MariaDB MaxScale vs PgDog

MMMariaDB MaxScale8.6Visit PgDog8.4Visit

Higher score 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

vs

PgDog #8 in Database Proxy Software 8.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit PgDog

• MariaDB MaxScale fits best

  Enterprise MariaDB proxy operations

• PgDog fits best

  Free PostgreSQL pooling and sharding

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Side by side

Feature	MMMariaDB MaxScale 8.6/10 Visit ↗	PgDog 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.6	8.4
Ranking	#6 in Database Proxy Software	#8 in Database Proxy Software
Best for	Enterprise MariaDB proxy operations	Free PostgreSQL pooling and sharding
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	Pricing on request · 30-day trial	Free plan
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	30 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted, Browser extension	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Community, Docs	Email, Community, Docs
Built for	Enterprise, Mid-market	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features MariaDB MaxScale 4/4 · PgDog 4/4
Connection pooling	✓	✓
Query routing	✓	✓
Load balancing	✓	✓
Automatic failover	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Both	Both
Supported databases	MariaDB Server, MySQL-compatible servers, ColumnStore, Enterprise Cluster, MongoDB protocol	PostgreSQL
Maximum connections	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	SQL-aware routing, read/write splitting and load balancing Automatic failover with connection migration and transaction replay Firewalling, caching, streaming and multiple administration interfaces	Free, open-source PostgreSQL connection pooling and multiplexing Combines routing, read/write splitting, lag monitoring, and sharding Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, on-premises, or customer cloud accounts
Cons	Production use requires an enterprise subscription Pricing uses a contact-sales model No free plan is available	Supports PostgreSQL rather than multiple database engines Failover detection is disabled by default AGPLv3 licensing may not suit every deployment or distribution model
Our verdict	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 →	PgDog is an open-source PostgreSQL proxy for teams that need to manage connection capacity, distribute reads across replicas, or route traffic across sharded databases. Its scope covers transaction-mode connection pooling, connection… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• 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

• PgDog — where it wins

  • Free, open-source PostgreSQL connection pooling and multiplexing
  • Combines routing, read/write splitting, lag monitoring, and sharding
  • Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, on-premises, or customer cloud accounts

  Where it doesn't

  • Supports PostgreSQL rather than multiple database engines
  • Failover detection is disabled by default
  • AGPLv3 licensing may not suit every deployment or distribution model

• 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 →
• PgDog8.4/10 · Free plan

  A free PostgreSQL proxy with pooling, routing, replica balancing, and sharding.

  Visit PgDogFull verdict →