List of the Top 7 On-Prem SQL Databases in 2025

Percona Server serves as a fully-compatible and enhanced open-source alternative to MySQL, designed for seamless integration. With its remarkable performance, scalability, and advanced instrumentation, the software has garnered over 5.3 million downloads, demonstrating its widespread acceptance. The support for high-performance hardware ensures that users experience outstanding reliability in their database operations. In addition to these features, Percona Server MySQL provides enterprise-level capabilities, increased uptime, and numerous advantages that significantly boost database performance and operational efficiency. As users find themselves spending less time on tuning and administration tasks, they can redirect their focus toward more critical aspects of their projects and businesses. Recognized as a leader in the market, Percona offers a range of enterprise-class software solutions and support options. Their services encompass consulting, managed solutions, and training for both on-premise and cloud-based open-source databases. Established with a vision that everyone deserves access to scalable, secure, and efficient database solutions without the burdens of vendor lock-in or exorbitant costs, Percona remains committed to empowering its users with the tools and knowledge they need.

Redis Labs serves as the official home of Redis, showcasing its leading product, Redis Enterprise, which is recognized as the most advanced version of Redis. Offering much more than mere caching capabilities, Redis Enterprise is accessible for free in the cloud, delivering NoSQL solutions and utilizing the fastest in-memory database available. The platform is designed for scalability and enterprise-level resilience, enabling massive scaling along with user-friendly administration and operational efficiency. Notably, Redis in the Cloud has gained popularity among DevOps professionals due to its capabilities. Developers benefit from advanced data structures and a broad range of modules, empowering them to foster innovation and achieve quicker time-to-market. Chief Information Officers appreciate the robust security and reliable expert support that Redis provides, ensuring an impressive uptime of 99.999%. For scenarios involving active-active configurations, geodistribution, and conflict resolution with read/write operations across multiple regions on the same dataset, relational databases are recommended. Furthermore, Redis Enterprise facilitates various flexible deployment options, making it adaptable to different environments. The ecosystem also includes Redis JSON, Redis Java, and Python Redis, along with best practices for Redis on Kubernetes and GUI management, solidifying its versatility in modern application development.

What contributes to the platform independence of eXtremeDB? It features a hybrid data storage approach, allowing for configurations that are entirely in-memory or fully persistent, as well as combinations of both, unlike many other IMDS databases. Additionally, eXtremeDB incorporates its proprietary Active Replication Fabric™, enabling not only bidirectional replication but also multi-tier replication, which can optimize data transfer across various network conditions through built-in compression techniques. Furthermore, it offers flexibility in structuring time series data by supporting both row-based and column-based formats, enhancing CPU cache efficiency. eXtremeDB can operate as either a client/server architecture or as an embedded system, providing adaptable and speedy data management solutions. With its design tailored for resource-limited, mission-critical embedded applications, eXtremeDB is utilized in over 30 million deployments globally, ranging from routers and satellites to trains and stock market operations, showcasing its versatility across diverse industries.

CUBRID is a relational database management system (DBMS) tailored for online transaction processing (OLTP) that complies with ANSI SQL standards, featuring support for MVCC, high availability, and intuitive GUI tools for database management and migration. It is designed to be compatible with Oracle and MySQL, while also supporting various interfaces like JDBC. Users will find the installation process to be seamless, complemented by native GUI-based administration tools that facilitate development. The system's architecture is both multi-threaded and multi-server, incorporating a native broker middleware, a cost-based optimizer, and advanced caching techniques specifically aimed at boosting OLTP performance. Moreover, it includes dependable automatic failover technology through the CUBRID Heartbeat engine core, which guarantees minimal downtime for users. Supporting multi-volume configurations and automatic volume expansion, CUBRID can efficiently manage a vast number of databases, tables, and indexes without facing size constraints. Its extensive and reliable features make it an excellent choice for dynamic and scalable applications across diverse industries, ensuring that it meets the varied demands of modern enterprise requirements. In conclusion, CUBRID stands out as a versatile solution for organizations seeking robust database management capabilities.

IBM Db2 represents a comprehensive array of data management solutions, with a strong emphasis on the Db2 relational database. These solutions incorporate AI-driven features aimed at facilitating the management of both structured and unstructured data within a variety of on-premises and multicloud environments. By making data more accessible, the Db2 suite enables companies to fully harness the benefits of AI technology. Most of the Db2 components are seamlessly integrated into the IBM Cloud Pak® for Data platform, offered either as supplementary features or as inherent data source services, which guarantees that nearly all data is available across hybrid or multicloud infrastructures to support AI-centric applications. Users can easily consolidate their transactional data repositories and quickly gain insights through intelligent, universal querying across multiple data sources. The multimodel capabilities contribute to cost reduction by eliminating the need for data replication and migration. Furthermore, Db2 provides remarkable flexibility, allowing for deployment across any cloud service provider, thus enhancing operational agility and responsiveness. This range of deployment options ensures that organizations can modify their data management approaches to align with their evolving requirements, ultimately fostering innovation and adaptability in their operations. This adaptability is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.

Oracle offers a range of database solutions designed to be both cost-effective and highly efficient, featuring prominent options such as a multi-model database management system, in-memory databases, NoSQL, and MySQL. The Oracle Autonomous Database enhances the user experience by enabling streamlined management of relational database systems, accessible both on-premises via Oracle Cloud@Customer and through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, thereby reducing administrative burdens. By simplifying the complexities involved in operating and securing Oracle Database, the Autonomous Database provides users with outstanding performance, scalability, and reliability. For organizations focused on data residency and minimizing network latency, the option for on-premises deployment of Oracle Database is available. Moreover, clients using specific versions of Oracle databases retain complete control over their operational versions, as well as the timing of updates. This level of flexibility not only empowers businesses to customize their database environments but also ensures they can adapt to evolving requirements seamlessly. Ultimately, Oracle's diverse database offerings are tailored to meet the varied needs of clients across different sectors.

Actian Ingres is widely recognized as a highly reliable enterprise transactional database that has evolved into a hybrid solution, offering superior performance in both transactional and analytical processing. By employing a combination of row and column storage formats, it leverages the Vector’s X100 analytics engine to enable fluid transaction processing alongside operational analytics all within a single platform. This database is particularly notable for its dependability, featuring a low total cost of ownership and round-the-clock global support, which has contributed to its reputation for exceptional customer satisfaction. With a rich history of performance, it has empowered numerous organizations to handle billions of transactions over time, skillfully adapting to various deployments and upgrades. As a result, Actian Ingres continues to be a preferred option for enterprises in search of a powerful and efficient database solution. Its commitment to innovation ensures that it remains relevant in an ever-evolving technological landscape.