about $178.33/server/mo, Enterprise at $445.83/server/mo, and Cluster Carrier Grade at $891.67/server/mo, each an annual subscription covering a 1-to-4-socket server with Oracle Premier Support. The commercial tiers buy support and enterprise backup, not core database capability.
Cost drivers
- 1Per-server, not per-org. Because licensing is per server, a multi-server deployment multiplies fast: three Standard servers is roughly $535 a month, three Enterprise servers past $1,300.
- 2Support is not optional on paid tiers. The enterprise features come bundled with the Oracle support subscription, so you cannot buy Enterprise Backup or TDE without the full contract.
- 3HeatWave is separate. The managed cloud service is priced on Oracle Cloud independently of these editions.
Watch-outs
The recurring complaint is that Oracle's commercial licensing is hard to justify against a free alternative that ships more features, and older engine versions can hit costly extended-support windows on managed cloud platforms.
Strengths
- The most widely deployed database, so expertise and tooling are everywhere
- Battle-tested across decades of web workloads
- HeatWave adds analytics and ML without a separate ETL step
Editor’s take
Small teams and individual developers should stay on the free Community Edition or a cheap managed instance; the per-server Oracle licensing rarely pays for itself unless you specifically need Premier Support or enterprise backup. If you want a free open-source engine with a broader feature set and no commercial-license questions, PostgreSQL is the usual answer.
Oleh KemFounder & Lead AnalystMySQL price history
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Frequently asked questions
Sources & verification
| Source | What was checked | Last checked |
|---|---|---|
| Official Pricing Page | Source of verified tiers | July 8, 2026 |
| Official Website | Official vendor website | — |
| G2 | G2 verified user reviews · 4.3/5 · 15 reviews | — |
| Capterra | Capterra verified user reviews · 4.5/5 | — |
| TrustRadius | TrustRadius verified reviews | — |
| PeerSpot | PeerSpot enterprise peer reviews | — |
Every fact on this MySQL pricing page is tied to a named source and a verification date. Freshness-sensitive figures trace to the sources above; verify against the vendor before relying on them.
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