PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an open source relational database system developed by the PostgreSQL Global Development Group, a volunteer community, not a company. Its roots go back to the POSTGRES project at the University of California at Berkeley in 1986, and the project says it has had nearly 40 years of active development. It stores data in tables, speaks SQL, and has been ACID-compliant since 2001.

The project says it supports at least 170 of the 177 mandatory features for SQL:2023 Core as of version 18, released in September 2025. You download the server and run it yourself, or rent a hosted service from one of the companies listed on the project site. Teams use it as the main data store behind web applications, analytics jobs and geospatial work, often with extensions such as PostGIS.

• Rich data types. Beyond integers, text and booleans the project lists arrays, ranges and multiranges, UUIDs, JSON and JSONB, XML, key-value hstore, geometric shapes and user-defined composite types. Document-style data can sit next to relational tables. These types let one database hold relational, document and geometric data together.
• Constraints and integrity. Unique, not null, primary key, foreign key and exclusion constraints are supported, with explicit and advisory locks. The vendor's feature list presents these as tools for protecting data integrity at the database level. Such rules keep bad data out at the database level, instead of relying on each application to check it.
• Indexing options. B-tree, multicolumn, expression and partial indexes are standard; GiST, SP-GiST, GIN, BRIN, covering and Bloom indexes handle more specialised access. A query planner chooses between them, including index-only scans. Choosing the right index type for a workload remains the user's job, supported by the planner and multicolumn statistics.
• Concurrency and transactions. Multi-version concurrency control lets readers and writers work without blocking each other. All SQL standard isolation levels are offered, including Serializable, and savepoints give nested transactions. The project also lists table partitioning and parallel read queries among its performance features.
• Replication and recovery. Write-ahead logging underpins asynchronous, synchronous and logical replication, plus point-in-time recovery and active standbys. The documentation describes SQL dumps, file-system backups and continuous archiving as three separate backup approaches. Choosing between them depends on how much downtime and data loss your business can tolerate.
• Security model. Authentication methods listed include SCRAM-SHA-256, certificates, LDAP, GSSAPI, SSPI and OAuth 2.0. Row-level and column-level security restrict what a role may read or change. The project says it supports multi-factor authentication with a certificate plus another method.
• Extensibility. You can define types and functions, write procedures in PL/pgSQL, Perl, Python and Tcl, and connect other data sources through foreign data wrappers. A customisable table storage interface and a large extension catalogue complete the picture.

• A 10-person SaaS team. Runs one PostgreSQL instance as the system of record, uses JSONB columns for flexible customer settings, and relies on foreign keys to protect billing data. Backups use the built-in dump tools or continuous archiving. Moving to a larger machine or a managed host later does not change the licence terms.
• A mapping and logistics firm. Adds the PostGIS extension for geospatial queries, with GiST indexes on geometry columns. The project names PostGIS as a popular add-on that turns the engine into a geospatial database. The PostGIS extension is maintained separately from the core server, so version compatibility needs checking.
• A platform engineer planning a long-lived system. Picks a major version knowing it is supported for five years after its first release, then schedules a pg_upgrade or dump and reload before the final release date. The versioning page lists these dates. The project recommends running the current minor release for each major version and reading release notes first.

The download page offers packages and installers for Linux (Debian, Red Hat, SUSE, Ubuntu and others), macOS, Windows, BSD and Solaris, as well as a source archive and git repository. Beta and release candidate builds are labelled as unsuitable for production. After installing, you create a cluster, set up roles and authentication, and connect with psql or a client library.

The documentation, which the project calls world-renowned, is the main teaching resource, and mailing lists, local user groups and events exist for questions. There is no sign-up and no trial because the software is free to download. Expect real time for tuning, backups and upgrades.

PostgreSQL is released under a BSD-style licence, and the project says it has no plans to change it, so nobody can reprice the engine.

The cost sits elsewhere: you choose a host or support company from the project's lists. Each major version is supported for five years, and a major upgrade needs a dump and reload or pg_upgrade, which is real planning work.

In our database management systems ranking PostgreSQL stands at #1 of 22: MariaDB follows directly after it. Places 1 to 3 in every list go to challengers where the category has them, so this is a position on that rule and not a score.

The vendor states no country of establishment, so PostgreSQL is left out of the regional count for this list.

In the catalogue: Free to use under the PostgreSQL Licence; hosting and support bought separately.

PostgreSQL has no price: it is released under the PostgreSQL Licence, which the project describes as a liberal licence similar to BSD or MIT. The project says it remains committed to keeping PostgreSQL free and open source in perpetuity and has no plans to change the licence. Money goes elsewhere: hosting, managed services, support contracts and staff time. The project site lists professional services companies and hosting solutions, but it prints no rates for them. The licence text disclaims all warranties and obligations to maintain the software.

Source: the pricing material on postgresql.org, as read for Best Database Management Systems in 2026 and last reviewed on 7 November 2026.

The first ninety days are mostly choosing a host or support company from the project's published lists, then testing the upgrade path.

Staying current is a yearly decision, since each major version is supported for five years and the final minor release marks the end.

You control where data lives, because you run the server or choose the host, so region and certifications depend on that provider and are not stated by the project. The project is a CVE Numbering Authority with Red Hat as its root, and security issues go to security@postgresql.org.

It does not run a bug bounty. Each major version gets security fixes for five years. Data export uses pg_dump and related tools, with file-system and continuous-archiving backups also documented.

Integrations the vendor names (12):

• PostGIS
• pgvector
• pgAdmin
• PgBouncer
• pgJDBC
• psqlODBC
• PL/Python
• PL/Perl
• PL/Tcl
• Foreign data wrappers
• pg_upgrade
• PostgreSQL RPM and DEB packaging

The choice below rests on shared catalogue tags, price model, free plan and region, with rank distance as the tie-break.

• SQLite (#3 of 22): Not for: systems with many machines writing to one shared database. Serverless database in one file, with public domain source code. (United States)
• Redis (#6 of 22): Not for: buyers who need cheap storage for very large vector collections. Memory-first data store used for caching, queues and sessions, now tri-licensed.
• Apache Cassandra (#7 of 22): Masterless wide-column database for large write volumes across several machines. (United States)
• FerretDB (#13 of 22): Open-source proxy that serves MongoDB drivers from PostgreSQL. Watch out: compatibility is partial and documented as known differences, so queries need testing.

Read from the vendor’s own pages on 5 November 2026.

• postgresql.org/about: description, features, history, SQL conformance
• postgresql.org/about/licence: licence and no-change commitment
• postgresql.org/support/versioning: five-year support, upgrade methods, version table
• postgresql.org/support/security: CNA role, reporting, no bug bounty
• postgresql.org/download: platforms and packages
• postgresql.org/docs/current/backup.html: backup approaches

We test for four things rather than for features: setup time, price in practice, exit and audience. The result for PostgreSQL: #1, out of 22 ranked. Method and commercial relationships are in our editorial process.