HeliosProxy vs MariaDB MaxScale

HeliosProxy8.7Visit MMMariaDB MaxScale8.6Visit

Higher score HeliosProxy #5 in Database Proxy Software 8.7/10 Open source ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit HeliosProxy

vs

MM MariaDB MaxScale #6 in Database Proxy Software 8.6/10 Pricing on request · 30-day trial Free trial✓ 4 of 4 features Visit MariaDB

• HeliosProxy fits best

  Advanced PostgreSQL proxy engineering

• MariaDB MaxScale fits best

  Enterprise MariaDB proxy operations

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Side by side

Feature	HeliosProxy 8.7/10 Visit ↗	MMMariaDB MaxScale 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.7	8.6
Ranking	#5 in Database Proxy Software	#6 in Database Proxy Software
Best for	Advanced PostgreSQL proxy engineering	Enterprise MariaDB proxy operations
Pricing model	Free	Paid
Starting price	Open source	Pricing on request · 30-day trial
Free plan	Not checked yet	—
Free trial	—	30 days
Deployment	Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted, Browser extension
Support	Docs, Community	Community, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Enterprise, Mid-market
Features HeliosProxy 4/4 · MariaDB MaxScale 4/4
Connection pooling	✓	✓
Query routing	✓	✓
Load balancing	✓	✓
Automatic failover	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Self-hosted	Both
Supported databases	PostgreSQL-compatible databases	MariaDB Server, MySQL-compatible servers, ColumnStore, Enterprise Cluster, MongoDB protocol
Maximum connections	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Session, transaction, and statement connection pooling modes Routing, load balancing, health monitoring, and automatic failover WASM plugins, traffic replay, and major-version upgrade orchestration	SQL-aware routing, read/write splitting and load balancing Automatic failover with connection migration and transaction replay Firewalling, caching, streaming and multiple administration interfaces
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires customer-managed infrastructure Database support centers on PostgreSQL-compatible backends Advanced capabilities may require PostgreSQL proxy engineering expertise	Production use requires an enterprise subscription Pricing uses a contact-sales model No free plan is available
Our verdict	HeliosProxy is an open-source PostgreSQL data-plane for routing database connections and traffic between clients and PostgreSQL-compatible backends. It is designed for teams operating self-hosted PostgreSQL environments that need more… Read the review →	MariaDB MaxScale is a database proxy and intelligent query router for production and mission-critical MariaDB environments. It sits between applications and backend databases, handling SQL-aware query routing, read/write splitting,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• HeliosProxy — where it wins

  • Session, transaction, and statement connection pooling modes
  • Routing, load balancing, health monitoring, and automatic failover
  • WASM plugins, traffic replay, and major-version upgrade orchestration

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires customer-managed infrastructure
  • Database support centers on PostgreSQL-compatible backends
  • Advanced capabilities may require PostgreSQL proxy engineering expertise

• MariaDB MaxScale — where it wins

  • SQL-aware routing, read/write splitting and load balancing
  • Automatic failover with connection migration and transaction replay
  • Firewalling, caching, streaming and multiple administration interfaces

  Where it doesn't

  • Production use requires an enterprise subscription
  • Pricing uses a contact-sales model
  • No free plan is available

• HeliosProxy8.7/10 · Open source

  A deep self-hosted PostgreSQL proxy for teams building advanced traffic and failover control.

  Visit HeliosProxyFull verdict →
• MMMariaDB MaxScale8.6/10 · Pricing on request · 30-day trial

  A feature-rich MariaDB proxy for routing, failover and production database operations.

  Visit MariaDBFull verdict →