Where Do Users Get MariaDB Server From?

We recently asked the community a simple but important question:

What is the main source of the MariaDB Server you use?

The answers provide a very interesting snapshot of how MariaDB is consumed in the real world today—and, perhaps more importantly, how different installation methods reflect different use cases and priorities.

We got 2,373 replies on the poll!

Let’s take a closer look and try to understand these results.

Linux Distribution Repositories Still Lead

The most common answer, at just over 25%, is installation from Linux distribution repositories.

This is not surprising.

For many users—especially those running MariaDB as part of a broader system stack—distribution repositories offer:

Simplicity
Stability
Integration with system package management

However, this often comes at the cost of older versions. Many distributions prioritize stability over freshness, meaning users may not always benefit from the latest MariaDB features or performance improvements.

This result reinforces something we already know: convenience and trust in the OS ecosystem remain key drivers.

And that’s also the reason why we keep working closely with the Linux distributions.

MariaDB.org Repositories: Strong Adoption

Close behind, at around 23%, we see users installing from MariaDB.org repositories.

This is encouraging.

It shows that a significant portion of the community actively chooses:

More up-to-date versions
Officially maintained builds
Faster access to new features and fixes

This group likely includes users who:

Care about performance improvements
Need newer features (e.g., optimizer enhancements, replication improvements)
Want tighter alignment with upstream MariaDB development

It’s a strong signal that the official repositories are delivering value. This is also a sign of people relying on the repositories to maintain the server, the libraries, and all packages provided in the repositories, making upgrades easy.

Direct Downloads: Still Relevant

If we combine the results for:

Downloaded from mariadb.org (~19%)
Downloaded from mariadb.com (~16%)

We see that a large portion of users still prefer manual installation workflows.

These users are often:

Running custom environments
Working in controlled production setups
Packaging MariaDB themselves
Or testing specific versions

This method provides maximum control, but also requires more effort in terms of:

Installation
Upgrades
Dependency management

Personally, I also often use this method when I want to test things with a tool like DBdeployer.

I also think this is how Windows users are installing MariaDB. This is somehow confirmed by the User Agent used to fill the poll 😉

Cloud and Managed Services

About 5–6% of respondents rely on cloud or managed services.

While smaller than other categories, this number is meaningful.

It reflects a growing segment of users who prefer:

Reduced operational overhead
Managed backups, updates, and monitoring
Integration with cloud-native tooling

We can expect this number to grow as more organizations move toward managed database solutions.

Compiling from Source: A Niche (but Important) Group

Only around 3% of users compile MariaDB from source. Or at least use the compiled version as their main deployment source. This makes a lot of difference.

This is a critical audience:

Contributors
Advanced users
Performance tuners
Developers working on patches or custom builds

Even though the percentage is low, this group plays a key role in the ecosystem.

The “Other” Category

Roughly 8% selected “Other,” which likely includes:

Container-based deployments (Docker, Kubernetes)
Third-party packaging systems
Internal distribution pipelines

This category is particularly interesting because it hints at modern deployment patterns that don’t always fit traditional installation models.

Key Takeaways

What this tells us is simple: MariaDB serves a very diverse audience.

From sysadmins relying on distro packages, to developers chasing the latest features, to cloud users offloading operations—each group has different expectations.

One thing we are particularly proud of is this: if we combine installations coming from MariaDB.org repositories (~23%) and direct downloads from MariaDB.org (~19%), we reach ~42% of users.

That’s significantly more than installations coming from Linux distribution repositories (~25%).

This clearly shows that a large part of our community actively chooses to get MariaDB directly from us, the MariaDB Foundation—whether for newer versions, better performance, or closer alignment with upstream development. That trust is something we value a lot.

If anything, these results reinforce the importance of continuing to: