What is PostgreSQL? Everything You Need to Know (original) (raw)

This blog was originally published in February of 2023 and updated in February 2025.

What is PostgreSQL? It’s a powerful, open source relational database management system. To understand it fully, including what Postgres is used for, and to make the information relevant and solution-focused for enterprise businesses, we’ll also ask and answer a couple more questions.

In building-block order, here are all three questions, followed by short answers (but please don’t go anywhere; we’ll expand on the answers and build to an enterprise-grade payoff):

What is PostgreSQL? PostgreSQL is open source relational database management software.
Why use PostgreSQL? PostgreSQL offers robust features, high performance, and scalability for data management and analytics.
What are the benefits of PostgreSQL? PostgreSQL provides extensibility, ACID compliance, advanced query optimization, and strong community support, to name a few.
What’s behind PostgreSQL’s meteoric rise in popularity and usage? PostgreSQL’s rise is fueled by its evolution, powerful features, and active community.
PostgreSQL vs MySQL: How are they different and similar? PostgreSQL and MySQL differ in licensing, SQL standards, and performance. Both support ACID properties and are open-source.
What is PostgreSQL used for? It’s used for data management (shocker), application development, and data analytics.
Is PostgreSQL enterprise-ready? No. Vanilla PostgreSQL is not enterprise-ready. (But read on, and we’ll tell you ways to make it enterprise-ready.)

Now, let’s go deeper and get to the enterprise, production-ready solutions.

What is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) known for its reliability, data integrity, and extensive feature set. It can handle advanced data types, complex queries, foreign keys, triggers, and views, as well as procedural languages for stored procedures. PostgreSQL is highly expandable, allowing users to add new functions, data types, and other features. Its strong compliance with SQL standards, combined with support for ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties, make it an ideal choice for developers and enterprises looking for a scalable, efficient, and secure database.

You’ve chosen PostgreSQL for its flexibility, performance, and cost savings—but even experienced IT leaders can hit avoidable pitfalls along the way. Here’s what to look out for.

Enterprise PostgreSQL Buyer’s Guide

Why use PostgreSQL?

Choosing PostgreSQL as your database solution offers a unique blend of advantages that cater to a wide array of data management needs. One of the primary reasons to consider PostgreSQL is its exceptional support for advanced data types and sophisticated functionality. This includes native support for JSON, geometric data, and custom types, allowing for flexible and efficient data storage and retrieval that can adapt to the most complex and varied data models. PostgreSQL’s ability to easily handle complex queries, transactions, and extensive data warehousing operations makes it perfect for applications requiring detailed analytics, real-time processing, and high data integrity.

Another reason to use PostgreSQL is its strong emphasis on extensibility and standards compliance. It is designed to be highly customizable, enabling users to extend the database with their own functions, operators, and data types. Combined with its open source nature, PostgreSQL can evolve alongside your project’s needs, fostering innovation and ensuring that your database system remains future-proof.

In addition, PostgreSQL’s active community plays a role in its continuous development and support. The community contributes to its rich set of features and ensures strong security measures are in place, protecting data against vulnerabilities. With regular updates, patches, and an extensive library of documentation and resources, users can rely on PostgreSQL for long-term projects.

What are the benefits of PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL provides numerous benefits that make it an excellent solution for a wide range of database management requirements. Known for its dependability, comprehensive feature set, and flexibility, it handles complicated data management and processing jobs with remarkable efficiency. This sophisticated database system is designed to support large-scale applications and data warehousing, enabling users to build scalable and secure systems.

Flexibility and extensibility

PostgreSQL is recognized for its remarkable flexibility and extensibility, which allows users to customize the database to meet their requirements. It supports a wide range of data types, including custom user-created ones, and offers multiple procedural languages for writing stored procedures. This versatility allows a user to extend the database’s capabilities with custom functions, operators, and new languages, guaranteeing that PostgreSQL can evolve with a project’s needs.

Performance and scalability

PostgreSQL excels at performance and scalability, easily handling large amounts of data and concurrent transactions. It uses complex optimization techniques to ensure efficient data storage and retrieval, making it appropriate for high-demand settings. Its architecture offers horizontal scalability, partitioning, and replication, enabling applications to scale effortlessly in response to rising data volumes and user traffic.

Robust transaction support

Robust transaction support is fundamental to PostgreSQL, ensuring data integrity and consistency through full ACID compliance and multiple transaction isolation levels. This framework protects against data anomalies and guarantees reliable transaction processing, even in intricate, multi-user setups.

Advanced query optimization

PostgreSQL’s extensive query optimization capabilities enable the efficient execution of complex queries. It contains capabilities such as index-only scans, bitmap heap scans, and genetic query optimization to reduce query execution times. This makes PostgreSQL ideal for data analysis and business intelligence applications requiring fast and accurate data retrieval.

Active community and ecosystem

The active community and ecosystem around PostgreSQL greatly contribute to its strength and utility, as a network of developers, users, and organizations drives its continuous improvement, bolstering its security and support structures. This community offers a range of plugins, tools, extensions, documentation, and forums.

What’s behind PostgreSQL’s meteoric rise in popularity and usage?

Let’s expand on the answer to the first question: What is PostgreSQL?

PostgreSQL hasn’t just been a concern to its competitors; it’s swooped past most of them.

StackOverflow statistics show that 26% of developers preferred it in 2017, 34% in 2019, and 40% in 2021. Most recently, in StackOverflow’s 2022 Stack Developer Survey, PostgreSQL took a slight lead over MySQL (46.48% to 45.68%) as the most popular database platform among professional developers.

In another survey, using multiple metrics for overall popularity, PostgreSQL ranks as the fourth most popular database management system (DB-Engines, March 2023).

The widespread use and popularity have come on like gangbusters in recent years, but PostgreSQL wasn’t always the cool kid. It has evolved steadily, however, during 25 years as an open source project. (Craig Kerstiens, crunchydata, August 2023)

That evolution has created lots of reasons for its expanding popularity. PostgreSQL has powerful and advanced features, including asynchronous replication, full-text searches of the database, and native support for JSON-style storage, key-value storage, and XML. PostgreSQL is also highly extensible, enabling users to add custom functionality through plug-ins and extensions. (Extensibility is good, but it’s certainly not automatic, so more on that later.)

Another reason for PostgreSQL popularity (perhaps the biggest): It’s open source and free to use, distribute, and modify. Anyone can use it — for private, commercial, or academic purposes.

And there’s a global community dedicated to keeping it open source. That community spans expertise and industries, putting diverse skill sets and fresh perspectives into the review and improvement of code. Bugs and security vulnerabilities are identified more quickly. How-to documentation is readily available.

PostgreSQL vs. MySQL: What are the key differences and similarities?

The aforementioned attributes explain why many are turning to PostgreSQL, but why do users go with PostgreSQL instead of MySQL (which edges out PostgreSQL for simplicity and ease-of-use)? Here are potential reasons:

PostgreSQL offers advanced SQL features, including support for complex queries, window functions, common table expressions (CTEs), and more.
PostgreSQL has more advanced data integrity features and constraints, allowing for finer control over data validation and enforcement of business rules.
PostgreSQL has superior support for JSON data types, making it a good choice for applications requiring structured and semistructured data.
PostgreSQL has advanced support for geospatial data and geographic information system (GIS) functionality, making it a preferred choice for applications that deal with location-based data.
PostgreSQL is released under the PostgreSQL License, which is more permissive than MySQL’s dual licensing (GPL or commercial).

Differences

While both PostgreSQL and MySQL are widely used relational database management systems, they each have unique characteristics that distinguish them, such as:

Licensing: PostgreSQL is distributed under the PostgreSQL License, a permissive open source license. In contrast, MySQL offers dual licensing options: the GNU General Public License (GPL) for open-source projects and a proprietary commercial license for other uses.
Data types: PostgreSQL provides a more extensive selection of data types than MySQL, encompassing complex types such as arrays, JSON, XML, and user-defined types, allowing for more flexibility in data storage and manipulation.
SQL syntax and features: Although both databases utilize SQL for querying, there are notable distinctions in their SQL syntax and capabilities. PostgreSQL, for instance, includes support for window functions, Common Table Expressions (CTEs), and recursive queries, areas where MySQL might offer limited functionality.
Transaction isolation levels: PostgreSQL offers a broader array of transaction isolation levels, including the highly stringent Serializable level, providing more options for controlling concurrency and data integrity.
**Performance and scaling:**PostgreSQL stands out for its strong performance and scalability, especially with complex queries and large datasets. While MySQL has traditionally excelled in simple, read-heavy operations, both systems have evolved to enhance their performance capabilities over time.

Similarities

Although PostgreSQL and MySQL have their unique characteristics, they also share several key features that underline their core functionalities:

Both are Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS): Both PostgreSQL and MySQL fall under the category of relational database systems, organizing data into structured tables of rows and columns, and leveraging SQL for data manipulation and queries.
ACID compliance: Each database system upholds ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) principles, providing a foundation for secure and reliable transaction processing.
Cross-platform compatibility: PostgreSQL and MySQL are designed to operate across multiple operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS, offering flexibility in deployment environments.
Community support: Both databases benefit from active, supportive communities that contribute to ongoing development, provide support, and offer resources for users.
Support for replication and high availability: To ensure continuous operation and data safety, both PostgreSQL and MySQL incorporate mechanisms for data replication and high availability to ensure data redundancy and fault tolerance in distributed systems.

What is PostgreSQL used for? Exploring common use cases

These days, it’s used for a lot of high-stakes purposes and by a lot of people. Let’s dive into some of PostgreSQL’s many use cases.

General PostgreSQL use cases

In addition to being used as a backend database management system, here are other general uses of PostgreSQL software:

Website applications: Because PostgreSQL can handle high volumes of data and concurrent users efficiently, it’s suitable for applications that require scalability and performance. This makes it an excellent choice for dynamic website applications, from e-commerce platforms to content management systems, where uptime and data integrity are critical.

Geographic information systems (GIS): PostgreSQL is often preferred for mapping and related services because of its advanced support for geospatial data. The PostGIS extension, in particular, enhances PostgreSQL, making it one of the most powerful databases for managing GIS data, supporting complex queries, and spatial analyses essential for geographic and location-based services.

Data warehousing: PostgreSQL enables businesses to store and analyze large amounts of data for reporting and business intelligence. Its capability to handle massive datasets and complex queries and its support for advanced data types make it ideal for integrating and consolidating data from various sources for comprehensive analysis.

Data analytics: PostgreSQL can support analytical processing and reporting with the right extensions and configurations. This adaptability allows for the implementation of data mining techniques and predictive analytics, providing valuable insights that can inform business strategies and decision-making processes.

Social media platforms: Companies use PostgreSQL to manage user profiles, posts, connections, and interactions. Its ability to efficiently manage large relational datasets and handle many transactions makes it ideal for the fast-paced and data-heavy demands of social media applications.

Industry-specific PostgreSQL use cases

Businesses and organizations across industries use PostgreSQL. Industry-specific uses include:

E-commerce: Many e-commerce businesses use PostgreSQL to produce, process, and manage product catalogs, customer data, orders, and transactions. Its reliability and scalability support the dynamic inventory changes and high-volume transactions typical of online shopping platforms, enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.

Financial institutions: Because it’s ACID-compliant, PostgreSQL streamlines and safeguards transaction handling in financial systems and online banking. Its security features and ability to handle complex financial data make it a trusted choice for managing sensitive financial transactions and customer information.

Science and research companies: PostgreSQL databases are used to store and analyze experimental data, research findings, and other information. Its support for advanced data types and complex queries facilitates the detailed analysis and storage of large datasets.

Healthcare organizations: PostgreSQL is used to store patient records, medical history, and other healthcare data. Its data integrity and security capabilities ensure the confidentiality and reliability of sensitive health information, critical for patient care and compliance with healthcare regulations.

Government: PostgreSQL is used in government and public sector activities such as voter registration, public records management, and administrative databases.

Educational institutions: PostgreSQL is used to manage student information, course schedules, and academic records, supporting the diverse data management needs of educational institutions, from small schools to large universities, facilitating efficient administration and academic planning.

Telecommunications: PostgreSQL is used for managing call records, billing information, and subscriber data, where its reliability is essential for the telecommunications industry’s demand for real-time data processing and billing accuracy.

Building on that solid foundation: Is PostgreSQL enterprise-ready?

Now it’s time to go more in-depth on the final question: Is it enterprise-ready?

There’s no doubt PostgreSQL provides a solid foundation for innovative development. It’s reliable, robust, feature-rich, and performant. Unfortunately, in its vanilla form, PostgreSQL does not have all the components needed to create large-scale, complex systems and applications that meet the needs of enterprise businesses and organizations.

To make PostgreSQL work across the enterprise, you have to acquire a multitude of additional components, including tools for high availability, disaster recovery, monitoring, and observability. Then, those tools have to be configured and tested to work together. Such a do-it-yourself approach adds complexity to the IT team’s work and requires them to build PostgreSQL infrastructure from various open source extensions. Additionally, the IT team must have the expertise to maintain the deployment at peak performance. The challenges can slow down the pace of innovation.

You can also cover enterprise production requirements by going with proprietary PostgreSQL forks. But then you’re beholden to one vendor who can lock you in. The licensing can be expensive, and innovation can be limited or squelched. The pitfalls of vendor lock-in are real.

Get Enterprise-grade PostgreSQL out of the box with Percona

If the DIY approach seems daunting and the lock-in of a proprietary fork makes you squirm, there’s a third alternative — Percona for PostgreSQL.

Percona makes PostgreSQL work out of the box for enterprise infrastructure, empowering you to innovate freely. Percona for PostgreSQL is a suite of open source software, tools, and services for deploying and maintaining reliable production clusters without the overhead of the vanilla PostgreSQL configuration.

The heart of the Percona for PostgreSQL solution is Percona Distribution for PostgreSQL. It includes a native PostgreSQL server, enhanced with add-ons from the open source community, certified and tested to work together for extreme high availability, backups, security, and monitoring. It all helps ensure the cluster’s peak performance.

Alternatively, if you’re making a cloud-native push, Percona Operator for PostgreSQL simplifies deploying and orchestrating reliable PostgreSQL in Kubernetes.

To keep everything in your mission-critical production environment on track, expertise is always there. Support and Managed Services from Percona provide organizations with the help needed to achieve and keep PostgreSQL at peak performance. From migrations, database design, and architecture … to performance assessment and tuning … to proactive monitoring and management of your databases — you’re covered.

And because you’re covered, you’re also free. Free from vendor lock-in. Free to scale and deploy anywhere, at any time. Free to innovate.

FAQs

1. What is Postgres used for, and how does it differ from other database management systems?

PostgreSQL is an advanced, open source object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) known for its robustness, extensibility, and SQL standards adherence. It stands out from other databases with its support for advanced data types, comprehensive transaction integrity (ACID compliance), and the ability to extend functionality through user-defined types and functions.

2. Is PostgreSQL suitable for small-scale projects or only for enterprise-level applications?

PostgreSQL is highly versatile and can be used for both small-scale projects and enterprise-level applications. Its scalability, combined with a rich set of features and the ability to handle large volumes of data and concurrent transactions, makes it suitable for projects of any size.

3. What are some common use cases for PostgreSQL in business and development?

PostgreSQL serves a wide range of applications across different industries, from managing inventory and transactions on e-commerce sites and ensuring secure, ACID-compliant processes in financial systems to handling spatial data in GIS and supporting data warehousing and analytics for insightful business intelligence. Its adaptability also makes it ideal for web and mobile application development, content management, and handling user data on social media platforms, among other uses.

4. Is PostgreSQL suitable for cloud-based deployments?

Yes, PostgreSQL is well-suited for cloud-based deployments. Its compatibility with various cloud platforms and services allows for scalable, resilient, and flexible database solutions in the cloud.