# What's the best relational database for software and IT companies based on user reviews?

<p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">Looking for input from G2 reviewers at software companies, SaaS teams, and IT services organisations in the <a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/categories/relational-databases">Relational Databases category</a>, specifically from those who have selected a relational database as the foundation for a production application and can speak to which platform held up as the codebase grew.</p><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">The platforms with the strongest software and IT company evidence:</p><ul>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/postgresql/reviews"><strong>PostgreSQL</strong></a>: The combination of SQL standards compliance, performance under complex workloads, and extensibility that allows teams to add capabilities through extensions rather than changing databases is described as the architecture choice that ages well as a software product grows. </li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/mysql/reviews"><strong>MySQL</strong></a>: Software teams building standard CRUD applications, content management systems, and e-commerce backends credit the predictability and tooling ecosystem for keeping development velocity high without specialised database expertise. </li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-sql-server/reviews"><strong>Microsoft SQL Server</strong></a>: The SQL Server Management Studio tooling, the reporting and analytics integration with the Microsoft BI stack, and the compatibility with .NET application frameworks are credited for making development and database administration accessible without requiring specialised DBA expertise. </li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-rds/reviews"><strong>Amazon RDS</strong></a>: The ability to run MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server on RDS while AWS handles the operational overhead is credited for allowing small software teams to operate production databases without a dedicated database engineer. </li>
<li>
<a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://www.g2.com/products/sqlite/reviews"><strong>SQLite</strong></a>: Software teams building mobile applications, desktop applications, and lightweight backend services credit SQLite for the development simplicity that eliminates the local database server setup step before coding can begin. </li>
</ul><p class="elv-tracking-normal elv-text-default elv-font-figtree elv-text-base elv-leading-base elv-font-normal" elv="true">For software engineers who have chosen a relational database for a project that has now been in production for more than two years: what was the database-level behaviour that surprised you most as the data volume grew beyond what the initial design anticipated, and was the response a schema change, an indexing strategy, or a decision to evaluate a different database?</p>

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 13 days ago
- Author title: Marketing Executive
- Net upvotes: 1


## Comments
### Comment 1

&lt;p&gt;I’d pay close attention to query patterns that only become painful at scale. Growing data volume often exposes indexing, join, and schema decisions long before the database itself becomes the real bottleneck.&lt;/p&gt;

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 13 days ago
- Author title: Marketer





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