This guide will walk through some of the best database software systems available today and describe the top features and use cases. After reading through this list, you should have a much better understanding of what database software is available on the market today and who each particular software suite or tool is best suited for.
If you’re ready to jump in and explore database software options ranging from Knack to IBM DB2 to MongoDB, then read on to discover all the great options you can select.
Listing the Best Database Software
No matter what type of database you’re trying to manage, having an efficient database software solution that lets you quickly and intuitively navigate your data is critical. Some of the database software packages we mention below are specific to traditional SQL databases, while others are intended to be used with NoSQL databases like MongoDB.
Let’s dive into the list and learn about some of the best database software and systems available today.
1. Knack
Knack is an easy online database that helps businesses build quick applications and get data to users in an efficient manner. They created their database and management tools as a “no code” solution, meaning that anyone can get started with Knack and build the perfect database for their particular use case – no need to be a developer or learn how to code beforehand!
Suppose you want a simple database tool that lets you transform your data into a robust database online, structure data in ways that make sense to you and connect your data by establishing relationships and links between records. In that case, Knack could be the perfect solution for you.
Best For Non-developers and anyone who wants an intuitive database without the added complexity of writing queries or code.
2. Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDMS) developed by Microsoft and used extensively for enterprise use by corporations and business organizations worldwide. Suppose you want to be able to build intelligent applications, accelerate how quickly you can move all of your data into the cloud, and innovate using faster technologies. In that case, Microsoft SQL Server may be the ideal solution for you or your organization.
Over 98 of the Fortune 100 currently use Microsoft SQL Server due to its speed, agility, and reliability.
Best For Enterprise use and organizations who want a fast and reliable database solution.
3. Improvado
Improvado is a no-code database management solution built with business, marketing, and revenue generation in mind. For example, suppose you want to be able to connect all of your marketing and sales data to a Google Spreadsheet, Tableau, or another external database to get further insights into that data through analytics. In that case, Improvado is a great way to do so.
Using Improvado, you’ll be able to integrate and manage your data from multiple sources and turn your marketing data into something ready for analysis by transforming and normalizing every data point.
Best For Businesses who need a no-code solution for aggregating and analyzing marketing and sales data.
4. Amazon RDS
Amazon RDS is a database software solution that lets you quickly operate, scale, and set up a relational database within the cloud in just a few clicks. It’s great for anyone who needs to scale and deploy relational databases and wants to benefit from the extensive experience, expertise, innovation, and security best practices that Amazon offers.
With Amazon RDS, you’ll have no more inefficient, time-consuming administrative tasks when it comes to your database and be able to manage everything quickly and efficiently.
Best For: Anyone who wants a fast, reliable relational database deployed in the cloud.
5. Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is a top-rated and effective database management solution today and an industry-leading service that enterprises rely on to manage and retrieve all of their data with maximum security, reliability, and efficiency.
When it comes to deploying mission-critical applications and having your workloads run reliably without downtime, you’ll be able to use the database management tools Azure offers to operate confidently. In addition, Pay-as-you-go pricing from Microsoft lets you start immediately without any upfront commitments, ensuring you only pay for what you use.
Best For: Anyone who needs to deploy mission-critical applications and be confident in security and reliability.
6. MySQL
MySQL is one of the most popular relational databases today, powering millions of websites, software packages, SaaS applications, and online businesses worldwide. Using MySQL database management software, you’ll easily manage your databases, tables, and data relationships and ensure scalability, security, and uptime.
If you want a database proven to be quick, intuitive, and reliable over the years, then you can’t go wrong with choosing MySQL as the database solution for your next project.
Best For: Anyone who wants a proven database solution that’s withstood the test of time.
7. Oracle Database
Oracle Database is a database software system that’s withstood the test of time. It has been used by enterprises and organizations worldwide to deploy applications, web projects, and more. Oracle’s database is a world-leading multi-model database management system that includes in-memory MySQL and NoSQL databases.
If you want your data to be protected against data breaches, want to use a single database for various data types, and would like to deploy your database wherever you need to on the fly, the Oracle Database should be on your radar.
Best For Organizations and businesses who need a secure and reliable database solution.
8. TablePlus
TablePlus is an easy-to-use database management tool that gives you an intuitive and friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for your relational database of choice, whether that’s PostgreSQL, SQLite, MySQL, or others.
TablePlus is incredibly versatile and simple to use and supports many relational databases and even some NoSQL databases. For a lightweight, fast, and native database management system that lets you make managing your database easier than ever, TablePlus is a great reliable and secure option.
Best For: Anyone who needs a native, fast, and reliable database management system that’s intuitive to use.
9. RazorSQL
RazorSQL is a SQL editor, database browser, SQL query tool, and database administration tool that works on multiple operating systems like macOS, Linux, Windows, and Solaris. It is currently compatible with over 40 different types of databases, including Athena, Cassandra, DynamoDB, Firebird, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Salesforce, SQLite, and more.
For anyone who needs a fast and easy-to-use database browser and all the database tools you need to execute, describe, drop, create, or alter objects within your database, RazorSQL will let you get the job done quickly and efficiently.
Best For: Anyone wanting a flexible and feature-packed database management software solution.
10. TeamDesk
TeamDesk is an excellent online database software solution that lets your business manage and create databases incredibly quickly, without requiring technical expertise or coding knowledge.
Since every business’s needs are unique, your web-based database should be able to satisfy your business needs and give you something that is reliable and efficient – something that TeamDesk delivers and provides with flying colors.
Best For Businesses and organizations who want a web-based database that’s easy to use and reliable
11. SQLite
SQLite is a highly reliable, feature-packed, small, fast, and fully self-contained SQL database engine that’s one of the most used database engines today. Many mobile phones and computers come with SQLite bundled inside due to the trustworthiness and stability of the SQLite file format.
If you want a reliable database that has over one trillion active databases in use around the world and a file format that’s recognizable anywhere, then SQLite could be the perfect solution for you.
Best For: Anyone seeking a stable database with a recognizable file format across any device.
12. PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is one of the most advanced open source relational databases in the world today and has over 30 years of active development under its belt. Over the years, Postgre has earned a strong reputation due to its outstanding performance, reliability, and robustness of features.
If you want a database solution that’s incredibly reliable and has proven itself time and time again, then going with PostgreSQL could be a great way to go. Additionally, there is an extensive amount of documentation on how to use and install PostgreSQL, ensuring that you’ll never be left in the dark.
Best For: Anyone seeking a database solution with over 30 years of active development and a strong reputation.
13. Microsoft Access
Microsoft Access is a PC application that lets you quickly and easily create your own databases, using formats that best serve your organization or business. So even if you’re not a developer, you’ll be able to share and create various apps and templates from scratch without a difficult learning curve.
Access lets you integrate multiple data sources, and be confident that all of your data is secure, managed in a system that has long-term stability, and scalable in case you need to expand your use case.
Best For: Anyone who wants a no-code database solution that’s simple and intuitive to use.
14. Altibase
Altibase is an enterprise-grade database with incredibly high-performance specifications. It is perfect for enterprise companies and organizations who need to deploy mission-critical applications or data to their customers or clients worldwide.
Serving clients like Hewlett-Packard, Hyundai, Toshiba, Samsung, Intel, and AT&T, Altibase has over 20 years of experience in developing and maturing its database management software product, making it accessible to the businesses who need it most.
Best For Enterprises and organizations who want to deploy mission-critical software and applications.
15. Informix
Informix is a high-performance database that’s embeddable and capable of integrating NoSQL, SQL, JSON, spatial data, and time-series data. It’s perfect for any business or organization that needs analytics on the cloud, edge, or on-premises for local physical storage and easy management.
Informix also features automated administrative capabilities and a low-footprint database that makes it simple to manage large volumes of data at any time.
Best For Corporations and businesses who need a high-performance embeddable database.
16. IBM DB2
IBM DB2 is built for some mission-critical workloads businesses and organizations can find themselves deploying. When millions of customers or clients rely on your application or software daily, having a database that’s reliable, secure, and proven to work without downtime is essential.
DB2 was designed by some of the world’s foremost database experts and allows enterprises to have real-time analytics and the capacity to run extremely low-latency transactions under the most demanding conditions.
Best For Enterprise use for mission-critical deployment and highly demanding workloads.
17. Advanced Query Tool
The Advanced Query Tool is a powerful, fast, and highly-efficient multi-database query tool that’ll make managing your databases easier. If you need to communicate with multiple databases fast, you’ll be able to do that confidently with the snappy and intuitive user interface that the AQT provides.
This feature-rich and mature database management software solution gives you a responsive way to get the job done.
Best For: Anyone looking for an intuitive, fast, and mature tool for managing multiple databases.
18. DbVisualizer
DbVisualizer is a database client that lets you connect to various databases and enjoy the smart features of a universal database tool like this. Instead of learning to use another database management software tool or client, why not have everything you need be bundled into one simple visual software package that you can use intuitively from the get-go?
DbVisualizer has an advanced SQL editor, automatic suggestions and formatting, custom actions and object types, JDBC driver management, and more. Over 25,000 companies have a pro license of DbVisualizer. It’s used in over 145 countries around the world.
Best For: Anyone who wants a high-quality, smart, universal database management tool.
19. SolarWinds
SolarWinds is a powerful and secure solution built for organizations that want to solve their toughest IT problems, including securing and managing databases in large organizations and enterprises.
Out of all the companies in the Fortune 500, 498 of them currently use SolarWinds in some capacity. They offer SQL Server Diagnostics, MySQL Solutions, Postgres Solutions, Azure SQL Solutions, and more for tuning enterprise databases’ performance and ensuring they run as efficiently as possible.
Best For Enterprises and organizations who want to streamline and secure their mission-critical databases.
20. MariaDB
MariaDB is an open-source relational database that’s been used for various projects and deployments over the years due to its reliability and stability. It is currently one of the most popular relational databases available, and it was created by the same developers who built MySQL.
MariaDB comes included with most Linux distributions and is a part of most cloud offerings where a database is required to be deployed. So if you need a stable, open-source, high-performance database that gets the job done, consider MariaDB for your next project.
Best For: Anyone seeking an open-source, stable, high-performance database solution.
21. MongoDB
MongoDB is a NoSQL database intended to allow anyone building a web application, software project, or any other app that requires quick database access to make it smarter and faster simultaneously.
If you need a database solution that lets you quickly get your ideas to market, and want to do so with modern technology that’s built using the best in latest technologies and advancements, then MongoDB will give you everything you need to get going. Developers love MongoDB for its search, analytics, transactional, and mobile use cases and data model.
Best For: Developers who want to use the latest and greatest to build smart and fast.
22. Redis
Redis is an open-source data store currently used by millions of developers worldwide as a streaming engine, message broker, and database solution. If you need a vibrant, open-source database that’s been running for over five years and is at the center of innovation for architects, developers, and an engaged community of supporters, then Redis should be on your list of database solutions.
Redis offers great programmability and server-side scripting, in-memory data structures, extensibility, clustering capabilities, persistence, and high availability for any deployments you choose to deploy in Redis.
Best For: Developers and innovators who want to use top-of-the-line technologies.
23. OrientDB
OrientDB is a fast and reliable Graph database that can solve problems other database software packages aren’t able to solve. In the software, you can use the Graph Editor to interact with your data, modify it, and visualize relationships and connections between certain data blocks, rows, and columns.
The Studio Query tool lets you execute queries for immediate insight into how they perform, and there’s even a command-line console available to manage everything through a terminal.
Best For: Visually demonstrating solutions to customers and clients and closing contracts sooner rather than later.
24. phpMyAdmin
PhpMyAdmin is a free database management tool that handles administration for MySQL databases over a web interface. This database software tool is primarily used for websites and web applications since you can easily install PhpMyAdmin on a subdomain and use it to log in and view all of the data of your website or online application.
You can even perform everyday database operations like managing tablets, columns, permissions, users, and relations right in the interface without having to write and execute queries.
Best For: Anyone who runs or manages a web application or website and wants a quick and intuitive database management system.
25. Robo 3T
Robo 3T (previously known as Robomongo) is a cross-platform, native database manager for MongoDB databases. It’s perfect for anyone who wants a snappy, responsive, fast software solution that doesn’t take up considerable system resources and lets you browse your database exceptionally quickly.
When constructing your database queries, Robo 3T provides real-time auto-completion that analyzes the semantics of your code and executes your code in an internal JavaScript virtual machine, ensuring you have runtime autocompletion. In addition, the user interface is asynchronous and non-blocking, so background processing won’t block the main application thread and make your database management quick and snappy.
Best For MongoDB users who want a quick and snappy database management solution.
We’ve listed some of the best database software available today. After going through our list, you should have a better idea about the database solution that’ll work best for your particular use case. There’s no shortage of database solutions available today; all that remains is to choose one that fits your needs best and one that you consider the most intuitive and straightforward to work with.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the most popular database software?
Some of the most popular database software available today include Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, IBM DB2, and MySQL. The software you choose should depend on your database use case and performance requirements.
What is the easiest database software to use?
One of the most straightforward database management software tools is SQLite, an excellent option for beginners or someone just jumping into their first database. SQLite is an easy and intuitive relational database management system (RDBMS).
What is the fastest database software?
When you need to write large volumes of data quickly and efficiently without any processing bottlenecks or slowdowns, databases like DB2, MongoDB, Cassandra, ElasticSearch, and Amazon DynamoDB are some of the fastest options available today.
Which database is best for large data?
For storing and processing large amounts of data, databases like MongoDB and Cassandra have some of the best performance. However, when scaling data retrieval and processing, even the smallest microsecond can add up, emphasizing the importance of using a truly efficient big-data database.
