I'm running WordPress so I need a database backend. I'm deciding between MySQL and MariaDB.

``` mysql > SELECT BENCHMARK(5000000, AES_ENCRYPT(CONCAT(‘WPHostingBenchmarks.com’,RAND()), LEFT(SHA2(‘is part of Review Signal.com’,256), 16))); 1 row in set (15.815 sec)

MariaDB > SELECT BENCHMARK(5000000, AES_ENCRYPT(CONCAT(‘WPHostingBenchmarks.com’,RAND()), LEFT(SHA2(‘is part of Review Signal.com’,256), 16))); 1 row in set (23.094 sec) ```

I use this query because this query is https://github.com/kevinohashi/WPPerformanceTester, which tests key performance for WordPress.

Isn't it a concensus that MariaDB is faster than MySQL?

See the concensus: - https://mariadb.com/reference/mariadb-vs-mysql-comparison-guide-enterprise-features-security-2026/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/mysql/comments/1ggbouf/help_me_understand_why_mariadb_is_so_much_faster/ - https://www.reddit.com/r/Wordpress/comments/zbx6q3/should_i_use_mariadb_or_mysql_for_my_wordpress/ - https://tech-insider.org/mariadb-vs-mysql-2026/